Dog Tech: The June Smartcollar Update

It's time to check in with our favorite smartcollar GPS and activity trackers, and introduce some new ones! I started a Facebook group for discussing pet technology, check out Planet Smartcollar for active discussion about all the different smartcollar products, and real, unfiltered reviews by people who have actually used them.

Zip takes a dip in a stock tank wearing her Whistle 2.

Whistle 2: Currently using.

I wasn't expecting to like Whistle as much as I do. I saw the Whistle 2 tracker as old technology, about to be eclipsed by bigger and better products. It has turned out to be pretty darned reliable. The tracking is slow, but it really does work. 

Just a few days ago I sent Zip over a hill to look for wandering sheep, and she didn't come back. Eventually I opened the Whistle 2 app on my phone. While the location points it sent were several minutes apart, I could clearly see that she was running back and forth on the wrong side of an electric fence over the next hill.She has probably gotten zapped going under it, and wasn't willing to do the same to get back to me. Without the Whistle 2 tracker, I wouldn't have even known which direction to start looking.

Whistle 3

I've been hearing good things about Whistle 3, faster tracking and a new app. I just ordered one for each of the girls, and will report back when they arrive. After months of research, and talking to people who are actually using different products, I am confident that this is the best 3G tracker currently on the market. It uses wifi, bluetooth, and GPS, and is waterproof. Whistle 3 is smaller than Whistle 2, it may even be small enough for cats. It requires a monthly subscription fee.

Scout!

I am cautiously optimistic about Scout, another GPS/bluetooth/cellular device. This one specifically allows you to set alerts for places you do not want your pet to go. With a virtual leash, tracking history, and three days of battery life, this could be the pet tracker I've been looking for!

Link AKC

Though I ultimately decided that AKC's Link collar wasn't for us, I'm still recommending it as the best all-around smartcollar on the market. Link has a virtual leash feature, as well as temperature monitoring. Though they recommend charging it each night, many users report that the battery is still at 75% at the end of the day. I've heard from a couple of people who had really bad battery life, or collars that wouldn't turn on until they had been sitting for three days to let the battery drain and then recharged them. Link seems to have really responsive customer service, they've replaced these defective units, and also the trackers that have fallen off collars. Yes, as I predicted, the tracker falls off sometimes.

Nuzzle

Nuzzle's smartcollar is an enigma that is poorly understood even by those that created it. I have yet to hear from a single user that reports consistent behavior from the device. Battery life remains well under a day, but often varies from 8-22 hours for no known reason. The app often grays out and ceases to provide updates, which the company claims is unrelated to the batteries, but paradoxically can often be fixed by swapping out the battery for a fresh one. The batteries take 5 hours to charge, but may only last 8 hours. Tracking can be hit or miss, and constant false notifications are totally normal. Nuzzle is still deleting negative comments from their Facebook page, and negative reviews from their website. They are currently 3 days behind on processing returns, because everyone who wanted a reliable and accurate smartcollar is sending theirs back. They've changed the return policy and are now claiming to only accept unopened products, so that 30-day money-back guarantee is another Nuzzle lie.

Pod 3

Pod 3 still hasn't shipped to anyone other than the initial beta testers, and also to Argos shops in the UK. Yes, you may have backed the project, but you can walk into a retail store and buy a Pod 3 weeks before you get your backer reward unit. Crazy. I had a very high opinion of this company, but they seem to be having a tough time rolling out their product, and they're not handling the PR well. Nobody is even totally sure why the company felt the need to run a Kickstarter campaign anyway, since they are an established business with capital and stuff. Whistle didn't crowdsource their product, they released it on time, and the thing seems to actually work.

Kyon

Kyon is now a year behind schedule, and the original Kickstarter backers have begun asking for refunds. It's pretty clear they will be missing their goal of shipping by the end of June. Will the Kyon rollout be like Link's, with lots of initial bumps but a solid product and excellent customer service? Or will it be like the Nuzzle rollout, with a shoddy product and worse customer service?

Scollar

The Scollar release date has been pushed back from August to December of 2017. Typical smartcollar project. The company was still discussing color options in May, I don't think this one has been finalized for production yet.

Wuf

Wuf is still claiming a release in Fall of 2017, but has not posted an update to their restless Kickstarter backers since April. Many are asking for refunds, as the project was fully funded in 2014. I am officially predicting that Wuf will end up as vaporware, like Buddy and DogTelligent.

