GPS tracking device for dog?

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Peakbagr

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I have a friend with a two year old Lab who sometimes escapes her yard. She's interested in a dog GPS device to safely locate her dog.
Any advice on makes, models, interface, cautions?

Thanks
 
When we got a dog a couple of years ago I bought a Garmin Astro 320 dog tracker. We quickly discovered that our dog never ran out of sight, so the tracking device began gathering dust and I did not get to really test it for usable range. At some point, before I bought a Spot, I tried to re-purpose the tracker for hiking - I would leave the receiver unit in the car and took the transmitter with me. If I remember correctly the tracker worked at least up to a mile but I doubt the advertise 5 mile range in line of sight is really achievable. In the end I bought a Spot which was a lot more practical for the purpose of letting my wife know where I was and I stopped using Astro altogether. I suspect that most of these devices are limited by maximum wattage allowed by FCC to operate without a license. Hence, in the end the real differences between these trackers may be mainly about ease of use. Garmin Astro receivers have GPS built in, so they can be used as stand-alone hiking gps units.
 
Here's an option that's pricey, and it's more than just tracking because it also has an interesting option to set up a fence perimeter anywhere - https://spotoncollar.com/.
 
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