Zabel & Fox — A Story About Waffles

A story about Waffles.

Denmark. Summer. A beach house we'd rented for the week.

I tied Waffles up in the garden while I drove to get groceries.

She hates being left behind.

When Nadja called, I was still in the car.

Waffles had gotten loose. She'd gone looking for me.

But she didn't know the roads.

She had an AirTag. But we weren't getting a location — we were in the middle of nowhere.

Strangers found her on a busy coastal road.

They had no way to reach us.

We waited. We didn't know if she was alive.

Eventually, the AirTag told us where Waffles was.

But it told the people who found her nothing.

We were lucky someone found her.

Lucky isn't good enough.

So we solved our own problem.

Echo — a smart tag that gives your pet a voice.

Safety

Anyone who finds her can reach you. Instantly.

No app download needed. The finder scans the tag, sees your dog's name and photo, and has a direct line to you.

You know the moment it happens.

Real-time notification the instant the tag is scanned. Exact location shared. You see where she was found on a map.

The tag reads the situation.

Lost, injured, or just out for a walk — Echo shows the finder exactly the right action based on where your dog is and what's happening.

Echo finder screen showing Waffles lost mode with Call Owner and WhatsApp buttons

Echo scan details showing Hamburg map location where Waffles was found

Echo triage screen showing contextual options: Waffles seems lost, hurt, or fine

Echo health observations screen showing AI-generated health insights

Echo Pet Passport showing microchip, vaccinations, treatments and travel records

Echo medical records showing vet visit lab results and blood work

Health

A medical record that writes itself.

Speak observations into the app. The AI Biographer turns them into structured clinical events — vaccinations, vet visits, lab results.

A digital Pet Passport. Always with them.

Snap a photo of an invoice, a lab report, or your pet passport. Echo reads it, organises it, and explains it for you. Vaccinations, allergies, medications — built automatically. No typing. No searching.

Everything your vet needs.

Generate a 4-digit code. Your vet enters it and sees the full history on their screen. Only you decide who gets access.

Personality

Your dog has a personality. Echo gives them a voice.

An AI-generated first-person bio built from traits you provide. A rotating quip that updates on every scan.

Take a selfie. Share the moment.

The finder can take a photo with your dog and share it directly to Instagram. Your dog becomes their story too.

A personality quiz. Every scan.

Would Waffles rather chase every squirrel or carefully assess if it looks suspicious first? AI-generated from your dog's personality traits. Different every time.

Echo showing Waffles AI-generated thought: Wow did you bring treats

Echo personality quiz asking Would Waffles rather chase every squirrel or assess it first

Hamburg. By way of everywhere.

We didn't plan to build a company.

We've lived across Europe — Germany, Spain, Portugal — with Waffles and Watson always by our side. Every new city brought the same fear: what if she gets out and nobody knows who she belongs to?

After Denmark, we went looking for answers. GPS trackers cost a fortune, the batteries are always dead — and they don't solve the real problem: when a stranger finds your dog, they have no way to reach you.

So we did something different. We combined smart technology with the craft and quality you'd expect from the finest fashion houses — real materials, considered design, no compromise. That's how Zabel & Fox was born.

Ready to give your dog a voice?

Echo is built into every Zabel & Fox collar.

I have a dog Get Echo for my collar I run a store Stock Zabel & Fox

Made by two dog owners in Hamburg. Waffles and Watson approved.