Best Gps Tracking Collar For Dogs On The Market Today

I have had this unit for five days now and have had ample opportunity to test it. I bought it because I hike with my dog very often, and in Oregon that means we are hiking in the forest. My dog will not run off but no matter how much orange I put on him he is easy to lose sight of and I don't want to call out to him if there is no need to do so. I must admit that having read the negative reviews I approached my purchase with a bit of fear and loathing, but because I have had a terrific experience with my SportDOG 425 I took the plunge. My observations:

1) The unit is very easy to set up. For me the most difficult part was threading the lanyard on to the handheld. The downloadable instructions are easy to find and easy to follow. For context, I am a 67 year old technical laughingstock and I had no trouble following the setup guide. It took me about 45 minutes because I am slow, but all you have to do is read the instructions and you'll be fine.

2) I first tested the unit on my German Shorthaired Pointer on a beach on the Oregon coast; as you would expect it worked flawlessly in that environment. Next I went for a couple of hours on a trail in a heavily forested area. Again, flawless. I was really afraid that the heavy tree canopy and the ravines would prohibit the unit from receiving a signal but not so; it worked great!

3) The handheld is easy enough to use. I played with it for about an hour prior to using it with the dog for the first time and once I got the hang of it I could navigate around it pretty easily. Think of it as being about the same as learning to navigate around a new phone; you just have to use it for a bit. Like your phone it can be a little hard to see in the bright sunlight.

The handheld is relatively large and at 10.6 oz. (yes, I weighed it) for me is a little too heavy to wear around my neck. If I were using it while carrying a shotgun I think a belt clip or holster be more comfortable and useful than a lanyard. I am going to try a carabineer next time out to see how that works.

4) I did not need the help of SportDOG's customer service department to set this up, but I have contacted them on two other occasions for questions about my 425 and found them to be available, knowledgeable, and sincerely willing to help. My only comment is that they don't have a real overnight shipping option at any price. It's next business day after a day of processing so if you order a part on Thursday morning you won't get it until Monday so be prepared for that.

5) It's fun to tell little kids who ask about the antenna that your dog is actually a robot that you can control with a remote.

If you need a GPS tracker for your dog I don't think you will go wrong with this unit.

Watched a group of hunters manage 8 pups and 5 people and asked them how they did so. One of them introduced me to this product.
I have a wolf hybrid and a coydog that require a deep woods hike of 5 plus miles every day. Keeping track of them just became possible. Glad it works up to 10 miles.

Follow up. Purchased a second unit. Thought I had issues with it but Virginia at PetMoods reminded me of the tremendous tunable nature of the gps portion. I was able to improve performance of both units in 10 minutes. Customer service is above and beyond!!! Thank you.

I am very thankful for this unit. I have been using it for about six months when I walk and train my German Shorthair Pointer. The only problems I've really had were operator error, such as I forgot to plug it in and get a full charge before going out with my dog.
Last year I lost a dog hunting and it was a pretty sad couple of months. I'm still not quite over it. Don't know what happened to her. I had to buy a new dog, and I determined that I would not lose another dog. I researched what I could for tracking collars.
I like this one because it has the display on the hand controller and doesn't require you to add yet another app to your phone, or carry your phone with you hunting. I usually do, but I like to save battery where I can on my phone for emergencies and following my dog on the phone screen does not save battery. This is convenient. I think you can tether it to your phone also, but not sure. It also downloads to your computer if you like. I'm not much for that. I also like the charging system it comes with, it is easy to use, though you do have to make sure it vibrates when you plug it in. It gives you eight hours charge which is generally enough even for the longest day's chukar hunting. Though it would be nice if there was someway you could preserve that charge. Even an auxiliary battery would be beneficial.
It will tell you when your dog is on point. Well, in my experience that isn't entirely true, it merely tells you where your dog is and says that it is on point 200 yards in front or to the right of you etc. It says your dog is on point even while you see your dog running in front of you. I turned that feature off. Rather, worthless. If my dog was sitting still for a minute before the controller determined it was on point, that might be nice. But truth is I just want to be able to track my dog and know where he is if he gets over a ridge before I do.
So far I have used this collar effectively to train my dog for a number of things including finding shed antlers.
I found the training guide CD that came with the system to be very helpful and especially the tip to always do something fun with the dog right after you put it on so they associate it with fun rather than work or discipline.

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

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.

Does what it is supposed to do and very easy to use. The app is straight forward and simple. Wasnt sure i would like using a cell phone to control a gps/e-collar, but after some research, i found that you can use an old phone with no service. I have an old galaxy s4 that hasnt been in service for awhile. I have it on wifi at home to download maps. Then, in the field, all you need is bluetooth and the phone simply acts as a controller/handheld gps. No service required. Since i always have my working cell phone with me, i can use it as a backup if my old s4 would die.

Spent alot of time debating between this unit and the garmin alpha 100. After getting a chance to test an alpha, i am really glad i went with the pathfinder. With 2 collars i am still $150+ less than the cost of the alpha with 1 collar. Add how easy the pathfinder is to operate and you get a really great value for your money. The alpha 100 is a really good piece, but cost and ease of use is why i went with the pathfinder.

