tractive GPS Dog Tracker, Market leader, Worldwide real-time location tracking, Escape Alerts, Monitor Activity & Get Health Alerts, White

We bought this after our German Shepherd ran off and we couldn’t find him for over an hour - we were frantic and imagining all sorts.We had already looked at trackers before this, but couldn’t decide which one would suits our needs most and to be honest, although Tractive seemed to be the best for us, the subscription fee for it did put me off a lot. However after Bear’s disappearing act, it put things into perspective and although I do still feel it’s a lot of money, it’s nothing compared to the peace of mind of knowing he has it on.My favourite elements so far are being able to watch his route live - thankfully we haven’t had to use this to actually find him yet! The activity tracker is great, however my partner doesn’t put the tracker on him unless I’m there to do it (defeating the purpose of having it, but that’s another story!). This is because he finds it too fiddly to attach to Bear’s collar.Which brings me to the negatives. Bear’s collar is quite broad as he is an extra large dog, and the tracker holder just about fits with a bit of pulling, which worries me as i feel it could fall off easier or the band could snap. It isn’t possible to leave it on him all the time as he tolerates it for walks but doesn’t like it on at home. My temporary solution is a second led collar which is thinner and worn slightly looser so he can still wear it but doesn’t get in the way of his main collar. I am looking into utility pouches to attach which may give more peace of mind. I am aware there is an XL tracker, but this was too big and I really wanted 4g.The battery life seems to be pretty good. I tend to charge it every day or second day, but it hasn’t dipped below 80% yet and that was with me tracking it on the app a fair bit to see how accurate it was.It’s really easy to set up and use, and the app is really user friendly. I love being able to monitor his activity too, I hadn’t realised how much I would use this function!I would definitely recommend this tracker, it’s worth the money for the peace of mind alone.

After we heard about one of our puppy's litter mates bolting and getting lost, we decided we needed a GPS tracker, so we researched what was available. Tractive had good reviews and the device seems smaller than a lot of their competitors. It is quite light and its shape means it doesn't get in the way of the dogs movement. Our puppy certainly doesn't seem to mind having it attached to his collar at all. He looks a bit like he is wearing a white bow tie.All these GPS trackers work in a similar way to your mobile phone - it has a GPS antenna, bluetooth, a lithium battery and connects to mobile internet to send the data back to you. Because of this you need to pay for a subscription on top of the cost of the device, so factor this in when comparing prices. Tractive offer a range of options that get cheaper per month the longer you commit to. They also offer insurance in case the device is lost or damaged. You buy the device first, and when you're setting it up you decide what contract you want.There is an app that you connect the device to, which allows you to track the position of your dog. It also measures how active your dog is, like a Fitbit. The bluetooth connection allows you to turn a light and/or a siren on the device, to help locate the dog if you are close but can't see him (in the dark or if he's hidden in the undergrowth.The GPS is less accurate inside buildings, which I find is the same with my phone. There are "normal" and "live tracking" options in the app. "Normal" updates the device's position every few minutes, and is the default when switched on. "Live tracking" updates the position every few seconds, so you can find the dog if you lose him. Live tracking uses more battery so it switches off automatically after 5 minutes, but you can switch it back on if you still haven't found the dog. You can set "virtual fences" so that you get an alert if the dog goes outside a certain area, useful if your dog likes to take himself for a walk. There is a limit to how small these can be, and I found this was necessary because of the accuracy of the GPS; any smaller and the alerts would trigger due to the error in position from the GPS.There is an obvious trade off between the size and weight of the device and battery life. I found when switched on and not using the live tracking, the battery lasts about 2 and a half days, so if you charged it every other day, it would probably never run out. The app has alerts that tell you when the battery reaches 10% (low) and 5% (very low), so you will know it needs charging.In summary, I'm happy with the Tractive GPS, and would recommend it.