Best Pet GPS Activity Trackers

2 real stories written by pet owners explain why they decided it was time to use GPS pet activity trackers

Our cockapoo is simply adorable but adores chasing wild rabbits! We didn’t know how much until one early evening during late summer when she was roaming around on the hills and suddenly bolted off unexpectedly.

The hillside has huge areas of thorny bracken and so we simply thought she’d be round the back of a mass of bracken when we turned a corner, but she was no where to be seen. We called and called, and walked around a half mile area for nearly an hour, now getting dusk and slightly chilly.

This was turning out to be a problem. Our other obedient dog was taken home and fed, watered and left. We kitted ourselves out with a flask of coffee, sandwiches, hand and head torches and cutters, to cut the bramble if we needed to, and made our way back, hoping that other walkers in our absence may have found her and hung onto her, calling the number on her ID tag. Alas, that wasn’t to be the case.

We spent hours calling her name, walking round and round the area, trying to see into the centre of the mound of bushes until finally, around 3am in the morning, there was a very distressed low whining sound coming from some bushes.

We started cutting our way into the centre of the mass where we thought she was located which took about 20 minutes and finally found her stuck with head down, slightly down an animal hole, which was very likely to be a rabbits hole, where she hadn’t been able to free herself to get out, because of the brambles surrounding her.

She was very cold and clearly disturbed. We carried her back to the car and back home.

Up for work at 6am wasn’t fun next morning having endured most of the night on the hills with 2 hours sleep! We decided she wasn’t to be trusted, so after a discussion and research, a GPS pet tracker subscription was purchased.

This would give our lunchtime dog walker piece of mind because it would be unfair to now place him in the position we had been. He was more than happy with the decision.

The Story of Benjy the Jack Russell

Benjy was our twice times rehomed Jack Russell dog who settled in very quickly with us. It was fair to say he had issues but these were due to previous owners poor training particularly apparent that he never been socialised meeting other dogs as a puppy.

One evening he woke when lying curled up on the settee and started visibly shaking violently. We had no idea why. It took possibly about 15 minutes to calm him and settle him down, lying back next to us.

A few days later whilst at work I got a call saying someone living nearby had found a dog in their conservatory who was distressed. It took about half an hour before she could get near to Benjy, to read his ID tag, and call me, as he was so agitated, shaking and frightened.

I finished work and picked up Benjy from the neighbour who lived two roads away and thanked her. What I couldn’t work out was how he had escaped out of a very secure garden which he had access to during the day, with steep drops to the walls and what had made him bolt.

I realised that he must have been desperate to escape from the garden and actually worked out that he jumped about 4 metres onto a neighbours shed and then made his way down on the wall and jumped a further 2-3 metres into the lady’s garden. Fortunately, he had not been across any busy roads.

Whilst Jack Russell’s love to jump in the air, I was concerned that he may have damaged himself with the excessive heights, but he showed no signs.

Next morning, we could hear the neighbours smoke alarm going off and Benjy started shivering, shaking and became very agitated, just as before. Realising that it was the loud shrill of the alarm that had been the cause of his anxiety, I visited the neighbour and asked if they were having any troubles with their alarms, where they informed me they had been grilling toast as their toaster was out order, and they kept forgetting to watch it whilst cooking, and the toast was burning setting off the alarms!

It was such a simple accident yet the deafening loud frequency noise upset Benjy greatly.

As I and my partner are out to work everyday, about 30 miles from our home, we decided the best thing was to invest in a dog GPS pet activity tracker so we would know exactly where our dog was, when we weren’t there with him. Since that day, we’ve had no problems to report but it’s been interesting to watch his activity levels on the app!

\\\ Featured Product

Our product this week is the GPS Pet Activity Tracker by Tractive.

Are GPS activity trackers only for dogs?

GPS activity trackers can be used for a number of different pets, but generally they are designed for dogs and cats. We’ve known of specialist trackers being used by horses and large exotic tortoises, expensive pets where they may be stolen.

The main requirement is that the tracker is fixed to a good fitting collar suitable for that pet and that the tracker will not detach itself. Cats will require a lighter weight tracker than a dog, at around 30g.

How practical are GPS pet activity trackers?

GPS pet activity trackers are useful when visiting or moving to new locations with your dog who may just get carried away sniffing out the new pets in the neighbourhood and run off.

The tracker will provide information of where your cat has been, building up a picture of their new favourite haunts as they mark out their territory, and also provide information such as sleep patterns.

Taking your dog regularly on longer walks to open spaces, coastal areas, beaches, hills, where they can roam freely, it can be advisable to use a GPS dog tracker. You’ll be able to locate them quickly if they’ve disappeared around bushes, trees, into undulating sand dunes and behind rocks.

If you take your dog to the beach, river and enjoy wild swimming, the tracker needs to be 100% waterproof.

Going to a work place allows you some comfort to know where your pet may be when they are wearing a GPS pet activity tracker.

52% of pet theft happens from gardens, (according to the Kennel Club statisics), and you can set the app with ‘fencing’, monitoring your pet outside your home in your absence. If your pet breaks the fence, the boundary, you will receive an immediate alert and can respond accordingly.

If you employ a dog walker, you will know where your dog is being taken to by the walker, when, and how long your dog had exercise.

Trackers are used frequently for globe trotting pets, those who travel frequently, where the owners can monitor their movements whilst in transit, being handled by airlines, or professional animal movement services, moving between city and city, or country and country.

Trackers work whether its dark or light, working strictly on GPS satellite tracking and can be extremely useful when out for walks during colder, darker nights as your and your pets movements can be shared back at home.

Trackers can help to bring your cost of your pet insurance policy down by informing the insurers your pet is wearing one, some look favourably at owners who use these services, where there is less chance of the pet being stolen. Pet Theft is a real problem to insurers, on the rise, year by year.

\\\ Buying Tips

12 Best Tips Buying GPS Pet Activity Trackers

• The company has excellent customer reviews especially for customer information and service.
• Check out company policy and customer reviews left concerning speed for necessary replacement trackers.
• Trackers should be lightweight, easy to put on and comfortable for the pet to wear, difficult for the pet to get off.
• 100% waterproof, light and shock-resistant.
• Your tracker should provide the regular location updating every 2-3 seconds.
• Provide a history of your pets movements and with a handy sharing facility.
• Be able to set safe ‘fencing’ zones and get notified if your pet leaves it.
• Take the system abroad globally having suitable GPS capabilities for many worldwide destinations.
• Look for either localised and/or global monitoring with fees and prices reflecting these choices of services.
• Work with Android, iPhone and web.
• Works with quick rechargeable batteries.
• Useful manual supplied on how to use the tracker.