GPS Tracker

[Kofa]

Hi, we have a fiver year old lab who is in the habit of running off whenever the opportunity presents itself. He is walked lots and gets plenty of exercise but is always up for an adventure. He is a delightful beast but as we live in the countryside it is unacceptable to have him wander. We have resorted to keeping him in most of the time as even thought we have a secure garden he still sometimes manages the impossible and get out. We have had a behaviourist in and he suggested maybe to try a GPS so that if he does get out it makes it easier to find him and get him home. Can anyone here offer any guidance or advice on this and if so what tracker would you recommend? Thank you.

Honestly, and without meaning to be too harsh, I think the cost of an expensive GPS tracking collar would be better spent on either building a decent kennel and run or re-fencing the garden, if not the whole then perhaps creating a smaller area where he can be under constant observation.

It's not so much the finding him after he's wandered off as what he's up to while he's loose - if he caused an accident, got in with livestock etc. the consequences could be incredibly serious.

I tried one but it was hit and miss and although it gave a general location my dog could move a lot faster that it could locate him. I sent it back as I was in a money back guarantee period as it wasnt good enough for what I wanted.

Shouldn’t a behaviourist be concentrating on his behaviour?

I can totally understand wanting a gps as last resort backup plan (after all how many 'lost' signs do we all see pinned to trees). However, I found they were not accurate enough for what I needed when mine was in his deaf teenage stage as he would run at speed through the forest. Fortunately with perseverance mine now comes back when called.

How is he getting out? You need to secure your garden as you dog is not safe or under control when out alone.

Thank you all. Can I clarify that we already have a secure garden and he is never left out alone. We had secure high fencing put in and even tried an electric fence. We tried a pen and he was so distressed he damaged his paws trying to get out. We have put a lot of love, time, money and into him and have done as much as we can to sort this. we have to. As someone who comes from farming stock I am very much aware of the damage and danger a dog can do and I am doing everything in my power to prevent our boy being the cause of damage to livestock or an accident. He is kept in the house all the time now as we cannot trust him outside. The reason I am posting this now is that one of my kids opened the door last week and he was gone in a flash.
We were just back from a five mile walk so he wasn't bored but he still took off. I ran after him and got him back but it reminded me that we cannot drop our guard with him for a second. He is a rescue and he has made amazing progress with the behaviourist but this is the one behaviour we haven't been able to change as yet. The idea behind the GPS is absolutely not so we can leave him in the garden and be less vigilant - it is to provide an extra layer of security if he does break out again. I do appreciate you all taking the time to reply.

Your garden isn't "secure" if he is getting out. I'd concentrate on finding how/where he is getting out and making sure the garden is actually secure.

The garden is as secure as it can be Elphame. When we first got him we had regular fencing and he jumped it. We increased the height and he dug under it. We bought a pen and he was too distressed by it. We replaced it all with steel fencing that went deep into the ground and one day a workman needed to access the garden and did not secure the gate properly and he got out. We have a second external gate which we share with a neighbour and is this gate is usually closed but on all of these occasions that gate was open and the combination of factors resulted in an escape. I should add there is also an electric fence which he has run through. In all cases he was found in a short time and brought home. He is now indoors all the time but I am hugely anxious about him getting out again after last week's escape. His recall is excellent - that is not the problem. He is an opportunist and if he sees a chance he takes it. I am hugely anxious over this as a farmer's daughter and my post was to ask about GPS as an additional extra, not instead of or in the absence of other security. I had read about some systems where you can define the boundary and the phone beeps to alert you if he approaches it and then tracks his movements if he passes it. This is the kind of system I am thinking about and I posted here to see of others' GPS experience. We have had many dogs over the years and never one with this behaviour before.

I live on a farm and have a roaming terrier - we have had to resort to keeping her in until we can find a solution - I understand your frustration as other dogs we have had have been allowed to wander freely around the farm with no issues! I did think about a gps tracker for her but a lot of friends have suggested an invisible fence - you can either get ones that are wired around your boundary or you can get wireless ones that set a boundary of up to 500m - you put a collar on the dog and when they go near the boundary the collar vibrates to warn them and if they get to the boundary it shocks them - there is some training required but you should get to a stage where you don't need to use it as the dog will be trained to stay in a certain area - maybe this would help?

I didn't try the boundary option which might be ok as I was after a back up for mine if he decided to leg it in a forest walk. If you just want a warning that something has gone wrong then the gps might work in your situation as you aren't actually wanting to track him. I used one that gave a money back guarantee for so many days. If you googled and got one that offered someone similar you could then try it out and get someone to walk the dog out in several places to see if it altered you in a timely manner.

I share your pain Matilda. It is difficult and containment seems to be the obvious solution but it slso requires 100% vigilaa nce from everyone at all times amd that is where it can fail. We think the escaping is probably why this boy was abandoned at a rescue in then first place. We have that wireless fence (I referred to it earlier as an electric fence). He just takes a long run and breaks through it but then won't come back through it as he doesn't have the same distance on the other side to build up the speed.

Thanks again Bitey. I like the idea of the tracking as well in case he gets out at some stage and goes further than before. I am so stressed with the 'what might happen' that my anxiety levels are sky high and that is not good for any of us