The Greatest Canine GPS Trackers of 2024

It’s a canine’s life, because the saying goes, which is fortunate for us when a canine’s life contains swimming in rivers, working up mountains, chasing pals in fields, and rolling in unthinkable messes. We examined the highest canine GPS trackers so you possibly can monitor the place your pup finally ends up, even if you want you didn’t (or didn’t need to odor it).

Author, canine mother, and gear-tester extraordinaire Carolyne Whelan has examined GPS units for the previous decade. She’s tried every part from wearables to biking computer systems to handhelds to canine GPS trackers. Since transferring to the mountains 3 years in the past, she’s taken a deep dive into canine GPS trackers in an try to maintain her (largely) well-behaved wild beast secure.

She and her pup, Broose, have spent hours upon hours within the mountains, fields, and rivers round Montana and Idaho testing these units. She despatched Broose off on walks alone and on group hikes with units hooked up to her collar. Carolyne additionally reached out to others who use these units to realize their perception and cross-reference her experiences. After testing six completely different trackers for a couple of months, Carolyne’s 5-year-old Chinook is prepared for a nap. However collectively, they’ve gained deep perception into the very best GPS trackers for pets to make your decision-making simpler.

Irrespective of how well-behaved your canine companion is, it’s seemingly you’ve had an “oh-no” second throughout an off-leash run, hike, or swim. Within the blink of an eye fixed, your pup picks up a scent and disappears out of sight. Or, perhaps you’ve got an escape artist in your fingers who manages to get out of your yard periodically for some solo exploration. Regardless of the state of affairs, scroll by our record to search out the very best pet GPS trackers certain to maintain your treasured pups secure and maintain your sanity in examine.

Study what differentiates canine GPS trackers in our complete purchaser’s information and FAQ on the backside of the article. Our comparability chart might help making a decision. In any other case, learn our full gear information beneath.

The Greatest Canine GPS Trackers of 2024

Canine GPS Tracker Comparability Chart

How We Examined Canine GPS Trackers

Right here at GearJunkie, we’re devoted athletes, outside hobbyists, all-around journey aficionados, and canine lovers. We journey deep into the wilderness and discover city jungles, usually with our canine by our aspect. We all know the significance of maintaining tabs in your canine in the event that they discover independently.

For testing, we spent months mountaineering, touring, strolling, biking, snowboarding, and lounging throughout Montana and Idaho. We pushed these units to the bounds of their GPS capabilities excessive on mountains and deep in canyons. We went swimming in icy rivers as quickly as they thawed to examine waterproofing.

Many instances, Broose had a number of units hooked up to her collar or harness without delay. This allowed us to match the response instances and accuracy of the trackers in actual time. 

Carolyne purposely introduced Broose to places the place she may discover off-trail and past her sight. These conditions supplied alternatives to check GPS performance and any stimulation like sounds or vibrations that include sure units.

Broose is a 5-year-old Chinook combine. She loves the snow, swimming, and frolicking within the woods. No less than as soon as every week, she goes on a 7-mile off-leash hike with a bunch of adventurous canine. We cycled by varied units to trace her on these hikes. From these checks, we noticed which of them have been most trackable from afar and which finest confirmed her minute-by-minute location.

Total, this energetic and well-behaved canine examined these GPS trackers a whole lot of miles. She led the pack on cross-country ski excursions. She chased after rabbits and deer. Broose helped her people practice for trail-running races and gravel rides. She spent loads of time mendacity in her favourite sunny spot testing the battery lifetime of units whereas on Wi-Fi.

Purchaser’s Information: The way to Select the Excellent Canine GPS Tracker

Canines actually are people’ finest pals. Identical to our human besties, our fur friends have minds of their very own. They benefit from the errant journey. And, they aren’t at all times the very best at telling us what’s bothering them. With a canine GPS tracker, you might not persuade them to agree with you on the very best film or to do a TikTok dance. However, you possibly can at the least monitor them once they wander away and assist troubleshoot any illnesses.

With so many choices, which one works finest for you and your pup will rely in your particular wants. Use this information to assist comb by the jargon and discover the very best match to your finest furry pal. If all this wandering wears out Fido, try our Greatest Canine Beds information to allow them to relaxation as laborious as they play.

