How To Choose The Best Gps Dog Trackers And Tracking Collars

After I lost my dog for 5 days and nights I began my search for a GPS tracker in case this was ever to happen again. I purchased a Garmin device that was probably good, but not for my needs. I wanted something more for running with my dog on trails and it was just way too bulky for everyday use. Then I purchased a Fi collar. Let me just say that it was a joke. Not only did the collar fall off my dog on a run, but the tracking was useless. I couldn’t even use the service to locate the collar even though I had good coverage on my phone. The app was terrible on so many levels as well. Then I purchased a Tractive collar and I have to admit that I was skeptical especially for the price, but it works great. I can’t believe how good of a product it is and I would have happily spent more money. I’ve been using it for a few week now and the GPS has been super reliable and the app is great too. It actually works for you instead of forcing you to use it how the company wants you to use it like the Fi. It shows where you are in proximity to the collar unlike the previously mentioned collar and it has an on/off switch as well. The app has what you need and not a bunch of unnecessary information that I feel is pointless if you just want to be able to find your dog. So if you are looking for a collar that is priced right and works great get a Tractive collar.

We've got a 13 year old Black Lab with a wander lust. He used to spend his time pressing his head against the slats on the back yard fence, looking for a slat he could press off and escape. So we installed a brand new fence - problem solved! Well, not really. I am remodeling the house and have to make many trips out one of our 3 gates, and eventually, I forget to close one of them and our wanderer is off on another adventure.

So we decided to try the Tractive LTE. Initially we were a little disappointed with the battery life, which for us was about 2 days (remember: you need there to be excess charge remaining during an "escape" so you have plenty of time to find and retrieve your pet). But recently Tractive has alleviated this with their "Power Saving Mode", which monitors periodically to see if it can still see your household WIFI network, instead of having to use the GPS, which uses much more power. So now we can get 4-7 days between charging sessions. Much better.

The GPS function works adequately for this purpose. I think it would likely locate your pet within a house or two of your pet's true location. We have taken the Tractive device with us on trips to the pet store and to the vet's and the GPS located itself accurately enough to show it at both locations, both about 3 miles away in opposite directions.

When you need to locate your lost pet, you can activate the "Live" tracking which uses the mobile phone system's triangulation but also uses the most power of all. This seems to be the most accurate, and it
provides updates pretty close to in real time. This has generally worked well for us but with both GPS and the "Live" tracking, you have to allow for the fact the the tracking device is only a couple feet off the ground with very little antenna. It is good but not perfect.

Over all we are quite satisfied, knowing that we'll likely find Fido much more quickly and conveniently the next time he goes off on one of his "adventures".

We would definitely buy this again.

Dave

Purchased because I have a runner of a fur baby. It has helped already when she got out and decided to run around the neighborhood before I could even get shoes on. Definitely worth the money. Never thought I would be the person to get one but we just had a dog pass away after Christmas and my kids can’t handle if we lost another dog.

This sleek black GPS looks like very good quality and fits nicely on our dogs collar. We wanted to be able to track her in case she escaped from the yard so we signed up to activate the service. The map is very clear and we always know exactly where she is, even in the yard. As a bonus, we also track her walks as we take her through the neighborhood, which is also a lot of fun.

Bought this for fleet vehicle, was worried when the description was saying to make sure it wasn't under metal, etc. But it never lost signal and tracked in real time just as described and we had it mounted under a back seat in a vehicle with no sunroof. Battery generally lasted about a week.

I tryed three trackers and returned them all. Only tractive gave me fast tracking and a steady signal. It has worked in our subdivision and most importantly a good signal out in the foothills.