I am using this for mountain cur squirrel dogs. I went with the mini as the full size collars are pretty big and would be too much for the young dogs i have. Even when full grown i think the full size would be kind of big for my female as she will probably be about a 30lbs dog. My male is alot bigger than the female and should be 40lbs+. I think he will be fine with the larger collar when he fills out. I know the range of the mini is half of the full size, but i dont need the extra range so losing range for smaller lighter collars is fine with me. I know someone using the big collars on curs and feist without issue so either will work with smaller dogs.

Regardless if you buy a pathfinder or pathfinder mini, all the collars are compatible. I have 2 minis and 1 full size collar synced to my receiver.

I bought this for my 30lb Brittany Spaniel. It fits her well.

When you're using this in a small space, you will quickly notice that it is not very accurate. When testing this in my yard, it would often say my dog was on the other side of the property even when she was standing right next to me. But, whatever, I decided, it was accurate enough to curb any anxiety over losing her when we visited my family's 200 acre property. Her recall is very good, but I just wanted extra assurance... And then my dog stayed within eyesight of me 90% of the time we were there, never leaving the unfenced yard unless I did first. Go figure!
But it was extremely helpful once we went hiking in the woods - she went out of my eyesight a grand total of twice, but one of those times she went through thick brush I couldn't follow her through, where the mountain was too steep for me to go around the more clear areas... and she didn't come back when I called. On my phone, I could see her running one way and stopping. When I called again, she would run a different direction, until I called again. She was going on circles, and seemed to not know how to get back to me! The GPS location, while again not wholely accurate, was good enough for me to circle around and get to an area above her where she could see me, and she immediately ran up to me when she did.
(It's been suggested to me that she could be partially deaf in one ear, so she's not able to tell well what direction a sound is coming from. I would not have realized this without the GPS collar!)

I have not used the corrective vibrations/tones/shock, so cannot speak to the accuracy of them.

I'm very happy to have bought this product, even though I will get very little use out of it until the couple times a year I do manage to have a long weekend to go somewhere she can be off leash and unfenced.

My husband runs this on out treeing feist for squirrel hunting and our English dog for raccoon hunting and it works great for both.

We have a 50 pound mix pit/Shepard/ Heinz dog that was a rescue from the city and loves to explore and run. We live in the woods with lots of acrege so he has plenty of room to roam. The problem is, he roams to far at times and is a bother to neighbors 2 miles away! We just dreaded the thought of installing underground fence but felt we had to other option. We came up with a plan to install an underground 1500' fence around our home and some of the woods and went ahead and bought the supplies on Amazon. The fence kit arrived but the late spring weather did not allow us to bury it rite away and I was dreading the thought of doing it in fear it would not work to our expectation. A friend of mine informed me of training collars the many hunters/trainers use and said his buddy had bought one of the Dogtra collars and was totally happy with the outcome. After a few hours of research I decided to go with the Dogtra Pathfinder and sent the underground stuff back to Amazon. The Dogtra collar was a much cheaper option than the path of the underground fence and installing it was going to be. Before the collar arrived, I watched several Youtube vids on using the product so when it arrived I had a good idea how to use it.

"Brock" was already familiar with wearing a training collar but the cheaper collar only worked in a close proximity so when he got out of sight in the woods and believe me he knows it. He is a very stubborn dog and has no fear of anything at all......except for electric! Even just a very tiny bit of juice gets his attention and he knows when the collar is on for sure. After setup of the new collar, downloading the app etc we let him outside to test drive it. I previously set up the geofence area around approx. 2 acre area with the lines close to the neighbors to the west and east and parallel to the road out front. We watched his live path as he roamed around and I must say the Google maps are amazing too. When he got close to the Geofence we had set up I got an alert on the phone and beeped him to retreat and he did. Brock respects the beep feature as he knows what will be coming after the beep if he still is wrong doing. The neighbors to the east have dogs he likes to go and play with and they are ok with that but we needed to keep him home. Last night he went out of the Geofence and went there.....NOW w e can see that and call him back in! At first I beeped him after calling him and he ignored the call, then I gave him a very mild tickle and BOOM he came back on a dead run! We continue to work with him every day and the training gets better all the time. The unit is just an awesome product and a great alternative to underground fence. The long range they advertise is up to 9 miles. I don't expect that but know the unit will perform well within a couple miles in our hilly woods terrain here. The app and collar work seamless with no issues found as of yet and would recommend searching out youtube vids to familiarize yourself with this product as I did.

If you're like me, you might be doubting whether this collar could possibly be worth $400, and does it work for all that? Well, my friends, I am here to tell you that it is worth. every. penny.

I have a German Shorthair Pointer and in addition to wanting to be able to find him when he's working, I wanted him to be able to wander my fields without direct supervision and have the peace of mind that he wasn't going onto roads or other people's property (the neighbors are miles away, but as anyone with a GSP knows, huge distances are no deterrent for these mischievous dudes :).

