Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs GPS dog trackers

We go out often into the wilds of WA state and let our two dogs run loose.

One stays very close, then other wanders.

We’re looking for a GPS collar recommendation.

She’s never too far away, but the brush is thick and she’s gray and hard to see.

I don’t want her to run into coyotes and me not have a very good idea of where she’s at.

Also, where to buy?

I use the gram in alpha and have no complaints

I run the Sport Dog Tek 2.0 on my dogs here in Maine and have had no complaints. Cover is thick and I have always been able to track them with no issues. My friend runs the Garmin Alpha and has had great luck as well. I really like the voice feature of the Tek 2.0. Cant go wrong with either one in my opinion. If you dont need it for training both companies make tracking only systems that will save you a few bucks.

Give the Dogtra Pathfinder a look also. It is a collar that uses an app on your smart phone to track your dogs.

As for places to purchase I like Gun Dog Supply, Lion County Supply, or Double U Hunting supply.

Where to buy will depend more on how much help you want picking out a tracking collar and setting it up, and whether you want to buy from a local, brick & mortar storefront business or mailorder. That's because all of the manufacturer's impose M.A.P. (min. advertised price) restrictions on their retailers. So, the retailers all list the units at the same price, and they all only put them on sale when the manufacturer's 'give their blessing'. Some of the mailorder outfits, like Gun Dog Supply, offer a 30-day trial period with a money back guarantee so that might be something to consider. I would encourage you to look over their websites carefully, read up on the units that interest you, make a list of the questions you have, and then call them. When I've done that I've found the folks answering the calls to be very helpful - they really are 'dog people' that use the products they sell. And they'll tell you stuff over the phone that they won't put down in writing.

Like Trapperrick mentioned, most of these units work fine, and I've used two of the mailorder outfits he mentioned (Gun Dog Supply, Lion County Supply) with great service. I've also used my local Sportsman's Warehouse and Dogs Unlimited mailorder with good results. I suggest that you first decide whether you want a full featured GPS in your handheld unit or not. I run an older Garmin Astro unit and use a separate e-collar for training purposes. The newer GPS units offer LOTS of features but IMO, they're not real handy to use FAST like you need to be able to do with an e-collar. When I got my GPS tracking unit, I already had a nice Tritonics e-collar unit, and Garmin had not yet come out with their first combo GPS/e-collar unit yet.

If I was starting out now, I might just get a Garmin PRO 550 Plus GPS/E-collar unit. It offers a good basic tracking system for distance and direction but isn't a full feature GPS. However, based on my experiences using the older Garmin/Tritornics 'tube' e-trainers, it should be an easier unit to get into action FAST when you want an e-collar for training purposes. If I want a full featured GPS, I can buy a smaller GPS-only unit for less money and stuff it in a pocket. In any event, take the manufacturer's claims of distance reached with a big grain of salt. Also, if the handheld unit runs on AA or AAA batteries, know that it will consume batteries at a fast rate, and even more so if you're using regular alkaline batteries -- especially in cold weather!!

Another consideration is whether you carry one of the latest, hi-tech 'smart' phones. Some of the new tracking units are designed to integrate with smart phones. Good luck with your choice!

We use garmin alpha and TT15 collars around 200 days a year and have pretty much no trouble with them easy to use good battery life . Tracking box is an alpha 100 . The little extra money for the collars that you can help train your dogs is well worth it . The TT15 collar is the way to go .

Another vote for Garmin. I use the Garmin Alpha 100 Tracker/Trainer along with the TT15 and TT15 mini collars. Excellent unit for one dog and easily able to run multiple dogs by adding extra collars.....
Garmin Tracker/Trainer

Been using on squirrel dogs for several years. Been great for me and you can even download birdseye and see the area your in.....

If it could afford it, I would love to have a GPS tracker/collar for my dog. I can't, so a cheap(er) alternative is a shock collar with tone and a bell. The bell lets me know about where Hank is and the collar allows to me to recall him or get his attention. Training him to come to the collar's tone was super easy. I don't have to use the shock feature very often at all, but I do like having it as an option. Not top of the line, but my shock collar is from Lion Country Supply, but nearly positive it's made by Sportdog. The combination has worked well from me.

I think I am going to pull the trigger on a Garmin 550 plus before next season. It is simple, and controls are about the same as the 550 I have now. If you need more than the distance and an arrow pointing in the direction of the collar, you can pair it with the Garmin app on your phone to get the maps overlayed with the collar, and can pair it with a Garmin watch for easier reference.

I've seen it said that the 550+ is more of a training collar with some GPS functionality where as the various Garmin Alphas are GPS collars with some training functionality added. Kind of a pick your poison thing.

Have the 550 pro and the piece of mind it gives is worth the price. Recently saw an Alpha and it gives more of the same. Nice thing is the collars for both are the same.

An acquaintance bought a refurbished Alpha unit from Gun Dog Supply….saved some money and it has been trouble free for a couple years.

I prefer a training collar, mine has audio, vibration and shock. Sure the gps will tell you where she is at, then when you get there, she has moved. My dogs go fly fishing with me all the time also, the young one sticks with me, while the older one just has to hunt, when I lose sight, I press the button, collar beeps, dog returns, works great

I've been using the Garmin 100 for over 8 years now. I just bought a 200i for the inreach capability. I figured I would hunt more than I train so the Garmin is perfect for my use. I do use it for training and when doing blood tracks or drags it is nice to see the dog on the screen over the track I layed. I train the dogs to vibrate on the collar, my first dog went deaf and I had no way to communicate with her when out, (she was whistle trained). Now all 3 dogs are whistle and vibrate trained, I like vibrate for hunting as well, keeps things nice and quiet.

Couple of my dogs on garmin tracking collars