Our lab mix recently pulled out of his collar and leash and took off running for 2 daya. He is fascinated by squirrels and chipmunks! Anyway, after lots of tears, and search parties, and facebook BOLO requests we found him huddled up in a barn about 1.5 miles away. He was ecstatic to see us again.

That said, my family and I are considering a GPS collar. Would ideally like somethng that can find him anywhere he happens to go in the US.


Any ideas or experience with whats out there? Whats great? whats garbage?

In a perfect world I would like NOT to have to pay for cell service for it, but if I have to I will ($7 per month or so). Thanks for the help!

And no we don’t have a fence (yet). That may come summer 2019.

No help on the GPS collar but our two sons both have dogs and use something I'll call a "body collar" that fits both in front of and behind their front legs. ''Tis very secure.

Would that work for you?

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
No help on the GPS collar but our two sons both have dogs and use something I'll call a "body collar" that fits both in front of and behind their front legs. ''Tis very secure.

Would that work for you?

Im thinking your meaning a dog harness?

We do have one of those but he doesnt like wearing that most of the time. He is inside 95% of the time, and we take him out to do his business several times a day.

Often times its my kids that take him out and when he sees a squirrel and decides to run...he can pull like a mule! Haha.

So I was thinking of having something small and discreet that stays on all the time so its always at the resdy to work for us in a tracking sense.

This site is great for all sorts of dog stuff.

https://www.gundogsupply.com/s...ery=gps+dog+tracking

A properly sized prong collar would also be good. He will have much better manners while walking and won't be able to pull out if properly sized. They are like power steering for dogs.

 
A friend up in Yarnell trains dogs for lion hunting (and other game animals now that the lions are more scarce in his area). He is a certified trainer for SportDogs, and gets their equipment free (he typically has two dozen dogs in training). While he tests the SportDogs equipment, he actually prefers and uses the Garmin beacon equipped collars when he is in the field. They do have limited range due to line of sight to the controller he carries (up to 1 mile claimed on open ground). He can lose a dog in very hilly terrain. The controller can also deliver a "correction".
 
GPS collars are also offered, but to get true GPS location, there has to be some way to get the information back to the owner, which means the dog has to be in range of some communications equipment (like a cell tower). Out in the wilderness, this would not work.

As for finding a dog anywhere in the US with true GPS location, you are most certainly looking for something with a monthly fee, like the SPOT satellite tracker used by hikers. Satellite tracking is the only way to get the GPS location from virtually anywhere.
 

I have a Whistle Dog tracker collar attachement for my lab. I bought it primarily for my South Dakota pheasant hunting trips, but it stays on his collar all the time. I have previously seen a couple dogs get lost or run off after a bird and not be able to be found it the large fields still loaded with crops (they were eventually found by the end of the day by other hunters/farmers).

Whistle does have a subscription requirement, needs a way to communicate back to you where the dog is, it ranges from $7-9/mo depending on how long you pay for at a time. It uses an app for your phone to show you where your dog is, and has other features to track activity (but I don't use these). You can set up wifi points where the device will turn off the GPS radio if in range of a known WiFi source (your home) to save the battery. It is alwo water proof, which I can attest to. My only concern, though thus far has not been shown, is that the attachment to the collar is a rubber strap, which could potentially get ripped off. Thus far I have been very happy with it.

quote:

Originally posted by barndg00:
I have a Whistle Dog tracker collar attachement for my lab. I bought it primarily for my South Dakota pheasant hunting trips, but it stays on his collar all the time. I have previously seen a couple dogs get lost or run off after a bird and not be able to be found it the large fields still loaded with crops (they were eventually found by the end of the day by other hunters/farmers).

Whistle does have a subscription requirement, needs a way to communicate back to you where the dog is, it ranges from $7-9/mo depending on how long you pay for at a time. It uses an app for your phone to show you where your dog is, and has other features to track activity (but I don't use these). You can set up wifi points where the device will turn off the GPS radio if in range of a known WiFi source (your home) to save the battery. It is alwo water proof, which I can attest to. My only concern, though thus far has not been shown, is that the attachment to the collar is a rubber strap, which could potentially get ripped off. Thus far I have been very happy with it.

