Tracking devices

[ShellyF]

Merlin has escaped five times now. Each time was an accident/oversight on our part - he’s either bolted past us at a door that leads to an unfenced part of the yard or i’ve Slipped on ice and dropped the leash. 

Each time he’s only gone into neighbouring yards and has returned fairly quickly but each time he’s gone a little further and for a little longer. 

I was worried I would slip and drop his leash on an icy trail and lose him in unfamiliar territory so we splashed out on Tractive. 

We don’t plan on letting our guard down but it’s reassuring to have a back up plan!

Does anyone else use one?

[GentleLake]

Can't say anything about your tracking device as I've never used one, but for bolting at the door the answer is training a reliable sit and wait until you give a release to actually go through the door. My dogs never get to go out the door until I say they can. If they try (during training) the door gets shut in their faces = no reward for the action.

[D'Elle]

1 hour ago, GentleLake said:

Can't say anything about your tracking device as I've never used one, but for bolting at the door the answer is training a reliable sit and wait until you give a release to actually go through the door. My dogs never get to go out the door until I say they can. If they try (during training) the door gets shut in their faces = no reward for the action.

Ditto. This wait at the door is one of the very first things I teach any dog who is going to be in my home for any length of time at all. I taught it to all my foster dogs. It is vitally important, to me. They are also trained not ever to get into or out of a car until released to do so, or through a gate. While the tracking device is not a bad thing at all, better to train in order to prevent the escape in the first place, since something bad can happen in seconds. I would, in your place, also train the dog to sit and wait if the leash is dropped, and/or to respect a command of "wait!", meaning stop where you are and wait there. My dogs are trained in the latter command as well.

[ShellyF]

Oh dear I have opened a can of worms lol!

He is trained to wait at doors but when this happened I was outside and the person standing in the door wasn’t aware he was in a position to shoot out. And when I slipped and dropped the leash it happened too quickly to react. Our guy is 11 months and his recall isn’t good when he can chase pheasants - which is why we walk him in the yard on a leash. 

Accidents happen and we have addressed each circumstance as it has happened and trained accordingly. 

We are not relying on the tracker but it’s a back up for when mistakes or accidents happen so I am interested to know if anyone else uses one and to be specific - how have you got on with the technical aspects of something like TRACTIVE? 

[Mandy1961]

On 3/14/2019 at 2:58 AM, ShellyF said:

Merlin has escaped five times now. Each time was an accident/oversight on our part - he’s either bolted past us at a door that leads to an unfenced part of the yard or i’ve Slipped on ice and dropped the leash. 

Each time he’s only gone into neighbouring yards and has returned fairly quickly but each time he’s gone a little further and for a little longer. 

I was worried I would slip and drop his leash on an icy trail and lose him in unfamiliar territory so we splashed out on Tractive. 

We don’t plan on letting our guard down but it’s reassuring to have a back up plan!

Does anyone else use one?

I too fell over a few weeks ago and obviously not meaning to, I let go of the lead. Fortunately Harry stayed with me long enough for me to grab the lead. I do know runners clip a separate lead to their waist in case they trip up.Maybe an idea when it is icy. Sorry no advice on a tracker.

[ShellyF]

Good idea re the second leash! 

[Hooper2]

I don't have a Tractive, but I splurged on a SportDog Tech collar a couple years ago.  It's way more expensive than the Tractive but there is no monthly subscription fee.   For the most part it does its job.  It shows me on a map where I am and where the collar is pretty precisely.   But like all GPS devices, it has its moments when satellite communication is gone.  I've had the hand held device warn me that it has "lost contact" with my dog when he is standing 20 yards away from me with a full view of the sky in all directions.  So, it's useful, and one more way (in addition to extensive training) for me to safeguard a dog that sometimes works and sometimes plays in open rangeland, but it's not absolutely foolproof.

