GPS Systems for Pets

[rtimgray]

I tried searching on this topic, but couldn't find anything about it.

My wife's dog went missing this weekend and she was quite distraught. As luck would have it, we found her the next day, stuck inside of a plot of sweet corn that was surrounded by 8 strands of electric fencing (intended to keep deer out). Other than hungry and thirsty, she was fine.

This led us to discussing if there were GPS trackers that dogs could wear, and sure enough, there are. The only problem is, there seems to be hundreds of them.

I am doing my own research and reviewing different options, but was curious if anyone on the board can offer any first hand experience with a particular brand and style. One thing I've seen repeated is that (I think) all of them require some type of subscription program, and if the company goes under, then the device becomes useless.

So again, just curious if anyone has recommendations or experiences with such items.

And if I have missed a thread that addressed this, feel free to point me in that direction as well.

Thanks for the help.

Good luck and take care.

 

[nybirdman]

We run Garmin Astro's on our hunting dogs(beagles and pointers).The work well but be prepared to spend $500.No subscription cost.We had a few problems with antennas breaking but they were fixed under warranty
All the coyote hunters in our area run the same systems on their far running hounds.
We deal with Lion Country Supply,good out fit;you may want to call them.

 

[CountryB]

I don't have one of these systems, but when I was researching it, it seems that a common problem was that the GPS signal didn't work well when there was not a direct line-of-sight to satellite. So it didn't work in the woods (under heavy tree canopy).

Do you know if this is still a problem?

 

[tow653]

We use a Tractive,subscription based,happy with it so far,on a bloodhound who likes to roam.

 

[Paddy]

rtimgray,

We have a plan with Whistle. It work very good. We live at then of a 1 mi dead end with very few people near by. So we let our Jack Russel run to his hearts content. He would just come back when he wanted to. Because he can be far afield, we wanted to be able to get in the car and go get him.

There is an app for your smart phone/ipad that has the dock station marked, your pets location and you as a blue dot. We use it every day. I think it was $75 to buy it and $7 a month

 

[jymbee]

Take a look at the Marco Polo product. Does not use GPS, no subscription or data involved. We use it for our drones and it works well.

 

[CCWKen]

Take a look at the Marco Polo product. Does not use GPS, no subscription or data involved. We use it for our drones and it works well.

What's the approximate separation range of the tag/finder? I can't imagine it being very far for a low power transmitter. Perhaps a 1/4 mile? The "safe zone" can be no larger than a 260' radius.

 

[jymbee]

What's the approximate separation range of the tag/finder? I can't imagine it being very far for a low power transmitter. Perhaps a 1/4 mile? The "safe zone" can be no larger than a 260' radius.

Not sure of the actual range limit. We've never had to use it (fortunately) in a real-live drone fly-away situation but did do some testing by having someone "hide" the little transmitter about a thousand feet away in the woods. The person using the finder had no idea where it was but was able to follow the signal indicator which led them right to it in some nearby woods.

I think a GPS based device would have a lot of advantages given it wouldn't matter where it was as long as it was able to communicate w/ the service. Downside of course is cost. But around here cell signals are often week to non-existent so this Marco Polo was the best option for our situation.

 

[aeblank]

I looked at whistle, but ended up pre-ordering a couple from Nuzzle.
They're due out in October or November, IIRC.
Anyway, it's a GPS/cellular tracker, so it needs signal (AT&T). In that regard, it is similar to Whistle.
The up side is that there's NO MONTHLY FEE. As such, the device costs more (it's not subsidized at all), but it pays for itself within the first year.
There's an app, etc. Battery is supposed to last 5-7 days or something. Comes with a spare battery and a home base.

Our thought is that while the AT&T service won't be perfect (I suppose the GPS may not be either), it's bound to give a *direction* or a *blip* with a location. It gives us a place to look.

Our Pekineses disappeared FOR A WEEK and a neighbor a few miles away found her on their deck. It got down to almost freezing at night, and there was still snow on the ground (but not everywhere, to track). We were surprised to get her back.

Home - Nuzzle - Your GPS Pet Tracker

 

[Travelover]

I had a Garmin GTU10 for about 4 years. It worked quite well and was only $50 a year. Unfortunately it worked on 2G and they have discontinued supporting it. Had to be recharged daily.

 

[LD1]

We have the marco polo. Also an invisible fence.