Thank you for this report. I had looked at and was very curious about this model. It seems to do everything I want....albeit at a monthly charge.

I don't know if you need something that gets you nationwide coverage. Most dogs are found pretty close to home. Of course in a kidnapping that might not be the case. In any case I use the Garmin GPS system and it has been perfectly adequate for finding a dog that decides to go on a walkabout. Range is variable depending on terrain but has never been less that 1-2 miles for me in very tough terrain. And in any case with a loose dog I am on the move to find them so it won't increase very much. Theoretical range is way more but you probably have terrain like mine.
Reliability has been great. Battery life on the base station isn't great but when on a search its more than adequate. The collars are very rugged. I have several of them in both the current and prior generations as I own a number of dogs, so its not a one off on performance and reliability.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
No help on the GPS collar but our two sons both have dogs and use something I'll call a "body collar" that fits both in front of and behind their front legs. ''Tis very secure.

Would that work for you?

I tried using that on my Chesapeake Bay Retreiver...she'd do this odd sunfish-leaping move and there I was standing with the leash and harness on my wrist, a sedge-colored streak flying out of sight, going Roo-Roo-Roo.

We have had cats who would go on AWOL camping trips of one to four or five days, very annoying. We looked into it and found an outfit Pawtrack, https://pawtrack.com, which looked promising. My wife bought one not noticing that it said taking orders for future deliver.

After waiting for months, we asked for and got our money back.

These say for cats only but you might look into it to see where they are in deliveries snd if it works for you.

I have a Whistle3 on my crazy JRT that runs every single time he gets an opening. It has been great for tracking him for the miles that he runs. Longest trip around home was about 12 miles.
The unit and subscription are a little pricey but they do provide peace of mind knowing where your dog is located even if you aren't there. It also functions as a fitbit for your dog to see his activity. The app on your phone works really well and its not too difficult to set up.

I have had a couple of glitches with the unit but there technical support is really quick to respond and help solve the issues.

If it came down to it, I'd buy the unit again if necessary on another dog.

Did he pull away so the collar came off his neck/head?

If so look at "Martingale Dog Collars". They are designed to pull tighter if the dog pulls backward when on a leash.

Had a dog that would pull out of the collar. With the Martingale style collar that stopped. No way to pull out of them.

If the dog pulls out of his collar, how will a GPS collar be any help?

https://ruffwear.com/collectio...s/web-master-harness

Absolutly the best & stopped my Beagles from backing out of the harness. I have used one daily for 10 years, multiple washings on gentle cycle & still good to go.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
If the dog pulls out of his collar, how will a GPS collar be any help?

We would put the tracker on a secondary collar not connected to the leash clasp.

quote:

Originally posted by comet24:
Did he pull away so the collar came off his neck/head?

If so look at "Martingale Dog Collars". They are designed to pull tighter if the dog pulls backward when on a leash.

Had a dog that would pull out of the collar. With the Martingale style collar that stopped. No way to pull out of them.

Yes, thats what he does or he just yanks leash out of hand if kids have him sometime.

I hadn't heard of the Martingale collars. Interesting. May have to try one. Thank you.

Our deer dogs have antenna collars. Using a hand held antenna we find them easily.
Tat your phone# inside it's ear.

Well, took the dog quail hunting today, with the Whistle GPS tracker on him. He ran through the brush and grasses doing his thing, and flushed 18 birds birds for us (preserve hunting). Got home, and have realized that the tracker is gone from his collar, probably got ripped off by some brush. Unfortunately, I've now noticed that the river bottom we were hunting in apparently doesn't have AT&T cellular coverage, as I cannot update the position of the device to go find it. I admit I had some concerns about the rubber collar attachment before, but he has never had it come off when hunting before.

I use a Garmin Alpha GPS collar on the hunting dogs. They are great for hunting, but not sure how practical it would be for daily use around the house/neighborhood.