[ShellyF]

Interesting! So far we have been pleased when tracking away from the house but having set up a virtual fence 50m away from the house we get a notification every time Merlin goes and looks out the window hahaha! 

[Ildiko]

I am using tractive. It was really a game changer only once, but that was important. The puppy run off after some deer or something in the middle of nowhere in the woods (should have been on leash, yes), it was getting dark too. But I could see on my phone that she was exactly in the opposite direction than I thought she would be, so instead of getting further away I was able to cut infront and catch her.

Unfortunately where we live there is not much mobile reception, but I still keep and use the device in case we travel or she gets further away somehow (like someone takes her, as I don't expect she would get actually lost now and is really good in finding me by smell if the need arise, but also honestly she is so much better in basically everything that I don't think we will need the tracker again. But you never know...)

I agree with the others that a tracker is not solving training problems, but it can be really useful in an unforseen situation.

Regarding the technicality - it was straightforward, as far as I remember I didn't have any problems. And now I just charge it as necessary, switching on and off.

Once the charger part gave up but that was solved.

 

[ShellyF]

Really helpful thanks! We are close to wilderness and someone locally is still missing their five month old pup. He’s been missing three weeks but was spotted a few days ago. I dread being in this situation. 

[jami74]

On 3/15/2019 at 9:48 PM, ShellyF said:

Really helpful thanks! We are close to wilderness and someone locally is still missing their five month old pup. He’s been missing three weeks but was spotted a few days ago. I dread being in this situation. 

That must be so awful for them Thankfully our boy is now very good at knowing where we are (we like to play in the woods after dark) and we've found a special recall tool which is pretty special. My bigger worry would be if he somehow got out at night as I take his collar off at bedtime, or we were involved in a traffic accident and he somehow got free and ran off in fear. It's a pity that the microchips didn't have GPS.

[D'Elle]

this tracking device is on a collar, right? Not meaning to be a wet blanket, but if the dog is taken by someone they will simply dump the collar. Even a microchip is not a fail-safe, although it is injected, because if an unscrupulous person takes him they will ignore the presence of a microchip and not all vets will automatically scan for it when someone brings in a new dog to their practice.

[Ildiko]

This type can be easily removed from the collar, so if someone wants to actually steal the dog, not much help for sure. But if it is just some tourists she joins to (not likely) or an unplanned snatching of the dog (hopefully even less likely), it might help and is quicker than waiting if someone will check the chip at some point.

Also here it is not a common thing, even dog owners ask me all the time what it is, so there is a chance the bad guys won't remove it at once.

It can also be lifesaving if the dog manages to get stuck somewhere in the wilderness.

No, I don't get any money from the company - maybe I should?

Well, I don't think this is something absolutely necessary but it does give me a peace of mind time to time. Especially when the dog was younger.

[Hooper2]

Nothing is fail safe.  GPS collars may be removed, or they may lose satellite contact, or the batteries may lose their charge.  Leashes break and get dropped.  Gates get left open.  Even very well trained dogs can have a brain fart and dash out an open door (I know someone who lost her Obedience Trial Champion poodle this way). Fences can be dug under and jumped over.  Vandals can make holes in fences even if they aren't intending to steal the dog.  Thieves can break into your house to steal your flat screen and leave the door open.    Even well trained dogs may encounter a temptation that in that moment they just can't resist.   The constant pounding of nails by a neighbor having his roof repaired may cause a dog to panic to the point of chewing through a woven wire fence, then knocking boards out of a plank fence in order to escape (ask me how I know this).  There are lots of ways besides theft for how a dog might go missing. If a GPS collar helps locate an escaped dog more quickly than he would otherwise be located that may save the dog's life.  GPS collars are one more level of protection when other safeguards fail.  They are fairly expensive, and most people probably will probably feel they have enough other safeguards in place to not justify the cost of a GPS tracker. But using one is not a sign that the owner is neglectful nor that the dog is inadequately trained or supervised.