The battery life is great considering the complexity of this device, the range works exactly as advertised, and judging by my dog's rapid responses, the tones and shock deliveries really do work from *miles* away. I can also rest easy when out of range of cell service - everything works like a charm offline.

This collar has made it so Jaeger can exercise and wander to his heart's content, and I can be in my house and not stress about what he's up to. Just brilliant. My only regret is not getting the collar sooner!

A few notes -

1. the "dog statuses" can be a little oversensitive; that is, I have found about 20%-30% of the alerts for 'pointing' and 'treed' have been inaccurate while directly observing Jeager. This is not a big problem, as I've learned to look for "clusters" of status alerts to let me know whether he's truly located something.

2. As others have said, this is a sophisticated set-up but as long as you take the time to at least skim the manual, it's pretty easy to use. Don't be a moron like me and throw the manual aside at first because you resent getting snowed with papers every time you buy something.

3. Be aware that the "geo-fence" feature cannot automatically shock or play a tone when your dog exits; however, you get alerts letting you know the dog has left. This has been perfect for me. I recommend taking your dog for a walk around the perimeters of your geo-fence and using the tone to teach them where the new boundaries are. After that, I just keep my phone handy and get a push notification if he breaks the boundary (which almost never happens now!!).

Better than garmin at half the price and no subscription. Uses google maps and a cell phone.

I am extremely pleased with this dog collar. The battery life when the app *remains* open on a cell phone does drain a bit quickly but otherwise I see no disadvantages.

When I first got started with it, I thought I had to pair the collar, phone and receiver each time and I was very frustrated with it. However, I reviewed videos online and found that pairing only needed to occur once. I found that one simply needs to turn the receiver on then turn the collar on and let them sit for a few minutes to get things started each time.

Today I mistakenly went out with my dogs when the receiver had an orange light. I thought no problem. Unfortunately the walk went very long as my english setter loves to explore. The battery died and I lost connection deep in the woods. After trying to find her at her last location, I went home quickly and recharged the receiver for 30 minutes getting me to about 10% battery charge. I then went right back to where I was with her and found her immediately. An immense stress reliever.

The best price found on Amazon with this quality. Gps very accurate, water proof, and long battery life! Finally we can let our hound roam free and we are worry free, because we can always figure out where he is. Expandable to 21 dogs, all you need to do is to buy extra collars.

I absolutely love this! I’m on my second German Shorthair Pointer, and they love to run—far. I’ve resisted shocking them into submission (GSPs have been around since the 19th century so it should be possible to train them without a shock collar), but the occasional slip when he gets on a game trail has led to some scary moments. After a 3-hour excursion I decided it was time to keep track of my boy more closely. I was going to get a Garmen but they’re significantly more expensive, and the reviews indicated that the Pathfinder is just as good. I’ve used it several times and it’s amazing.

Love it!! Well made, durable, serviceable and works great. Customer support is unsurpassed

Loved it! Works good to add to our collection!

We purchased both the system as well as an additional collar to contain two large Pyrenees dogs on a large calf operation that is next to a busy road. The system and GPS fence has worked really well for our needs.

The puppies/dogs are a bit rowdy and with lots of play and swimming in the pond on the property the collars have held up really well (surprisingly!).

I am not extremely tech savvy, so it took me a bit to really learn how to use the system, set up the GPS fence, etc. however once learned it was quite easy to operate. The manual that the system comes with is helpful and was used quite a bit in the beginning.

I recently experienced an issue with one collar not acquiring a GPS signal (after 8 months of rough puppy/dog life) and the tech support I experienced for the company was amazing. They issued a full replacement with no hassle. (but be sure to keep a copy of your receipt that proves you bought the item with "Condition: new".

I strongly recommend this for anyone looking to contain your dogs to a small or large property.

Read all the reviews before I got this and was hoping the positives were more correct than the negatives. So far, they are. I did get a collar with a more robust antenna than in the picture and it has survived dog rough housing/play as well as diving through fences. I think most of the negative reports are because people did not read the instructions as well as follow them, and did not spend some time thinking about setting up the center point of the boundary area for the fence. I picked a center point and then walked out to where I wanted the boundary and when it wasn't what I wanted I re-did it. Yes, a circle is not how we think, and I also think this is much better for larger areas. I like how I can turn off the fence but still have the collar on to work my dog allowing her to leave the area without punishment, then turn it back on so I can find her rough whereabouts. I am using on a cattle ranch on my cattle dog so that gives you an idea of the area I am working with.

This seemed like a lot of money at the time but I couldn't be happier with this system. We live on 15 acres with a thick grove of trees and surrounded by cornfields. My 2 Great Pyrenees dogs learned within a week where the boundaries are set.
It's been 2 years now and I have had 0 times they breached the perimeter. I still collar them each day but I'm sure I wouldn't need too. Going on 2 years now which brings my cost to 60 cents per dog per day so far. That will keep going down as the system is still going strong.