FluentPet

FluentPet is an American pet-technology company focused on systems that allow owners to create programmable sound buttons for companion animals. Its best-known products combine recordable buttons with modular hexagonal tiles, allowing a household to arrange a set of words or short phrases and invite a dog or cat to press individual buttons. The intended use is associative communication: an animal may learn that a particular recorded sound is connected with an activity, object, person, request, or routine. The company developed out of the earlier CleverPet project. In 2013, Dan Knudsen and Leo Trottier began developing a game console for dogs after meeting at the University of California, San Diego. Early experiments used Trottier's cat, Salk, in a simple “hot or cold” style game in which the animal was guided toward a target area and rewarded for remaining there. Knudsen and Trottier established CleverPet in 2014 and used Kickstarter to finance development, raising more than the campaign's original goal. The project later produced the CleverPet Hub, which was offered for pre-order and presented at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. FluentPet's communication-button concept emerged later. In 2018, speech pathologist Christina Hunger began using augmentative and alternative communication ideas with her dog Stella. Her public documentation of Stella's use of sound buttons contributed to wider interest in so-called talking-button systems. Leo Trottier encountered that trend in 2019 and developed a pet-oriented soundboard approach distinct from CleverPet's earlier game-console concept. FluentPet was founded in 2020, and the first FluentPet product, the HexTiles system, launched in June of that year. The brand's visibility grew through online videos showing pets using button boards. Social-media exposure, especially on TikTok and YouTube, helped bring the product category to a broad consumer audience. Pets publicly associated with FluentPet-style communication systems have included Bunny, Billi, and Elsie, although the company does not claim that button use establishes human-like language. Scientific interest has also developed around the underlying question of whether animals can associate recorded words or sounds with consistent meanings. The University of California, San Diego's TheyCanTalk project, led by cognitive scientist Federico Rossano, has studied animals' use of sound buttons. FluentPet's main product line is the HexTiles platform. Owners can place buttons into the tiles, record words or short phrases, and expand the board with additional modules as an animal learns more associations. FluentPet Connect extends the system with connected hardware and a mobile application intended to transmit a pet's button selections as text messages. Connect was announced for shipping in 2022 and was shown at CES 2023, where pre-orders were launched. According to the referenced Wikipedia material, FluentPet had reached more than 100,000 households and sold more than two million buttons by the time of that source's reporting. The company remains a private, active pet-technology brand operating primarily in the United States. Its market position sits between pet enrichment, consumer electronics, and assistive-style communication products for household animals.

FluentPet's history is rooted in the development of interactive technology for companion animals. In 2013, Dan Knudsen and Leo Trottier developed an early concept for a dog-oriented game console after meeting at the University of California, San Diego. Their experiments included work with Trottier's cat, Salk, which was taught to approach a designated location in a simple target-finding game and receive a treat after remaining there for a set period. The founders formalized the earlier project under the CleverPet name in 2014. A Kickstarter campaign sought $100,000 to support the concept and raised approximately $180,000. CleverPet subsequently developed the CleverPet Hub, which entered pre-order in 2016 and was exhibited at CES that year. This work established the founders' interest in combining animal training, automated rewards, and consumer hardware. The path toward FluentPet's communication-button products began separately. In 2018, speech pathologist Christina Hunger adopted a dog named Stella and explored augmentative and alternative communication techniques using recorded sound buttons. Her public work helped popularize the idea that household pets could be trained to associate specific sounds with activities or requests. Leo Trottier became aware of the trend in 2019 and began developing a soundboard system oriented toward pet communication. FluentPet was founded in 2020 as the new brand and company associated with that approach. The first FluentPet product, FluentPet HexTiles, launched in June 2020. The system used hexagonal holders and programmable buttons, enabling owners to start with a small number of recorded words and add further buttons and tiles over time. Its design made the communication board both a training aid and a customizable household product. During the early 2020s, online videos became a major source of awareness for FluentPet and the wider talking-button category. Videos of dogs and cats pressing buttons circulated widely on TikTok and YouTube, including content involving pets such as Bunny, Billi, and Elsie. This exposure helped FluentPet reach a large consumer audience beyond specialist animal-training communities. The referenced Wikipedia material reports that the company ultimately reached more than 100,000 households and sold more than two million buttons, although the source does not provide a precise reporting date for those figures. Scientific and academic interest accompanied the product's growth. The TheyCanTalk research project at the University of California, San Diego, led by cognitive science professor Federico Rossano, has examined whether animals using sound buttons form consistent associations between buttons and particular words or meanings. The research context is important to the brand because the products are marketed as tools for interaction while the broader question of animal language remains subject to investigation. FluentPet expanded beyond the original passive button-and-tile arrangement with FluentPet Connect. The connected accessory was planned for shipment in 2022 and was presented at CES 2023, where the company opened pre-orders. Connect was designed to work with the HexTiles ecosystem and send a pet's button selections as text messages through a mobile application. This development represented a shift toward connected pet hardware and remote notification features. FluentPet remains a private American company and an active brand. Its product scope centers on programmable pet communication buttons, modular boards, and connected accessories. Its identity continues to be shaped by the intersection of pet enrichment, consumer technology, online pet culture, and research into how animals learn and use symbolic or sound-based cues.

