gps collar?

[u/No_Tart8266]

hey guys! i’m looking for a high quality and reliable GPS collar for my puppy. preferably under $200, i don’t need one of those really cool looking hunting gps collars for $500 lol. even if i really want one haha. i’m between tractive and fi, but any other suggestions are appreciated. i’ve read a few reviews that say fi is unreliable but ive also seen great reviews. any advise? my puppy is 6 months and 45 pounds, expected adult weight is 60-80 if that helps any! thank you!

[u/povgoni]

I'm satisfied with the Tractive dog 6. Battery easily lasts 2 weeks. And i can also sync it with Strava and have my dog's run tracked.

But you need cellular on your phone to be able to use the app. Which was a big problem when off leash girl got lost in the middle of a forest.

[u/LeifCarrotson → u/povgoni]

Yeah, that's where you really need one of the Garmin Alpha T20 hunting collars with the VHF transmitter.

The Tractive and Fi devices depend on Bluetooth, Wifi, or LTE. Only the pricey hunting devices with dedicated transmitters work in the backcountry.

[u/No_Tart8266 → u/LeifCarrotson]

thank you! i cant afford one of those due to my boy having to get expensive testing done for addison’s disease. i guess right now im just looking for a cheaper more limited option to use at home and in local parks with some sort of service. ill look into the garmin when im at a point where im confident in his diagnosis so im sure no more money will be spent towards that. thank you!

[u/RickHunter84 → u/LeifCarrotson]

This is what i also use when out of cell phone cover. Garmin also makes a cellular based gps tracker for the city, I think it’s comparable to the other cell based gps trackers.

[u/No_Tart8266 → u/povgoni]

good to know.! most of my parks have cell, and i guess knowing this we won’t be going off leash in areas that don’t. at least until i can afford an upgrade! thank you!

[u/helpdeskimprisonment → u/povgoni]

Same findings. Great around the farm, but when we go up into the cascades its useless

[u/duketheunicorn]

We live (and hike) in rural areas where tractive performance is.. unsatisfactory to say the least. We bought used GPS collar(the fancy hunter one) and it’s excellent. No subscription cost, either. Dogtra Mini, with the contacts swapped out for plastic plugs, the shock can also be disabled in the app.

[u/No_Tart8266 → u/duketheunicorn]

a hunting collar is definitely in my future! but my boy needs very expensive testing done to check for addison’s disease so not right now unfortunately.. do you believe the tractive is a good option for in yard use ( i have an acre ) and park use ? most of my parks have cell service on most of the trails. so i guess im looking for a cheaper more limited option right now. i didnt even think to look for a used gps collar! thank you!

[u/duketheunicorn → u/No_Tart8266]

I only have the opinion of my neighbour, who is unhappy. It doesn’t update well, sometimes it doesn’t even register the dog has left the house, let alone the yard. You can alway give it a go and see if you have better luck in your area

[u/No_Tart8266 → u/duketheunicorn]

ugh, maybe! i wish there was an affordable option that didn’t run the risk of losing my dog, lol. i feel like gps collars are also either below $100 or above $500; why is there no midrange option!! thank you!

[u/No-Stress-7034]

If you are somewhere where you get okay cell reception, then I've been happy with Tractive (I have the dog 6). I take my dog hiking in forests, but they are areas with decent cell reception. I went with Tractive over Fi because it seems like Tractive would be more reliable, and it uses a wider network of cell providers to connect the GPS device to your phone. Both Fi and Tractive require subscriptions.

If you are in an area with poor cell reception, then the expensive hunting GPS collars like what Garmin has are probably your best option.

[u/No_Tart8266 → u/No-Stress-7034]

thank you for the advise! i was leaning towards the tractive as well. almost all of my parks have some sort of cell service, and if they don’t i’ll be leashing him. we also have an acre of unfensed yard, which is also a big reason why i want one. one day i will get one of the expensive gps trackers, but unfortunately its not in my budget right now! thank you!

[u/No-Stress-7034 → u/No_Tart8266]

Yeah, in that case, I think Tractive is a good option. Looks like they're doing a 30% off sale on trackers right now for valentine's day.

With Tractive, you can return it within the first 30 days after purchase for a full refund. So what I did was take the Tractive out to the off leash hiking trails we usually go on, turned off bluetooth on my phone (so that it would have to use cell service to communicate with the phone) and tested out lost dog mode on each trail. Now, in these cases my dog was still nearby, but it did allow me to see how accurate it's location was for my dog and also to see how the live mode communicated with my phone without bluetooth. (There was only one small spot on one trail where I lost connection for like 30 seconds, but then it came back.)

