GPS dog collars

[tualizzy]

We're looking into investing in a GPS set up for Jak.

He does a lot of mountain biking and hiking in the summer (backcountry skiing in the winter).

...we had a scare this weekend and are now thinking this would be a smart thing to do.

 

Does anyone on here use one, and if so which one do you use?

I'm looking at the Romeo right now.

http://www.roameoforpets.com/

 

I'm not crazy about the ones which require a subscription. I like the self monitoring set ups which do not require cell phone access, which is limited in remote areas where he would be. Battery life is a bigh consideration as well.

 

Any comments etc are most appreciated.

Thanks!

[DTrain]

We're looking into investing in a GPS set up for Jak.

He does a lot of mountain biking and hiking in the summer (backcountry skiing in the winter).

...we had a scare this weekend and are now thinking this would be a smart thing to do.

 

Does anyone on here use one, and if so which one do you use?

I'm looking at the Romeo right now.

http://www.roameoforpets.com/

 

I'm not crazy about the ones which require a subscription. I like the self monitoring set ups which do not require cell phone access, which is limited in remote areas where he would be. Battery life is a bigh consideration as well.

 

Any comments etc are most appreciated.

Thanks!

 

I have seen them used frequently in Canada with search and rescue. Check S&R companies and you will probablu find many options.

[tualizzy]

I have seen them used frequently in Canada with search and rescue. Check S&R companies and you will probablu find many options.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll do that.

I've emailed a company in Calgary who supplies the gps systems for the ministry of forests here in BC, hoping they have something.

We'd like to find a system that would allow us to use the hand held unit on its own, as a traditional gps unit, when not being used with a dog. And I defineately don't want one which utilizes a web based software for tracking. They're useless in the backcountry as you'd have to be able to go online to see where your dog is...and we could be more than a couple hours from the nearest internet access. Plus the tranceiver needs a cell phone signal to send out the dog's coordinates...not often available in the mountains.

 

Thanks again!

[Alaska]

We'd like to find a system that would allow us to use the hand held unit on its own, as a traditional gps unit, when not being used with a dog.

That would be the Garmin Astro.

 

The range on the Roameo is 1 mile at best, and much less in some conditions. That wouldn't be enough to be useful for my dogs. Plus, what I would really like is something that would tell me when my dogs got farther than a certain distance from me (in the woods, where I can't see very far at all). Roameo has a capability something like this, but not quite - I wrote asking if they'd consider adding this feature but got no answer.

 

Also check out Pointerdog-GPS, and here is another page that might give you some other ideas.

[tualizzy]

That would be the Garmin Astro.

 

The range on the Roameo is 1 mile at best, and much less in some conditions. That wouldn't be enough to be useful for my dogs. Plus, what I would really like is something that would tell me when my dogs got farther than a certain distance from me (in the woods, where I can't see very far at all). Roameo has a capability something like this, but not quite - I wrote asking if they'd consider adding this feature but got no answer.

 

Also check out Pointerdog-GPS, and here is another page that might give you some other ideas.

 

 

Thanks very much.

The Astro looks great... and is a REAL gps unit unlike the Romeo I was looking at.

I'll have to go find a shop and have a look first hand... but I think this is the one I'll go for.

Thanks again.

[jamesqf]

I have the Astro. As a GPS it works well (barring a few problems that are inherent to all Garmin products, like their closed-source, Windoze only maps). The harness they provide for the dog is worthless, though. On Niki it takes about a minute for it to twist around so the GPS unit is on the bottom, and looks like it would then fall off in short order. Maybe it works for short-haired hunting dogs - that's another annoying thing: all the system prompts & special functions assume you're hunting - but not on long-haired, barrel-chested BC mixes. She carries it in a pack, now.

[Alaska]

Tualizzy: You might have to drive down to Bellingham to see one. I think they aren't supposed to be sold in Canada, probably because of some conflict with the radio frequencies used to communicate between the two units. I read somewhere that a lot of construction sites use those frequencies too, but I wouldn't worry too much as long as you only plan to use the Astro out in the woods.

