Trackers, bells etc. - what do you use if anything

[ShakesFist]

I was out in one of the local forests with my dog last week. He is the type of dog where either he has a 'job' off lead (finding things) or he tears around like a lunatic. His recall is excellent though (whistle). You have to watch him constantly as he will push boundaries and go too far away if you're not careful.

I prefer taking him to open land where I can see him and in forests, he disappears pretty quickly.

I noticed that a lot of dogs were either wearing bells like these
beaus-bells.com/ or had something hanging around their neck like an air tag or a tracker

does anyone use these? are they worth trying? we have an air tag but I'm not sure how useful it would be on the dog and you need to be in phone range I think for it to work

I am going to be that poster, sorry.

If your dog is going out of sight then it does not have a good recall and needs to be on a long line.

If you are letting it go out of sight before recalling it then it also needs to be on a long line.

There is no way I would regularly let my dogs out of my sight.

If you continue to let your dog go self employed on a walk and find its own entertainment you will soon have recall issues.

Many dogs do need a "job" to do out on walks but that needs to be focussed and controled byyou. Sounds like he is a hunting breed so get some hunting for items you hide etc rather than letting him self reward from the environment

I can’t imagine how a dog feels with a bell constantly ringing in their ears. Considering their hearing, that seems like a cruel and unusual punishment.

But I think a tracker is a good idea. I might look into those. My dogs have excellent recall too, and I never usually lose sight of them. But it’s that one in a thousand occasion I guess where a rabbit appears, or a ditch, or a fast flowing river, or a thief, and you’ve lost your dog. Hopefully it would never happen, but what’s the harm in them wearing a tracker?

Have you got a link for those OP?

I bought my mum one called tractive. It's a yearly subscription of around £50 though.
It is fantastic, you download an app on your phone and you can see where he is. You can also set a virtual fence around your home so it will alert you if your dog has left the fence.

@reallymary fgs in a forest I can't see him because of the undergrowth - they have waist high ferns with paths through them where I am. And he is not 'self employed'. Which is why I said either when we go on a walk I give him a job like 'finding things' or I let him have a run around.

in my post I said 'You have to watch him constantly as he will push boundaries and go too far away if you're not careful' - so I am careful

I don't know what it is about this board that it has to be so bloody unsupportive!

@Allthehotchocolate thanks - I had heard about tractive - does it lose signal a lot? One of the cockers I saw on my walk the other day had that one and they seemed to think it was quite good

You ask for an opinion and that get really ansty at the reply. [shrugs]

So if he is near you in waist height bracken then you do not need a tracker .

All trackers will have limited coverage in forests due to the very undergrowth your dog is in and tree coverage. They also are quite large and can get caught on undergrowth. Tested on a search and resuce training day for lowlands S&A

I don't use anything. Tried a tracker when mine was a wayward teenage but it was rubbish in a forest or in the countryside plus he is fast so by the time the app had located him he was in a totally different place.

Mine hunts about in the thick forest. I can usually hear him though as he tears through anything in his path (ever since watching Jurassic park it reminds me of that with something coming at me from the undergrowth ).

Tractive trackers rely on mobile phone network for coverage. They are fine with trees and dense under growth but a bit crap in gullies. They have a beep feature and you can train your dog to recall to it.

Bells are fine for puppies in certain situations, short periods.

@ShakesFist it seemed fine where we live but as per PP said it depends on mobile phone signal in order to work!

We don't use anything but I am really selective about where I let my beagle off the lead and that doesn't include the forest

However, I also don't let him disappear off into undergrowth without shouting him back regularly to check in with me - it only takes a second for them to catch a smell and once that happens, they're off and deaf to your attempts at recall.

If he can't be in your sight I would be inclined to have the back-up of a long-line or maybe a flashing light so you can see him? I agree with a PP that the bells would be more annoying and distracting for the dog than anything else.

I know lots of people have had success with Tractive trackers but the signal isn't perfect and I think if you live rurally they can be pretty patchy as signal isn't always great.