Protection of the dog in case she gets loose

I love these trackers. I've done a lot of research and did side by side comparisons. This is the only product that actually gives close to real time live tracking which updates every 2 to 3 seconds. (Whistlr isn15 seconda ans Fi is 60 seconda. It also tracks your dogs. A lot of other trackers leave the appearance is tracking your dog but it's really tracking your phone that's connected to the GPS device by bluetooth. This actually tracks your dogs. Since I let my daughters weren't off-leash in the woods everyday. It's very important that I know exactly where my dogs are. That is the point right? Battery life is very good if you have a Wi-Fi connection in your house. Unlike other devices, Tracticw does but require a home base device. Each device can connect independently to your Wi-Fi to save battery when you're at your house. Because it's tracking your dog and not you, you can get a full one year history of everywhere you've been with your dog at any moment of the day. It's really cool. I can live track multiple dogs at the same time. I have read about durability issues what's a little rubber piece, but I have not encountered that. I've had these devices for about a year and my dogs run through the woods everyday with me. They get wet and run through the brambles daily. I can also track the activity of my dogs and compare them with other dogs in my area and dogs across the world of the same breed. I itially there was some buggy pieces to the software but they have improved these of the last year and they had some software ans firmware updates that have dramatically increased battery life and performance. I can now go more than a week without recharging. If there's a complaint, it's that my particular devices are white and therefore it shows scratches and dirt really well ans stands out on a dark collar If I bought another one it would be the black one.

Didn’t want to pay 120 for a cat specific tracker with active GPS because my cat is a house cat, however I would always get scared whenever I couldn’t find her thinking she ran away, or if I needed to find her to put her away. She’s sneaky kitty. So with the cube I can walk around and the Bluetooth signal shows stronger or weaker as you get close/far. Also if there’s at least one bar of closeness you can make the cube do a ping sound and you found your cat. Lol.

love this. I bought this to use on my dog. I plan on a trip. there will b a lot of dogs.
the Cube is great. Use your phone Cube app (easy) push, the Cube lights up and beeps, you can hear where she is. You can also see on your phone where the Cube is. In the even that you can not find your phone, use the Cube to find the phone. There is a button on the Cube, push it, the phone will make a horrible beeping sound.
Note: I only use the Cube on my dog's harness, not on her collar, she's too small, and I only have her where it when she's working. She's a Svc dog. Thank God for her 😉
Hope this helps you. Use the Cube on your keys.

After I lost my keys for like the twentieth time this week I decided I needed something that could help me find them. I looked for something like a remote finder and I found this product and some of it's competitors. I chose this one because it's black, not too bulky, and you can replace the battery in it. I got it today and had it set up in minutes. I tried it out a few times and let me tell you this thing is loud. I can't imagine losing my keys again with this thing and God forbid I lose them somewhere other than home it actually GPS maps the key's location on a map in the app. Pretty pleased with it so far but this is the first day I've had it. I'll update this review if anything negative occurs.

I’ve only had this for a few days but it’s already been so useful! It’s easy to set up and I’ve been using it as a locator for my Bengal cat in case he were to get outdoors.

I actually didn’t even have to make it ring to find him, the app tells you if you are getting closer or further away.

It has been extremely durable and even though the Cube Pro seemed a little heavy, my cat doesn’t mind it at all.

After using Tile for two years I got annoyed with their replace the entire tracker bit, saw these guys had replaceable batteries so I’m glad I made the switch, however no tool comes with it to open it, so try a flat head screw driver, not a big deal, also comes with a free battery so off the bat you got two years in total of battery life

Works like promises… The only issue I had was the battery that came with it was dead but luckily they sent a back up battery.

UPDATE:
Not even 12 hours after install a battery, I get a notice on my phone that says the battery is low and needs to be changed. The first battery was dead and the back up battery is good for 12 hours? How long has this been sitting on the shelf? Pretty ridiculous. So now I have to try to find a battery which Wouldn’t be that big of a deal if I had the time. Pretty irritated at this point And lowering the stars given.

UPDATE: The company rep sent me out a brand new h it stating I must have received a bad unit. Ok...it happens. All forgiven. 🙂
Cube does exactly as it s supposed to and has served its purpose on many accounts.