 

Jamesqf: All the hunting dog people seem to have similar comments about the uselessness of the harness. Most of them use the collar mount, with some kind of counterweight to keep the Astro on top. It's made to fit an ecollar (the kind we don't talk about on this board), but you can supposedly buy a dummy ecollar that has no electronics to mount it on (or make your own). I have read reviews by people who've done this successfully even on dogs as small as cocker spaniels - it just takes some fiddling around to find something that works.

 

BTW, people say the GPS part of the unit works fine even when it's pointing down, because the GPS antenna is internal, but the radio that communicates with the unit in your hand does NOT work well when its antenna (the external one) is pointing down. Also, some people have reported trouble with the dog antenna breaking off in dense cover, but replacements are cheap.

 

Besides amazon, the other place I found a lot of useful reviews was here at GPS Tracklog.

 

One reviewer points out that instead of buying the Astro, you could just buy a couple of Garmin Rinos, attach one to the dog, and you're good to go. (The dog can use the cheapest model Rino, even if you wanted a nicer one for yourself.) The bonus is that you could use the Rinos to communicate between humans when you're not using them to track a dog. There used to be a pretty good description of how to do this here at K9SarTech but it's been taken down - maybe Garmin gave her an Astro to use in return for removing the instructions for putting Rinos on SAR dogs.

[tualizzy]

Tualizzy: You might have to drive down to Bellingham to see one. I think they aren't supposed to be sold in Canada.

 

I did find a Canadian supplier, but it looks like I'd have to order one without seeing it first hand.

 

 

The harness they provide for the dog is worthless, though

 

I was wondering about that harness.

Jak wears a harness already when he's in the backcountry (handy for emergency situations, like when he fell thru the ice on the edge of a river ) ...is it possible to attach the transmitter to different harnesses? Jak's harness is fitted well, so I think the transmitter would sit in place. Of course he'd be running when they're out mountain biking and backcountry sking so I'm sure it would get bounced around.

 

Thanks for the tip about the Rino... I'll go have a look at them. Sounds like a good idea.

 

Thanks again.

Cheers!

[Alaska]

it possible to attach the transmitter to different harnesses?

I think the plate that comes with the Astro is designed to attach to a 1" wide collar, so as long as Jak's harness webbing is about that wide it seems like it would work. If not, I'm sure you can cobble something together.

 

I like the harness idea a lot better than the dummy ecollar idea, by the way. I've been mulling over investing in an Astro for quite a while, but I hadn't yet decided how to attach one to my dogs. Harnesses we have (this kind, if anyone is interested - love the double snap closures at the shoulders).

[Alaska]

Thanks for the tip about the Rino... I'll go have a look at them. Sounds like a good idea.

Okay, I managed to track down a recent (last December) post from the person who talked about putting Rinos on SAR dogs, and here's what she now says about Rino vs. Astro (she has both):

 

Personally, I love the Astro. The GPS accuracy and reliability is

excellent and the device is drop-dead simple to use. Much easier than

the Rino. I haven't had any freezes or other problems with it yet,

either.

 

One big advantage of Astro is that it transmits location every 5 seconds, where the Rinos only transmit location when you poll them. (Note that Astro only talks to Astro and Rino only talks to Rino, so you can't mix and match.)

 

There are more Astro user reviews at Cabelas. One thing I'm starting to realize is that the people who are happiest with their Astros are bird hunters, whose problem is not that the dog takes off for the hills but that the dog may be frozen on point mere yards away in the brush and the hunter has no idea where they are. The hunters whose dogs run their quarry (hounds, that is) often complain that Astro's range is not good enough for them, although other people say you can get better range by using the optional vehicle mount antenna on the unit at the human end.

 

Anyway, there are rumors that Garmin will be coming out soon with an upgraded Astro that addresses the harness design and antenna breakage issues. I think I'll keep on waiting...and keep working on improving the recall training in the meantime

[tualizzy]

Good to know, thanks very much.

 

I like the harness you use... looks a bit tougher than the one we use for Jak.

 

I think I may try contacting Garmin about the possible upgrade to the Astro as well.