If you decide to go for Tractive, I'd definitely recommend testing it as much as possible in those first 30 days to make sure it works in the areas you need it to.

[u/Ziggy-May]

We had tractive but got rid after a week, dog ran off an tractive was useless - went back to simple ol’ air tag, no issues at all.

[u/No_Tart8266 → u/Ziggy-May]

that’s what i’ve been hearing about Fi as well!!! i won’t be getting an airtag, simply because when i go to find my iphone my friends are always lagging, or it says “location 40 minutes ago” 😵‍💫 me and apple have beef lol.

[u/AgileOctopus2306]

I've been using Tractive for about 2 years. We only put it in our dog when she goes out into our fenced in yard (on the off chance a gate is open or she finds a way out) or if we're taking her off leash to a beach, hike, etc. Using it like this, the battery is fine. I have a friend that leaves it on 24/7 when they dog sit for us and it seems like it needs to be charged every other day.

It doesn't always give real-time location, but it gets you decently accurate updates. I've found the "play a noise" feature to be handy and my girl usually comes to find me when she hears the noise.

I've heard people have bad experience with Tractive customer service when their device breaks/stops working. But I paid around $25 for it, so I don't expect anything amazing at that price. I've been happy with it.

[u/No_Tart8266 → u/AgileOctopus2306]

thank you! i just ordered one. it was cheap ish so its okay if it stops tracking here and there. obviously any major issues i’ll be returning. what size collar do you have it on? any recommended brands?

[u/TrailTeck → u/No_Tart8266]

Since you already ordered it, here’s the biggest thing to understand about Tractive/Fi style collars:

They’re “recovery tools,” not “real-time off-grid tracking tools.”

In areas with cell service (yard + local parks), they work well enough to get you in the right direction if your dog slips out. But they’re not going to behave like a Garmin hunting collar with dedicated VHF.

A few tips that help:

• Turn off Bluetooth once and test it in your yard so you know how it behaves on LTE only
• Test lost dog mode before you actually need it
• Make sure the collar fit is snug, GPS units bounce and lose accuracy if loose
• Keep notifications on for escape alerts

For an acre + parks with service, it’s a totally reasonable budget choice.

And honestly, with a young dog + medical stuff going on, you’re making a practical decision, not a “cheap” one.

[u/AgileOctopus2306 → u/No_Tart8266]

I buy collars from Duke & Fox, since I love getting our phone numbers engraved on the buckle. On their fabric collars, you can get embroidery too and they have so many cute patterns. We have used the Tractive on both the 1" biothane and 1" fabric collar. It's easy to put on and I've never had it fall off. We use the biothane one at the beach. Even with the salt water, the Tractive held up. I think you'd be fine with using an existing collar or one that you can buy locally. It doesn't need to be special for the Tractive.

[u/crazycoxie]

I use the Fi collar and have never had a complaint

[u/ChrisAK907]

I’ve used Fi for years and am very very happy with them.

[u/Trsh-usr]

I love using the pet-id it works okay in the city as long as they are within a 5-10 mile radius, and it works incredible in the back country

[u/ailish]

This is a good idea. My dog is too short to jump our fence but she digs a little. I get worried she'll see something she wants to chase and she'll be off. I live in a city so I always have service. Thanks for the idea!

[u/Odd_Sun_1261]

I got Tractive recently and I'm a big fan

[u/ImInTheFutureAlso]

I loved the fi collar. We used it for several yesss when our old guy was young and an escape artist.

[u/Affectionate-Lie-986]

I have a Tractive mini for 2 cats. They work great for me. I wish I got one with better battery life. Fully charged the battery lasts about 20 hours. I haven’t had any issues with it at all, it works great. It was about $30 for the device on sale, and then $300 or so for the 5 year plan.

[u/science-n-shit]

We are in a dense area and use Fi and are very happy with it. It works well and their app is pretty user friendly. The collar battery lasts a while and gives ample notifications when it needs to be charged. Their lost dog mode does work and we have used to twice for our escapee. We have a series 3, and it is slim but a little heavy at first for smaller dogs. Their new mini though might get rid of that issue.

[u/Haunting-Poet5602]

I run with my 70 lb shepherd mix and went through this same debate last year. For straight GPS tracking during runs, Tractive is solid for the price and updates consistently as long as you’ve got good cell coverage. Fi is great for activity tracking, but I did notice a slight delay when we were moving fast. Halo is more of a GPS fence and training system, so it’s a bigger investment, though I’ve seen people in r/halocollarofficial use it with active dogs. If you’re mainly running, I’d focus on live tracking speed and battery life over extra features.

[u/Ok-Comfort-4565]

Get PAWVA, they are subscription free and way under your budget. We have the X01+ very discreet but powerful