I had a spare airtag laying around so I decided to give it to my maltese dog Gucci. Went to the beach yesterday, I usually have him unleashed, to give him more space. Met a few friends on the beach, we were talking, when one of my friend asked me where did my dog go?! I didn't know what to do, I mean he usually runs around but never too far
I was shoked but I remembered that I had my tracker on him, so it didn't take long to find him... This pesky guy was befriending another couple on the beach some 300 feet away. Glad I had the tracker on! Thank you

The perfect case for an Apple AIrTAG, nicely fit for the air tag itself and firmly sits on the dog's color, in my case I have two of them still fit nicely. Rubber is very soft but does its job. Good value for money.

I got this case for my cat's airtag. I like the design, it's very soft and durable. It looks and functions as advertised.

I’m not a paid reviewer, I bought this device for my Border Collie as she’s seriously bad about going across the road to the BLM chasing deer. We live out on land. Yes you really should take it off and charge it at night because it’s working hard all day connecting to the GPS, but the main point here is that is WORKS. Every time she exists her 100 yard radius I get a notification almost instantly on my iPhone and I’m pretty sure it goes off around her neck as within like 60 seconds I get a second notification she’s back in the leash perimeter. I was able to record my voice saying “Come” which totally freaks her out and sends her running right back towards the house every time even recently when it rained despite all the negative Amazon reviews that said it doesn’t work in bad weather. It does for us, just great. I also love the remote control too as there have been a few times she didn’t turn right around after exiting the perimeter that I pushed the button on the remote and then she definitely turned her behind around running back towards home. Maybe others are not charging each night. I do as I want to make sure it works during the day. This device has really helped us. I had tried top expensive wireless fence products and they SUCK. This device is a total lifesaver, it’s seemed to be durable so far and keeps my Border Collie on my property without have to install a $50,000 no climb fence. So, yes, I highly recommend this! Thank you to the engineer who made this, it’s easy to use and it works great, field testing in Montana on lots of land.

Updated on 10-20-2020

I wanted to add that it’s been several times upgraded since the initial review! It actually shows real time as the cat moves and I can see which direction my cat is moving toward. It’s convenient when I want to go out to get the cat back home. It also has a cat category now so my cat is registered as a cat, not as a beagle anymore. I noticed that they keep upgrading the firmware of the device, and I love the added features- the radar and and almost real time tracking. It also shows hot spots- where my cat likes to hang out the longest- too. It has improved many ways that benefit cat owners. Thank you!

Original review-

We live in suburban town. My cat was a stray, now lives in our garage. He goes out in the morning, and comes back home by 4-5 pm before sun goes down. He is about 11.5 lbs and he’s quite active.

The device is slightly bigger than I would have liked, but my cat doesn’t seem bothered by it.

It picks up the signal 80percent of time, but then it goes offline( red dot), which I assume because my cat got under a deck or something.

When it works, it’s fantastic! I saw that my cat was on route to home, and it said he was at my home, so I opened the door to garage and here he just walked into the garage!

I like how it shows its daily trails. It gives me a peace of mind to know where my cat is about. He was a stray, and is happiest when he is getting some free time outside. I’ve been looking for/using other tracking devices and this one is the best so far!

To companay: you gotta update the app to add a cat. Currently my cat is registered as a beagle and it’s not fair.

I received this GPS tracker in the mail a couple days ago and I am impressed with the quality of the devices. The app is easy to install and use and I didn’t have any issues syncing the tracker and receiver to my phone via Bluetooth.
I was excited about this product because my dog likes to run the neighborhood and we live in a rural wooded area.
So far I’m disappointed that the tracker seems to loose connection super easily. It’s done it while I’ve been in my house with the receiver and outside while I’ve still got eyes on my dog. I’m not sure why it is loosing connection. The device is fully charged.

UPDATE: I almost returned, but I really wanted it to work for our situation. I've decided to keep it because after shrinking the safety zone around our house, it seems to work better. The receiver wouldn't loose connection with the tracker before my dog went out of the "Geo-fence". Our house is situated in the middle of 15 wooded acres and our dog is allowed to go outside without being on a leash or inside a fenced in area. He sometimes would wander off and visit neighbors and be back before I knew he was even gone. So basically I wanted something to allow me to be a lazy dog owner (guilty).