 

Jak's recall with my husband and I is perfect... its when he's with other people and we're not there that there seems to be a problem. My father-in-law was dog sitting for us while we were out of town. He took Jak for a mountain bike ride, which he has done in the past. Some home they became separated and then he couldn't find him. It wasn't until the next day that we arrived home and found out Jak was missing. We took off to the last place Jak was seen, and after hiking for an hour and a half my husband had him back. My father-in-law said he hiked and rode that area three times, calling for him, but nothing..... yet my husband gets out there and Jak come rushing for him. Just super scared I guess. Either way, we'd like a gps for him... and I don't think we'll ever leave him with someone else again.

[jamesqf]

Jamesqf: All the hunting dog people seem to have similar comments about the uselessness of the harness. Most of them use the collar mount, with some kind of counterweight to keep the Astro on top.

 

I had thought of trying a collar, but it seemed that the weight of the unit, plus the counterweight (which would have to be some heavier, to keep the GPS on top), would be too much to carry on the neck. I might have tried it on my previous 100 lbs dog (though I never would have needed it for her), but not 55 lb Niki. The harness link that someone else posted looks good, though, especially if I could attach the Garmin GPS pouch from their harness...

[tualizzy]

So while I did find a Canadian supplier for the Astro... it would be illegal for me to use it here.

If I did, and was caught, the fine would be $50,000. Yikes!

Apparently some SAR groups use the same frequency. ((((((sigh)))))))

The search continues.

[Alaska]

The search continues.

Before there were GPS collars, hunters used radio tracking collars on their dogs, and many still do. The radio tracking collar only tells you what direction to go to find the dog, not how far away it is, but it could still help. I would imagine that there are Canadian radio tracking collars made that use frequencies legal in Canada.

 

Try here: Canadian Gun Dog Supply , although I see that they will also happily sell you an Astro without caveats

 

Maybe you should revisit the Rino idea - there is a Canadian version of each model available (see them at GPS City Canada).

 

ETA: Yeah, I know what you mean about never leaving your dog with someone else. This wasn't really an issue for me until "dog" became "border collie", but that changed everything.

[OurBoys]

ETA: Yeah, I know what you mean about never leaving your dog with someone else. This wasn't really an issue for me until "dog" became "border collie", but that changed everything.

Same here. With my other dogs, my mom would dog-sit for us but since getting bc's, the only person I trust to dog-sit is JJ's foster mom. That's also one of the reason's I drove the extra miles to use her as our obedience instructor when we adopted Jake.....so he would be use to her. We've had Jake for almost yrs now and we haven't used her since adopting Jake but I feel comfortable knowing we have a 'back up'.

 

With that said, if you don't mind another suggestion....until you find the gps you want, I would recommend training Jak to come with a certain sound on a shepherds whistle. Buy your FIL a little plastic whistle and ask him to learn the same sound. Mine came in very handy when Jake slipped out of our backyard. I know you said you don't want your FIL to dog-sit for you again but no one knows what the future holds and you never know when you might have to be forced to let him dog-sit again.

 

Our Jake is a sneaky one. Everytime we let them out in the front yard, he'll keep watching us until he sees us not looking at him then take off to explore the neighbor's yards. The day he got out of the backyard, dh had just closed the gate but not enough to latch it. Jake realized that and nudged it enough to slip out. I don't know how long he was out of the yard but (I feel) because I had learned to use the whistle, I was able to call him home with it. (He obeys a whistle a lot faster than he does a voice command. I think the high pitched sound also breaks his distraction.)

 

When you do find the right gps for you guys, please let us know. Even though our boys are trained to the whistle, I'm still interested in getting a gps for them for when we go on trips. I don't trust anything 100%.

[tualizzy]

The whistle sounds like a great idea, thanks for the suggestion. Perhaps Jak would be more comfortable coming to the familliar sound of a whistle instead of a strange voice. We'll give it a go.

 

I'll also have a good look at the Rhinos, and will look into the radio tracking collars as suggested. There is a hunting supply shop here so I'll stop by and see what they have... thanks for that.

 

When I have something figured out, I'll let all of you know what we're going with.

 

Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate all your suggestions and comments.