GPS Collars

I've read a lot about the Tagg GPS collar, which works with a smart phone app. I wanted to let people know about the RoamEO Pet Monitor System. It's a GPS collar that works with a handheld receiver, and it's really affordable. Tagg has some great features, but there are monthly subscription fees. The RoamEO unit is $179 and that's it.

It's really great for times when your dog is off leash in a big area - hiking, vacations in rural areas, etc. You can visit the company's website http://www.amazon.com/Pet-Tronix-RoamEO-Monitor-System/dp/B004QWZ8UA)

I think it's really great! It's so fun to see dogs run around without a leash, and nice to know that you'll be able to find them. Makes me want to go hiking!

I really hope people aren't using these as an excuse to let their unreliable dogs off leash.

IMO, these are for WORST case scenarios when your dog accidentally gets lost. Not justification for letting them run off because you'll be able to find them. A dog shouldn't be off leash unless the owner has complete verbal control over the dog and it's trusted not to run off. If they ran off, they could easily be attacked and killed by other dogs, hit by cars, stolen (and have the collar removed) or could HURT other peoples/animals/wildlife... and get the owner a lovely fine and potentially pts.

I think it is a little much, personally. I'd rather train my dog and make sure they don't have the option of running away.

I think that is the worst reasoning I have ever heard to get a GPS collar

I was wondering about the TAGG collar and how well it works. My friend has a sheep farm and keeps Great Pyrenees dogs with the sheep. She gets a lot of hassle from animal rights groups about leaving the dogs outside with the sheep 24/7, which is what they are bred and raised to do. The dogs and sheep do have a shelter, which is not used, but it's there.

Well, her young female went missing yesterday. The fence got weighed down with the snow and the dog left, however, my friend was not sure if the AR people took the dog or not. I was told that sometimes they will wander away, but always find their way back home.

The good news is, the dog showed up this morning, a bit ragged and smelling like skunk. But I thought one of these might ease her mind a little. And, yes, her dogs wear collars with tags and are microchipped.

Agreed. I think it's a terrible thing to market to average Joe's dog that like to escape or just run off when the door is opened. You may eventually find your dog, but no GPS can stop them from getting hit by a car, killed by wildlife, or shot by a neighbor. It is absolutely no excuse to get out proper training, period.

That would be a good use, but the first thing that always runs through my head, they AR-nuts remove the collars! My neighbors mostly have hunting hounds, Coon and Coyote trained, and many of them use the GPS collars and receivers. Once we had a neighbor come up to one edge of our property where he tracked his dog to, but couldn't retrieve the dog because it buried it's way into a very large wood pile, but he was able to pick up the dog the next morning when it finally found its way out of the pile.

But I've heard all the horror stories of the AR-nuts picking up these dogs just outside wooded areas along roads, removing the collars, then driving them off as far as possible to dump them at high kill shelters. Interesting you should relay that scenario though, my mother belongs to a local email farm list group where someone in this area is having a problem with the local ACO who's also an AR activist stealing her LGD's, the first was later found dead in a ditch, otherwise unharmed (not HBC) but dead, the second was found before it was too late at AC but now has to go through the court system to get the dog back, and the court is playing the "we've had to move your hearing date" game. Like I said though, unless you could find a way to embed in the dog or padlock on the GPS unit, they will just remove it asap.

Yeah, if the AR people want your dog, then they will find a way. But it would have told her that her dog was in the vicinity chasing a skunk, or whatever. And white dogs are hard to spot against the snow.

I think they are great for what they were originally made for and that was using on Hounds when they are tracking game. My niece's husband is a Game Guide and he actually uses two collars on his hounds, one gives more acurate information but the battery does not last as long, the other one the battery lasts for 24 hours. So far, he has never lost any Hounds. He uses them on Bear, Bobcat and Cougar.

I quite agree that if your dog is going to take off into the bush, it should not be off-lead. You may not find them before the battery dies and your dog could have an accident by then.

We had a Tagg collar for Lucy. She is an escape artist extraordinaire, and managed to climb the fence more times than I'd like to admit. We now know where she goes (to the neighbor's to eat cat poop) but it was a huge peace of mind when we first moved here to be able to track her location on the phone. It was especially awesome when we had to leave her with my in-laws, as it reassured me that she was still in their yard/house.

It's good to hear that there's a collar without subscription fees. They should be used just in case of emergency; people don't need to be letting their dogs run all over creation, potentially hurting themselves or other animals. But a $200 investment for the worst case scenario that may never happen is much better than a $20/month subscription fee for 10-15 years!

My mother has this same problem. She has an Anatolian shepherd that guards her chickens (the dog appointed herself to this position; but hey, she hasn't lost any chickens to buzzards since!). Some female Anatolians have a really hard time keeping weight on. The vets don't know why, but it's a relatively common problem. So her nosy neighbors see a dog that's bred to be outside and babysit livestock doing just that, notice she's a bit on the slim side, and call animal control. It happens once every few months. The first time they came, the officer said when she pulled up and the dogs and horses all came out to greet her she knew everything was on the up and up. Now they just have coffee when she comes out. But if the neighbors would just speak up, maybe knock on her door and say they were concerned about the dog, they could learn what's actually going on, rather than calling AC over and over. I'm glad people are paying attention, that this kind of thing is on their radar, but after a few times, you'd think they'd learn to trust that there was nothing bad going on. Or just come over for a face-to-face.