2026

Design Awards Gold Winner - Dog Jokes LLC

Colla - AI Training Collar for your dog

Entrant

Dog Jokes LLC

Category

User Experience (UX) - AI-Personalized UX

Client's Name

Dear Colla

Country / Region:

United States

Dear Colla is an AI-powered smart collar designed to prevent unwanted dog behaviors through positive reinforcement. It integrates multi-modal sensors—including heartbeat, IMU, body temperature, and vibration—to capture vital data and movement signals in real time. Dear Colla’s onboard and cloud AI models analyze behavior, triggers, and context to classify actions such as barking, growling, chewing, digging, and licking, and provide targeted training responses. The collar includes a built-in vibration module that delivers gentle cues when unwanted behaviors are detected, supporting consistent training without pain, fear, or stress.

Dog training is notoriously difficult because it requires three things most owners cannot provide reliably: an understanding of the behavioral trigger, immediate feedback at the moment the behavior occurs, and consistent reinforcement throughout daily life. Many owners are not trained in canine behavior, are not present due to work, or only notice problems after they’ve escalated. As a result, common issues persist not because dogs are “stubborn,” but because humans lack timing, knowledge, and presence.

Existing products treat symptoms rather than causes. Shock collars use aversive punishment without addressing the root trigger. Bark collars only suppress a single behavior. Health trackers collect vitals but lack behavioral interpretation. Dear Colla unifies these disconnected domains. By linking physiology, environment, personality, and behavior, it explains why behaviors occur, not just how to stop them. Dear Colla covers a broader set of behaviors beyond barking and geo-fence escape, and supports training in scenarios humans physically cannot—such as when the dog is alone, crated, or outdoors.

Our product philosophy is simple: animals cannot talk, so the real problem is human misunderstanding. Dear Colla uses data and AI to make dogs legible. When owners understand cause and effect, training shifts from punishment to cooperation. We believe the future of pet technology is not about controlling animals, but helping humans read them. With Dear Colla, unwanted behaviors become teachable moments, relationships improve, and dogs are guided without fear.

Credits

AI Product Designer
Wei Kang
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