• 2023

  FluentPet Connect is shown at CES

  [1]FluentPeten.wikipedia.org

  FluentPet presented Connect at CES 2023 and opened the product for pre-orders.

• 2022

  FluentPet Connect planned for shipment

  [1]FluentPeten.wikipedia.org

  The company scheduled its connected accessory, FluentPet Connect, for shipment as an extension of the HexTiles platform.

• 2020

  FluentPet is founded and launches HexTiles

  [1]FluentPeten.wikipedia.org

  FluentPet was founded after development of a pet-oriented soundboard system, and its first product, FluentPet HexTiles, launched in June.

• 2018

  Public interest in pet sound-button communication grows

  [1]FluentPeten.wikipedia.org

  Christina Hunger's work with her dog Stella helped bring augmentative-communication-style sound buttons for pets to wider public attention.

• 2016

  CleverPet Hub reaches pre-order and CES exposure

  [1]FluentPeten.wikipedia.org

  CleverPet opened pre-orders for the CleverPet Hub, exhibited it at CES, and won the CES LaunchIt competition.

• 2014

  CleverPet is established and crowdfunded

  [1]FluentPeten.wikipedia.org

  The founders formed CleverPet and ran a Kickstarter campaign that exceeded its initial fundraising target.

• 2013

  Early CleverPet experiments begin

  [1]FluentPeten.wikipedia.org

  Dan Knudsen and Leo Trottier began developing an interactive game-console concept for dogs and tested early behavioral-game ideas with Trottier's cat, Salk.

FluentPet positions its products as expandable pet communication and enrichment tools that let owners build a customized board of recorded sounds for dogs and cats. The brand combines consumer electronics, modular home products, and interest in animal cognition rather than presenting itself as a conventional pet-food or accessory company.

• Pet communication system · 2020

  FluentPet HexTiles

  FluentPet HexTiles are modular hexagonal holders designed to organize programmable sound buttons into a pet communication board. Owners can record individual words or short phrases on the buttons and arrange them in a layout suited to a particular animal's training. Additional tiles and buttons can be added as the pet learns more associations. The system is intended for dogs and cats and combines interactive enrichment with a structured way for owners to observe and respond to button selections.

• Connected pet-technology accessory · 2023

  FluentPet Connect

  FluentPet Connect is a connected accessory for the HexTiles system. Its stated function is to relay a pet's button selections to a mobile application, where the selections can be delivered as text messages. The product was announced for shipment in 2022, later exhibited at CES 2023, and made available for pre-order at that event. It extends the original local button-board experience with remote notification and app-based monitoring.

• Interactive pet-training device · 2016

  CleverPet Hub

  The CleverPet Hub was a predecessor product developed before FluentPet under the CleverPet name. It was conceived as an interactive game console for dogs, using guided activities and rewards to encourage animal participation. The Hub was offered for pre-order and presented at CES in 2016. It is included here as part of the development history of the company and its founders rather than as a current FluentPet product.

• 2023

  Expand the platform with FluentPet ConnectProduct launch

  Background

  The original HexTiles system required owners to observe button presses directly. FluentPet developed a connected accessory to add app-based notification capabilities.

  Action taken

  The company presented FluentPet Connect at CES 2023 and opened pre-orders for the accessory.

  Aftermath

  Connect broadened the product concept from a physical communication board into a connected pet-technology ecosystem.

  Source

• 2020

  Create a dedicated pet communication brandStrategy

  Background

  After the earlier CleverPet work on interactive pet games and growing public interest in talking-button systems, Leo Trottier developed a soundboard concept focused on pet communication.

  Action taken

  The company founded FluentPet and launched a modular button-and-tile platform rather than continuing solely with the CleverPet game-console model.

  Aftermath

  The FluentPet HexTiles system became the brand's central product and was later extended with the connected FluentPet Connect accessory.

  Source

1. 1FluentPeten.wikipedia.org