Not for the reasons when hoomans get tagged! LOL! Just the opposite!
I have been wearing the Tractive GPS Tracker ever since we were allowed to go back to doggy day care. Mum wanted to see how much time I spend running, walking and sleeping.
Or long-ish walks in London parks, Mum gets to see where I’ve been.
There’s a funny one from last Sunday. It shows me running around with George while we were at the gardens of Royal Brompton Hospital, but promise Mum didn’t drive across the gardens to Sloane Square and she didn’t drive across buildings to a parking spot on Walpole Street! Then we walked to Duke of York Square – so Mum could buy pumpkin puree for us from Partridges before we went back to the car to drive home!
While it’s first a tracker of my whereabouts in case I get lost but it also shows how much energy I am expanding. It allows Mum to set goals – how much activities I am doing
Apparently dogs like me averages about 80-140 minutes of exercise a day. So Mum set me a goal of 120 minutes.
So good to see some days I exceed our goals!
And then on the Leaderboard, it shows how I rank with the other canines – not doing so well here!
I ranked 41 amongst other dogs locally – suppose they are all city dogs.
Look at that! I am worst among other doodles! Bet they are country dogs and they run forever!
Don’t even compare me globally – I have fallen off the charts!
May’s comment: I have been checking into tracking devices ever since the first tracker came on the market. It was so large, it looked like Darcy was using one of those original mobile phones from the 90’s. And the GPS eight years ago wasn’t great either. Since then we have tried a few others as well as activity and health trackers. All sorts of devices have come and gone over the years.
When Lockdown began we were asked if we would give Tractive a try – except of course at the beginning of April, we weren’t going anywhere.
We trialled it as soon as Darcy was off to day care or with dog walkers.
What does it do?
The Tractive dog tracker allows you to keep tabs on your dog’s location by showing their exact location via the free Tractive GPS app through a paid monthly subscription.
- Live Tracking – LIVE mode on, you can see your dog’s every movement with location updates every 2-3 seconds.
- Virtual Fence – Create safe spaces – for example, your garden or the neighborhood – and we’ll let you know right away if your dog leaves it. And you’ll be notified you when they’re safely back in it. It was fab because I knew when they were about to be come home from day care or if I am not, then I know they are home.
- Location History
- Unlimited Range – this can be used internationally
You can also view your dog’s activity information and see how much they are moving throughout the day so that they can stay on top of their health and fitness. I had set a goal of 120mins per day for Darcy on her days out.
- Activity Monitoring – Check in on your dog’s fitness and activity levels. See how they compare with similar dogs. And set four-legged activity goals.
The device itself weighs less than 30g (1.1oz). It attaches nicely on a collar up to 2.5cm (1 inch) wide.
It stays secured to the collar and out of your dog’s way. Flexible rubber clip fits collar widths of up to 2.5 cm (1 in), while the mount snaps the tracker into place.
Dog-safe power button means your dog won’t be able to accidentally turn the tracker on or off.
It is 100% waterproof.
The rechargeable battery can last between 2-5days depending on your settings.
We get asked to trial things ever so often and we would only trial things that are of interest to us. With so many stories of lost and stolen dogs, I have always thought of getting a tracker on both Darcy and George – especially George, come to think of it.
We’re going to keep using the Tractive. Besides keeping check on how much exercise Darcy is doing, more than anything it gives me peace of mind to know that if they are lost, the GPS tracker can give me an idea in which direction I should be going to look for them. And of course the good thing is we can take this with us when we start travelling again as it works in 150 countries.
Of course if they are stolen, the thieves might know to take it off their collar but chance that they might have missed that long enough for me to know which way they were heading to.
It’s all worrying stuff and this will help to put my mind at ease when they are not with me or even when they are and George does a runner – though a lot less these days.
You can buy the tracker on www.tractive.com. Remember to use our coupon for your purchase.
One Response
Don’t worry about those other dogs, Darcy! You just need to do you!
May, I know you’ve been looking at trackers, seems like you may have found one that works for your needs and lifestyle. It certainly will help ease your mind with George, ‘the runner’!
Stay safe, stay well