# Experience with GPS tracking device?



## Cody2k (Jan 29, 2018)

Wondering our reliable are those type of devices, been considering the Whistle model from amz but would appreciate any feedback on efficiency, thx!

Sorry i'm not allowed to link to the item.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

I bought some tracking devices for my keys awhile back. They worked with wifi or bluetooth or something like that but not GPS. I actually misplaced my keys and the device was no help at all! I returned the doohickey and got my money back. 

GPS devices will need to be recharged and go through batteries faster. But it is a superior way of tracking someone's location.


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## Mareesey (Aug 25, 2016)

I read a little bit about them but I worried they would get damaged by the dog and be useless.


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## Cody2k (Jan 29, 2018)

I did a little bit of research as well and the one i mentioned below should keep the charge for 5+ days at the time since it won't use the GPS unless the dog is outside of your wifi coverage (geo-fencing). It also appears to be waterproof so i don't think it could get damaged that easily. Now, beside the $7/m subscription that i forgot to mention, the main issue i can see is how would the dog tolerate having something like that attached to his collar 24/7? Thinking my 7 weeks old puppy is too small to carry such a device around his neck now, but if he shows signs of being an escape artist later on i won't hesitate to get one.


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## annie827 (Jan 11, 2005)

I purchased one a while back thinking it was gps. Some of these companies don’t tell you, in their ads, that it works off Bluetooth and wifi. Very limited range. Sent it back


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

Is there something I could use riding my horse in 11,780 square mile adjoining natl. forests in Oregon? Mostly out of cell phone range. I guess it is kind of like the the old wild west. Get in trouble and you're on your own, kid. The dog will be with me.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Yes, I have experience with this technology: my young neighbor has one on his chocolate lab, Buddy. It's a thoroughly useless device, in my experience. Buddy gets out a lot, and since his GPS tag is is only link to his owner, it's hard to get him home. The owner never seems to have noticed Buddy's gone, so he's not using the map to locate the dog. Even when he's using it, the tech doesn't seem to be all that accurate, as he's sometimes a street over. 

To find his owner, someone has to bring Buddy inside, post him to the neighborhood Internet forum and/or Lost Dogs on FB, wait for his owner to notice the post and call to arrange to come get him. A simple, cheap metal or plastic tag from the machine in the lobby of Walmart or Petsmart would have had Buddy home within minutes of finding him. Heck, even a registered microchip would work for me because I have a scanner. 

Even if the tech allowed it to have its own cell phone connection that pinged the owner when the dog was on the move, I would not have my dog wear a device that would keep exposing the dog to constant cell phone radiation against its throat -- too many unknowns right now (and dogs concentrate exposure into smaller bodies):
https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/02/nih-study-links-cell-phone-radiation-to-cancer-in-male-rats/

Save your money. Microchip your dog and register it (cost: $15 at a Petco or feedstore vaccine clinic). Buy an ID tag (cost: $5 from a machine at Walmart). You'll be out around $20, and your dog will have connections to get back home that people who find dogs know how to use.


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## debr1776 (Feb 4, 2018)

I have experience with this type of device. We used a Whistle 3 GPS tracker for our collie, and it worked very well for us.

Our house is in a wooded area, set back far from the nearest street, and that street is a quiet dead end, so we felt comfortable using an Invisible Fence to "confine" her. When our collie was elderly (13 years old at the time), she went deaf and because she could no longer hear the warning beep from the Invisible Fence, we turned it off so she wouldn't get shocked. It just seemed unfair. We weren't overly concerned that she'd run off because she moved slowly and we never left her outside unless an adult was home. But she did sometimes walk over to the neighbor's yard, and we wanted to know if she left our property.

The Whistle 3 tracker was very small and light, and I think would be comfortable even on a small puppy's collar. It came with an app for our phones that would alert us if she left the yard and tell us while direction she'd gone (by telling us the closest house number). We had it set to alert us via the app and also via text messages. I practiced tracking using it by sending my husband out with it to hide in the woods behind our house, and I found him.  We only used it to track the dog once or twice, but it worked quite well. I was very happy with the peace of mind it offered.


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## seattleK (Feb 23, 2017)

I use the Whistle 3 tracker myself. For the GPS tracking to work you need to buy the monthly subscription to cellular service. That is what allows you to track your dog when he is not within range of your wifi. I personally love the device for the peace of mind it provides. Do not expect pin point tracking like your map app on the phone, but you can find your dog within a meters of where he was. Definitely recommend it


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## jujude (Dec 10, 2019)

Cody2k said:


> Wondering our reliable are those types of micro GPS tracking devices, been considering the Whistle model from amz but would appreciate any feedback on efficiency, thx!
> 
> Sorry i'm not allowed to link to the item.


For GPS tracking of pet dogs, I would recommend Spytec or AMERICALOC. I have a Spytec that I use when hiking. I think as long as you can mount it on your pet, it will work just fine. Its functions include real-time tracking, geo-fencing, alarms, etc., with all the functions of ordinary devices, battery life is about 2.5 weeks, which is longer than other devices.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Garmin sport has a tracking collar. Which is nice . seems to be pricey on the long wish list if I ever needed one.


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