Dog Tracker

Why Fit a GPS Tracker?

A microchip identifies your dog once somebody else has already found it. A GPS tracker tells you where your dog is right now. For a dog that bolts at thunder, a working dog on acreage, or any breed with a strong nose and a poor recall, that difference is the whole point.

GPS or Bluetooth: Know Which You Are Buying

Bluetooth tags

Range of roughly 10 to 100 metres. These find a dog in the house or the yard, not one that has left. Cheap and good for what they do, which is not the same thing as tracking.

GPS trackers

Use satellite positioning and report over a mobile network, so range is effectively unlimited where there is coverage. This is what most people mean when they say dog tracker. Ours run from around $42 to $526.

Combined units

Several of ours pair GPS with Bluetooth, so the tracker uses Bluetooth close in and GPS once the dog is out of range. This is usually the sensible buy.

What to Check Before You Buy

Whether it needs a SIM or subscription, because a cheap tracker with an ongoing plan can cost more over two years than an expensive one without. Battery life, which ranges from a couple of days to a couple of weeks depending on how often it reports position. Waterproofing, which is not optional for a dog. And weight, because a tracker sized for a Labrador is not going anywhere near a Dachshund's neck.

Coverage in Australia

GPS trackers report over the mobile network, so they work as well as your phone does in the same place. On acreage or in a national park, check coverage before you rely on one. This is the single most common reason people are disappointed with a tracker.

Trusted by RPBA Breeders

Members fit trackers to breeding females who free range on property, because a bitch close to whelping will look for somewhere quiet and it is rarely where you expect.