Varieties of Monitoring

Relying on the place you reside and what actions you take pleasure in, one kind of protection could also be higher than one other. Mobile protection depends on a mix of cell towers and GPS satellites to offer a location.

When in an space with good cell protection for the kinds of towers your gadget has entry to, this might imply a extra exact location than GPS alone. The Hyperlink, for instance, makes use of GPS by way of AT&T LTE-M and works fantastically in areas the place AT&T has nice protection.

Nevertheless, suppose you might be out of cell protection, or in an space that doesn’t have good cell protection for the particular towers utilized by the tracker (for example, AT&T or Verizon towers). In that case, you’ll have a tough time getting a good and constant location.

Galileo works finest in mountainous areas the place elevation is necessary. GLONASS is finest for city areas the place the terrain could also be flatter however many buildings and conflicting alerts are concerned. The Fi Collection 3 and FitBark use a mix of protection.

They each make the most of varied satellite tv for pc techniques and mobile towers, making them extra correct. Nevertheless, if you happen to plan on going out of cell service, you want one thing that transmits data by satellites. That is the place the Garmin Alpha T-20 shines.

Subscription Charges

All however the Garmin Alpha T-20 require a subscription to make the most of the GPS tracker capabilities of the gadget. This could doubtlessly swing a tool’s general price and worth, in addition to the “set it and overlook it” skills. If you’re searching for a tool with a long-term plan, Tractive gives a 5-year premium plan.

Most all of the units provide month-to-month charges. The Fi Collection 3 Good Canine Collar integrates plans into the general price of the gadget. Nevertheless, all others provide subscription charges as an addition to the gadget. 

The good thing about a shorter plan is if you happen to use it for a short while. For example, if you happen to get a tracker for hikes however have an older canine who doesn’t have far more exploration left in her, or if you happen to’re buying it as a present and don’t need to give somebody 5 years of protection if you happen to don’t know if they’ll use it. Or, if you happen to merely aren’t wild about dedication.

Nevertheless, the longer plans invariably provide reductions for signing up for longer intervals and paying up entrance. So, if you understand you’ll have a couple of years of use with the gadget you choose, investing in that point could also be helpful. With so some ways to cost your gadget’s subscription plan and the explanations behind wanting an extended or shorter plan, you’ll you should definitely discover one thing that works for you.

Well being Monitoring

A canine GPS tracker will be so simple as letting you understand the place your canine is throughout a hunt or hike or a software to watch your canine’s general well being and well-being. Age, breed, normal well being, and way of life all come into play when figuring out your wants.

The Whistle Go Discover 2.0 can actually assist handle nearly every part associated to your canine’s wellness, from submitting images of stool samples, monitoring sleep patterns, gaining access to a veterinarian by the app, and having the ability to e mail the data collected by Whistle to your vet instantly by the app. The Dice GPS, in the meantime, is a quite simple monitoring gadget that places all its energy into precision monitoring with out the frills of well being data.

Battery Life

Many of those trackers make the most of Wi-Fi to elongate battery life whereas canine are residence. That is nice for almost all of customers, whose trackers will probably be at residence most of every day when their canine isn’t on a stroll or in any other case out of the home.

Some, like Tractive, mean you can enter a number of Wi-Fi networks which works nice for canine who dwell in a number of houses or go to daycare. When you don’t have constant entry to the identical Wi-Fi community, although, this might drain the battery lifetime of some units with dynamic monitoring. In fact, you possibly can flip off the gadget to save lots of battery life, however the trade-off will not be understanding in case your canine slips out of the protection space.

Dimension

Canines are available in all sizes and styles, so you should definitely discover a canine GPS tracker that matches your pup. The Tractive XL is a incredible software with a protracted battery life, nevertheless it’s additionally cumbersome and quite heavy. When you have a smaller canine, think about getting the smaller and lighter Tractive Canine 4, particularly in case you have Wi-Fi entry to elongate the battery life.

Dice GPS and Garmin Alpha T-20 might also be a bit heavy for some smaller canine; Whistle Go Discover 2.0 or FitBark could also be extra manageable choices for smaller breeds. Hyperlink Good Pet Wearable, in the meantime, is medium-sized however its physique is quite light-weight.

FAQ