Tracker on dog?

[Foxgloveleaf]

Just wondering as I’m up early with my new puppy, do I want or need an Apple tag on my pup?

Does your puppy run away ? (If so it probably shouldn’t be off the lead…)
or is it an incredibly rare breed or something? I don’t see any other reason to track your dog tbh

I’ve never used one. Are you thinking recall or theft? Recall we use a safe space until they are reliable. Or a longline on a harness can be good.
theft? They are always in my sight. Plus no one could take my two giants against their will. And they would NOT want to leave mum!!

Apple for what you want is useless. It has to be close to a phone and if you lose your dog then you won’t be close. Tractiv are better for what you want.
like others have said though you shouldn’t be putting your puppy in a position where it can get lost though.
i just asked about an app called biscuit which will help you know how much to exercise your dog-don’t know if it works for puppies (I guess so) .

We use a Tractive tracker on our two and think they are great. Seem to offer good coverage, app is quite good too. Always the one that gets recommended on our local dog groups.

If you want a tracker then Tractive are a good idea.

As others said, apple tags show where they are by the location of the last iphone they were in contact with. If your puppy is lost in a city centre, that'll work just fine. Out in the countryside? No.

Tractive work really well. I have one of those refer a friend discount codes if you decide to go down that route, which I think gets you 15% off and me a bit extra subscription time?

tractive.com/r/AyS3OC

We have a tractive and it has given loads of reassurance as pup has got trained up.

We had once incident where he ran off after deer.... and rocked up 20 minutes later at home over a mile away. That was when we got tracker.

When we go walking in new places it gives me reassurance I can see where he is if he legs it. Now he's older he very rarely strays more than a few metres away but he's still a spaniel and the instinct to hunt and chase won't go so we use it just in case.

Any dog can go missing, no matter how well trained it is.

All it takes is for them to spook at something and they're gone in a flash.

Mine run to me if spooked.

Thanks everyone. I was just wondering if it was something that dogs had now. Especially as many have dog walkers during the day and it’s nice to see where your dog is when you aren’t with them.

It wasn’t particularly from a theft point of view as I’d assume a stolen dog would have it’s collar removed and binned asap.

Trackers sound like a great backup for any unexpected bolting. She’s too young for that to be an issue now, but I’ll see what she’s like as a teen!

You mean up until now that's what they've done.

Every dog I've seen whose run off (one in the Lakes has been missing for two week now) is accompanied by an owner saying "well they've never done it before, this is totally out of character".

Dogs act unpredictably when scared or frightened or hurt. All it takes is for a dog to bolt and get injured and they just run, and a dog in survival mode is almost impossible to catch.

We've had dogs here who've been found after days and weeks of being on the run.

@Motorina thanks for the link. Just had a look and the virtual fence looks like it could be very useful for us when she’s big enough to wear the tracker.
How accurate is the location?

Yes they do. I’m their safe place.

I find my tractiv is probably accurate to about 5-10meters. It has 2 modes, one that updates every so often so if your dog is out with a walker you can see the route, and a live mode that gives you real time if they’re lost.
I wouldn’t send mine to a dog walker without them- you can see that they are taken out at the right time and that they are going far enough.

Just reading some reviews and the battery life doesn’t seem great. Is it a pain charging it all the time?

We use a Tractive on our cocker. He is extremely active and we only charge it every few days. We take his collar off at home so it's easy to charge then.

It paid for itself last week when dp and I took him for a walk and then I went for a run in a different direction (through a closed gate and into a large park area). Dp carried on walking with him through the forest and suddenly he had gone. He had picked up my scent and run back to track me. We still have no idea how he got through the closed gate (someone must have opened it) but he hit the 'live' tracking button and he was half way to me on my run. I assume eventually he would have caught me but still...!! Haven't done that again - I now go running from the house!

No. Ours doesn't wear his collar in the house so it's no big deal it needs charging after a walk.

Accurate to within a few feet assuming it can pick up mobile signal (which it usually can). Battery lasts two or three days, so I just click it on the charger overnight.

Its worked very well for me and my girls.

I've had a Tractive tracker on my girl since she was 4 months old, and saw her first deer... and chased! 90% of the time she's great, an unexpected deer means her recall goes to pot.
I only charge it up once a week, but it's on her harness and worn every walk. If she's out with my walker I can see where she is, if she's with me and having a good wander in the woods (I spend a lot of time with her off lead 'being dog') it just gives me that extra security because NO dog is 100% bombproof.
I was talking to a dog warden who says she wishes they were compulsory because if your dog is spooked and runs... the tracker gives you a much better chance at finding your dog .
I wouldn't be without ours now!