GPS / Trackers for dogs?

[Marnie]

Hi all, a friend is getting a JRT puppy, she is on a farm and someone has suggested that she gets some form of GPS tracker for her in case she goes off, gets stuck in a hole etc.

So, I just wondered if anyone has any experience of GPS / trackers for dogs and if so, any recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[poiuytrewq]

In a similar situation I’ve just bought a Vodafone curve. I’ve not really tried it out yet but it’s pretty cheap and had an offer on the monthly subscription fee. From first glance it’s no where near as detailed as the Tractive we used to have on our cat. That was amazing but I decided an overkill for a dog who will be with me and might wander rather than a cat who was off miles alone daily.
The main feature I wanted was the alert to my phone if he passed a certain area, I thought I could do the farm gateways so my phone would buzz if he wandered out the gate. That’s unfortunately not possible as you have a circular area to set and it has to be bigger than the area I wanted.

 

[Prancerpoos]

I have a Tractive, but it only works if you have phone signal, so maybe not if deep down in a hole?

 

[On the Hoof]

I use the Findster Duo. It does not rely on phone signal but uses GPS so we can use it in woodland. It is more expensive to buy but there is no monthly or annual fee so it works out cheaper in the long run. The base for the tracker to fit in is attached to collar or harness by a rather less than robust bit of plastic so I just used a plastic cable tie to secure it and trimmed the end off.
You can set areas where you are alerted if they go out and although it takes some time to get hang of, there is no minimum area, so i have set up a number of different ones for different walks. You can also do it the opposite way I think and just set an area that they shouldnt go in if that is easier. In one year the dog has managed to knock the tracker off twice in dense shrubbery in woodland and it was very easy to find the second time, after I had actually painted pink reflective stripes on both sides of it so that it would stand out in autumn woodland etc.

 

[Marnie]

Thanks all, really helpful!

 

[poiuytrewq]

I use the Findster Duo. It does not rely on phone signal but uses GPS so we can use it in woodland. It is more expensive to buy but there is no monthly or annual fee so it works out cheaper in the long run. The base for the tracker to fit in is attached to collar or harness by a rather less than robust bit of plastic so I just used a plastic cable tie to secure it and trimmed the end off.
You can set areas where you are alerted if they go out and although it takes some time to get hang of, there is no minimum area, so i have set up a number of different ones for different walks. You can also do it the opposite way I think and just set an area that they shouldnt go in if that is easier. In one year the dog has managed to knock the tracker off twice in dense shrubbery in woodland and it was very easy to find the second time, after I had actually painted pink reflective stripes on both sides of it so that it would stand out in autumn woodland etc.

I looked at these, they seem to be permanently out of stock sadly!

 

[DressageCob]

I have the Tractive. it's rubbish

 

[On the Hoof]

I looked at these, they seem to be permanently out of stock sadly!

I did have to wait 3 months for mine which was annoying