So, we got a puppy. It's my second Shiba Inu, and, yes, they're notorious escape artists. With my old dog, trackers didn't really exist during his days of mischief. However, now there seems to be several methods of doing so. What's your preference, and why?
We are in the apple ecosystem, so we went with an AirTag and holder for our pups collar.
Luckily, We haven't had a true test of its abilities, but seems to be accurate when taking her for walks or car rides.
I was thinking stickier tires and a helmet.
We did a Fi Collar and it failed miserably for us .
Mostly it needs to have a wifi connection to work so you pet needs to be very close to wifi, and specifically near it's base unit.
This doesn't work well for obvious reasons
Appleseed said:I was thinking stickier tires and a helmet.
We have the Apple dealio and a little collar apparatus to hold it. Been working fine for us.
I just follow the trail of fur and feathers to find Mittens the Destroyer. Our dog stays close to home and walks off leash, so no issues with him. Basically the bad kid and the good kid.
Whatever you choose, be sure to also have a microchip placed as well, and make sure you have it registered with your contact information.
Sorry for bolding that, but I'm still grieving for the loss of a friend's dog who never had the chip registered.
Appleseed said:I was thinking stickier tires and a helmet.
This was where my mind was going.
I read the title as something closer to: how do you do a track day with a pet.
I was wondering what the he'll a pet was.
Derp.
I second (third?) the Apple air tag if you have an Apple device. It's been a "set it and forget it" kind of experience.
We previously used a different tracker from a company I can't remember the name of, but it went through batteries way too quickly.
In reply to Appleseed :
. My dog Enzo might dig that.
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:Whatever you choose, be sure to also have a microchip placed as well, and make sure you have it registered with your contact information.
Sorry for bolding that, but I'm still grieving for the loss of a friend's dog who never had the chip registered.
Great reminder. Enzo is chipped, but we should register him ASAP.
Colin Wood said:I second (third?) the Apple air tag if you have an Apple device. It's been a "set it and forget it" kind of experience.
We previously used a different tracker from a company I can't remember the name of, but it went through batteries way too quickly.
I heard Apple air tags don't work as well in less populated areas - anyone with experience with that? While he normally lives in the city, he vacations in the country.
J.A. Ackley said:Colin Wood said:I second (third?) the Apple air tag if you have an Apple device. It's been a "set it and forget it" kind of experience.
We previously used a different tracker from a company I can't remember the name of, but it went through batteries way too quickly.
I heard Apple air tags don't work as well in less populated areas - anyone with experience with that? While he normally lives in the city, he vacations in the country.
It's true, those Bluetooth-based tracking systems work by using people's phones as distributed radio surveillance network, so they can only track things that get within Bluetooth range of a phone that's part of the network. If Fido-san escapes to the Alaskan wilderness and nobody's around, his location will never update. For less populated areas you'd need a cellular-based system with its own SIM card and cell plan, or worse yet possibly a satellite-based system if there's no cell coverage.
I did the Fi one on my Husky when I got her. She ripped it off in some lady's yard when she escaped and went on our normal walk without me. To top it off, we couldn't even find it in her yard. It wouldn't respond when commanded from the app. Useless. I've got a whistle now and unless she stays at my house the battery life is absolute shih tzu. She's pretty well trained now so I'm not too fearful of her jaunting around the neighborhood. The airtag thing sounds like a great idea but I don't have any apple products.
My mother hikes around eastern washington and uses some crazy Garmin (I think?) that has a huge antenna sticking off it and it's amazingly accurate. Although battery life is terrible.
As said above Airtags need a nearby Apple device to ping the Airtag and send its location back to the cloud , all at no monthly fee.
the Battery lasts about a year , it's a cheap CR2032 coin battery that's available everywhere and easy to install , just twist the back panel of the Airtag.
GPS is much better , but you need to recharge the battery often and pay a monthly fee to the cell company.
I will second (3rd?) the opinion that Fi doesn't work so well for tracking. a) it needs AT&T cell service and we live in the middle of nowhere where AT&T reception is not so good. b) it prioritizes battery life over tracking, so even when it is working properly you are always 60 seconds behind. c) Its firmware seems flaky, there are times when it just wedges and you get nothing.
We are currently trying the Halo collar. It does both tracking and invisible fence (but without wires, the collar has the fence boundaries downloaded to it and does real time GPS tracking to warn the dog when she is approaching the boundary). We haven't completed the fence training yet so have no real info about that part, but the tracking is much much better than Fi. It also uses AT&T but while there are still dead spots on our property (we live on 25 hilly wooded acres), it is predictable and always works where there is coverage, unlike Fi. It has to be charged every day, unlike Fi.
We just picked up some GPS enabled collars. They are set to 100 meters. At that point they start beeping, then vibrating. If they keep going the wrong way zap.
I will let you know Monday if they keep the shepherd out of the sheep.
Well, different but similar, with upcoming trips to theme parks and such we just caved and got air tags and holders to lo-jack our kids (2&4).
This is the AirTag collar attachment we are using. It's supposed to be waterproof, but we haven't tested it. The screw you see in the picture are for the waterproof cover, there is another piece with 2 screw the pass through the collar to secure it.
Im really intrigued by the Halo Collar. I'd have a difficult time forming over that money initially, but if it saves me having to fix the existing invisible fence wire (now and on a fairly regular basis), I could be convinced.
The pet safe system we have now is 14 years (and two dogs) old, so it may be time to upgrade for the 7 month old.
preach (dudeist priest) said:
Love it!
No Time said:Im really intrigued by the Halo Collar. I'd have a difficult time forming over that money initially, but if it saves me having to fix the existing invisible fence wire (now and on a fairly regular basis), I could be convinced.
We were convinced to try it because my in-laws neighbor has one for their herding dog on a large property, and it worked for them. GPS is only so accurate (I think 5 meters?) so I'm not sure how well it would work for a 1/4 acre lot. The firmware does take into account how fast and in which direction the dog is moving. We want to take our dog for a walk in the woods, but if she sniffs something and takes off, we want her to at least stay on the property.
The price is steep, but installing the wire for invisible fence isn't *that* cheap, and for us it wouldn't be practical regardless.
If you are referred by someone you can get $50 off; my in-laws neighbors did that for us (full disclosure: the referrer gets something too). I would be willing to do a referral.
J.A. Ackley said:preach (dudeist priest) said:
Love it!
Much like a pet you will love that movie, then it rips your heart out. So good.
Came here for this
was disappointed
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