GPS Collars; Anyone Have Experience

[ZZSW7Y]

I was talking to a breeder this weekend and they told me about collars that now have GPS chips built into them. And there is an app that can be installed on your smart phone so you could check where your dog is and it will help you find your dog if it went missing.

I was wondering if anyone had experience with them and if so which is the best one to get. This would be the everyday collar not a field collar.

thanks in advance.

[doubledip1]

Rebecca (MightyThor) has one for Thor but hers is a little more robust than you're describing. If she doesn't chip in here, I'm sure she'll reply to a PM

[MightyThor]

We have the Garmin Astro (Astro | Garmin)

It's much more sophisticated than a simple GPS tracker, and includes a e-collar (which we don't really use) and a full function GPS device, not a smart phone app. But it's sturdy and waterproof, so works well when he's splashing through the mud or whatever on a hike.


The best part is that we started calling him "Space Dog" when the collar goes on (due to the name, and the fact that it has a big wobbly antenna), so now when we say "it's Space Dog time!" he goes running to the drawer where it's stored.

[Snowshoe]

REad carefully. Someone, a different someone each time, keeps putting ads for GPS tags that send a message to your phone on a lost dogs FB I go on. But the darn things have a very limited range, so limited I would not be able to find my dog from my back door if he was at the end of my yard, a distance of a little over 100 feet.

Not sure if it's the same one Thor has but a friend who runs Black and Tan Coonhounds got his dog back with one like that when a farmer trapped her in his barn and tried to keep her. Friend tracked for a lot further than 100 feet.

Can you ask the person the exact name of the one he/she was talking about? Maybe it's not the same as either I've mentionned?

[Tanya]

most of the real GPS collars would be a bit big/bulky for every day collars I would think. Maybe there are sleeker models now though. The hunting versions are quite expensive as they generally come with sophisticated ecollars on top of the GPS technology. There are some models in the US that are not linked to an e-collar but haven't heard any reviews (I am in Canada, they are not available here - in fact the GARMIN/hunting ones don't work here either). Some you have to pay a monthly fee I think (or that was the old model maybe).
Dog Training Collars | Garmin | Dog GPS
https://www.whistle.com/
https://tractive.com/en/ (this one is availble in canada - a friend tested it out and ended up returning it. she said it wasn't bad though)
There used to be a company called TAGG but i think it was bought out by Whistle)

As mentioned above, beware the cheap version that are blue tooth technology (like the "find your keys" tags). They only work for a very close/limited range and rely on others having their bluetooth enabled all over to really give you more distance. I haven't heard anyone test it in a busy downtown area (or dog park) but would be pretty useless in rural areas.

I've been researching this for years and am disappointed in the options thus far.

[BaconsMom]

Jake used to work at a store that sold hundreds of collars a day. He always saw the cheaper ones come back quickly for return. The only one that he has never seen come back is the Garmin that MightyThor has. Made by a great company that does a great job if there is any issue with it. Essentially, my 2 cents is don't waste your money on the cheap ones, they save you money early but don't work the way you want them to.

[Tanya]

Jake used to work at a store that sold hundreds of collars a day. He always saw the cheaper ones come back quickly for return. The only one that he has never seen come back is the Garmin that MightyThor has. Made by a great company that does a great job if there is any issue with it. Essentially, my 2 cents is don't waste your money on the cheap ones, they save you money early but don't work the way you want them to.

curious if they sold the Tractive as well (was that one of the ones being returned)?
I feel the technology isn't quite there or maybe it's more that technology isn't available cheaply yet so companies shy away from making a $500 GPS collar that works (other than the Garmin of course, which can afford to have a line of fairly expensive collars as they are already in that market )

[BaconsMom]

I have not heard of the brand, and I checked and they do not carry that brand. Jake saw several Sportdog GPS collars come back, but the garmins seem to do well. Bacon's BFF Bibi has a Garmin-she is GSP and she likes to jump the fence and go on adventures. They love their Garmin so they know exactly where she is when she takes her little adventures. The interface is fairly simple as well, their 10 year old knows how to work it very well

[Tanya]

I have not heard of the brand, and I checked and they do not carry that brand. Jake saw several Sportdog GPS collars come back, but the garmins seem to do well. Bacon's BFF Bibi has a Garmin-she is GSP and she likes to jump the fence and go on adventures. They love their Garmin so they know exactly where she is when she takes her little adventures. The interface is fairly simple as well, their 10 year old knows how to work it very well

good to know. unfortunately the Garmin doesnt work in Canada

[ZZSW7Y]

The one that was described to me was not an ecollar/gps combined collar. This would be one that would be left on the dog every day at home and didn't have a huge antenna and etc. It was designed to help you find your dog if it got out of the fence and etc. Sounds like they are not there yet based on the feed back. I think the Garmin one may be the one to get if my current e-collar is dead. I am getting a puppy soon and just looking for the future. Just thought an every day GPS collar would be another form of ensuring the safety of my new dog.