Bought the marco polo because about a year ago, the dogs must have found a weak spot in the invisible fence, and it seemed like once a week they would get out. I could find them......but getting them to come to me when they knew they were in trouble was a different story. They'd bolt the other direction.

Kinda sucks, because you want to discipline the dog for getting out, and they know that they did wrong. And you really dont want to bribe them to come to you, because then they think they did good.

The marco polo isnt like it displays a map and an exact direction to the dog. Rather its an arrow, and a number from 0 to 100 to indicate range (which is really signal strength.) But it is a help and points you in the right direction. We did some testing with it driving out in the car and leaving a collar at home. HAd no problem out to over a mile.

They claim up to 2 miles, but its like 2-way radios.....all depends on terrain, LOS, etc. I have no doubt it will do 2 miles out in kansas.....but probably wont get that in WV mountains. But its certainly more than 1/4 mile.

Never actually got to use it on the dogs. Started putting both collars on them during the day (they sleep inside at night), and after a few weeks of them not running off any more, we just slowly quit putting the tracker collars on them. Havent had a problem for a year now.....but it comes and goes with these dogs. Once they find a way out...or if they figure their invisible fence collar batteries are getting weak....they exploit it. Once I give them a few reminders by walking them around the perimiter and letting them get hit a few times....they seem to straighten up for quite awhile.

So sorry I aint much help. With all the affordable GPS tech and smart phones out there, you would think there would be a better solution for both tracking, and containment. And if there is, I have not found it yet.

 

[TractorGuy]

An ad for this TracR thing just popped up on my FB feed. Not sure of range or anything but they are only $30 each for a single and it says they work with Android or i phone.

 

[NorTracNY]

Please let us know how the nuzzle works out. I like the looks of the product!

I have remote training collars which work fairly well to call my dogs back, but they don't always have them on. You need to charge the batteries every few days, and you can't leave them on with the prongs potentially irratating their skin. I looked into GPS units and most were insanely poorly designed. Large easily breakable antenne. When I looked at the reviews, it was clear that they were junk that would break.

 

[aeblank]

Please let us know how the nuzzle works out. I like the looks of the product!

I'll do my best to remember this thread and post back. :thumbsup:
I have high hopes for it. The no-fee is the obvious draw. 2 batteries was huge too (one charging, one on the dog).

I have heard that whistle went all "social media" with their phone app. It used to be an animal location/tracking and it turned into ways to post to facebook how many laps around the garage your dog took. As if anyone gives a crap. Nuzzle's app isn't out yet (that I could find, anyway), but I'm hoping it's more utilitarian.

We'll see!

 

[Travelover]

It seems like if someone was clever, they could make a make a water proof sleeve for a smartphone and slip it onto a harness. Then just use regular cell phone tracking software to track it.

 

[aeblank]

It seems like if someone was clever, they could make a make a water proof sleeve for a smartphone and slip it onto a harness. Then just use regular cell phone tracking software to track it.

The service cost is through the roof though. It needs service/data to upload it's location. Good luck paying less than $30 or $40/month.

That's basically what Nuzzle / Whistle do. It's a gps chip and a cellular radio. They have agreements with a data provider (like the original kindle does, for instance) for a known small amount of data. That data is probably even given a lower priority than all the other data.

If you're planning on just using your phone, then you (basically) know when your dog is going to go missing. Might work some times, but likely not most times. Sure wouldn't have for us.

 

[Travelover]

The service cost is through the roof though. It needs service/data to upload it's location. Good luck paying less than $30 or $40/month.

That's basically what Nuzzle / Whistle do. It's a gps chip and a cellular radio. They have agreements with a data provider (like the original kindle does, for instance) for a known small amount of data. That data is probably even given a lower priority than all the other data.

If you're planning on just using your phone, then you (basically) know when your dog is going to go missing. Might work some times, but likely not most times. Sure wouldn't have for us.

I use PagePlus on the Verizon network and pay $10 every 120 days to keep the service. Minutes come off this amount or it rolls over. I would use a separate phone - a basic used one is pretty cheap. Although data is available, I believe there are apps that will text the GPS location on demand.

 

[JerryK]

I live out in the boonies. Most people out here have dogs. But they don't run much, if any. The cattle/buffalo/horse folks don't put up with much. Not that they don't like dogs, but they like ' their ' dogs. So, you would probably have to make sure it worked under X feet of earth.