By shrinking the geo-fence around my house, the app was able to notify me when he roamed beyond the safety zone. I went outside and pushed the button to activate the recording I made on the tracker and my dog came running! The tracker and receiver did disconnect a couple times when he went to lie under our greenhouse to get out of the heat (he's a husky mix) his favorite napping spot. Also, I was also able to put the receiver outside on the porch railing and have my phone inside with me, the bluetooth connection didn't seem to have trouble staying connected. I also think this would work great when going on hikes with him too.

UPDATE 9/23/19: NOT waterproof. We went on kayaking on the river and my dog swam with the tracker attached to his collar. We tried to position it on the top of his neck, but he must have gone under enough to get the tracker wet. Unfortunately, the tracker has stopped working even after drying out. So far I've been unable to reach the company to get a replacement tracker. I was able to contact Petfon tech support with no trouble and was able to purchase a new tracker.

I bought this tracker to be able to track down my son, in case he should suddenly run away from us, when we are out.

As the owner of a software company that develops software for transportation and data collection on the road, I know that small sized trackers are very difficult to make. On one side you need as a minimum a built in data cellphone module to be able to send frequent updated positions over the internet, and a built in gps receiver to be able to get the childs position from satellites.
On the other side you want the tracker to be extremely small in size and light weight.

We have used this tracker now for a month in 3 different countries with very good results and we have had a very long battery life between charges, at least a week. I am extremely impressed by the Jiobit, the free app and the battery life of the Jiobit.

However, it is important to fully understand how this unnatural long battery life is achieved:
- When the child is within proximity of your phone, the Jiobit switches to a power saving bluetooth technology. Obviously a small child like ours will be within our proximity most of the time. However in the app you can also invite other people into a "Care Team", for example grand parents, siblings etc. For bigger children the care team can even include the childs own cell phone. As long as the child is within proximity (30 meters or so) of a member of the care team, battery consumption is extremely low.

If the child is suddenly missing in a crowded place, you can go to the app and remote activate a siren on the tracker, so you can hear where your child is. There is also an indicator in the app telling you how close you are to the child. This is efficient for indoor places where gps signals won't work and in also crowded places outdoor.
If the child is to far away from you or any other member of the care team, the Jiobit automatically switches to the more power consuming cell phone data/gps system, where you can track the child all over the world, no matter how far away from the child you are. In this mode the Jiobit will work for about 1.5 to 2 days if no other power consuming settings have been made.
However in the data cell phone/gps mode, there are also ways to save energy in the app:
- You can mark Trusted Places on a map, so when the child is in kinder garden for example, it will save battery life until the child leaves the kinder garden area.
- If the child is in the same spot for a longer period of time, Jiobit will inform the app, that it will stop sending updates until the child moves again to save battery.
- You can teach your home wifi to Jiobit, so as long as Jiobit is within reach of your wifi, it will also save battery life.

The tracker comes with a strong "claw" to put the tracker on clothes without it falling off. As an accessory you can buy a magnetic lock pin (a la shop theft tags on clothes), so the child won't be able to remove the tracker.

All in all absolutely THE BEST small tracker on the market within the limits of todays technology.

We live in small town South Dakota. My son has Down syndrome and has a tendency to wander. I got the Jiobit specifically because we ate headed to Dallas for a convention and was terrified he would wander off in the crowds and be lost. I felt so much better and was much more relaxed knowing I would be able to track him.

We now use it everyday so I can track to make sure he gets on and off the bus and to daycare after school. I don't have to worry that he's not getting to where he needs to be.

Recently we need to use customer service and what a great group these people are. Quick, responsive, helpful. Some of the best online customer service I've ever had.

Highly recommend this company.

After purchasing the device and confronting some issues at first, customer support was able to hear my concerns and fixed the issue, resulting in a positive outcome.