Findster Duo

I'm hearing good things about the Findster Duo. This one has a limited range, but does not require cellular signal to work. You carry one piece with you, and put the other on your dog. Your phone connects to the piece that's with you. Findster does not have a monthly fee.

Trackums

Touted as "a smartphone for your pet", this project looks even more ambitious than Nuzzle. It actually has an LCD screen. It will have a virtual leash, geofence, 2-way communication, camera, and three days of battery life, all for $200. These are expected to ship in September 2017. Sound too good to be true? I'm expecting this one to be vaporware too.

Dog Tech: The May Smartcollar Update

It's time to check in with our favorite up and coming smartcollar products! Technological development is a rocky road filled with bumps and setbacks, and it's a rare product that gets released on time. How a company handles those setbacks says a lot about the people behind the product. The world of pet wearables is always growing, it's exciting to see what might be on the horizon!

Whistle 2 - currently using

Our Whistle 2 tracker has been in use for 4 months now, and at this point it needs to be rebooted and freshly paired with the base nearly every time I charge it. The tracker often stops working when we are away from home, and the only way to make it start working again is to go home and mess around with the base station. Tech support is happy to explain how to reset everything, but fails to recognize that the constant need to do so presents a problem.

I did have occasion to use it to track Zip once, and it did indeed help me find her. On previous occasions, it was either unable to get a location, or I found her during the 10 minutes it took to get her location.

Whistle 3 - released!

Whistle 3 shipped out in February as expected! This new version of the tracker is smaller, lighter, and sends notifications faster. The company is doing a nice job of keeping on top of the PR machine, they have responded to every negative review on Amazon. The biggest downside to Whistle 3 is that it somehow isn't compatible with all WiFi routers, and the company recommends users with this issue just buy a new router. Wtf, Whistle?

Link AKC - released!

Link AKC was released in March, and it's not bad. It's just very new, and I don't think they beta tested it enough. The tracking is superior to Whistle. I really liked the idea of temperature alerts, but it kept alerting when my dog was in comfortable temperatures and definitely not laying on the device. I also really wanted the virtual leash feature, but again got many false notifications. I ended up returning this one because the single day of battery life was worrisome, and the tracker was beginning to show some wear and tear after only a couple of days.

Nuzzle - wtf?

I originally ordered three Nuzzle collars, hoping to use them for my dogs and maybe even the sheep at work. Unfortunately I had to cancel due to seriously shady behavior on the part of the company. They abruptly stopped communicating, censored everything remotely negative about their product, and blocked a bunch of users who pointed out that taking everyone's money without sending them a product for months is technically illegal. They finally started shipping this week, which is great news for the people that ordered back in 2015. Unfortunately, it looks like the features you get don't exactly match the features advertised. Temperature monitoring may or may not work, battery life is measured in hours not days, and tracking and boundary alerts are highly inaccurate. They've had well over a year to beta test this thing, but it appears they spent all the money on marketing instead.

Pod 3 - May/June 2017

Pod 3's release has been pushing from March to May or June of this year. I really want one, but Nuzzle has completely destroyed my trust in tech companies offering preorders. On the plus side, they're selling Pod 3 as a preorder right now, not as a finished and prepared product that just kinda won't be shipped for a few months.

Kyon - June 2017

Kyon has pushed their release date back to June of 2017. They've added more color options. With 30 days of battery life, and temperature monitoring, the only thing scaring me about this one is the $250 pricetag. This is another company that is being honest with their customers and selling their product as a preorder.

Scollar - August 2017

Scollar is still on track for release later this summer. This is more of a daily reminder collar for pets that stay at home, but it's still cool. 

Wuf - Fall of 2017?

Wuf has pushed their tentative release date back to fall of 2017. It's ok though, their website even has a disclaimer warning preorder people that the release schedule could change as Wuf is a product still in development. Nuzzle was not sold to me or anyone else as a preorder, despite being at roughly the same level of development.

Findster Duo - July 2017

This is one that I just learned about, a GPS tracker that includes a piece for the pet guardian to wear. Findster doesn't need monthly fee because the guardian piece communicates with both your phone at the pet piece. You can buy extra guardian and pet pieces for all the places, people, and pets in your life. I'm very excited about this one, but not enough to preorder it. Thanks again, Nuzzle.

Buddy - officially dead

The Buddy smartcollar's IndieGoGo page is now handing out refunds like candy. The project is officially dead, and the collar will not be released. Like most smartcollar crowdfunding campaigns, the backers were told they were funding the production phase of a working product instead of the development of a hypothetical collar that existed only in the campaigners' dreams. This has been the story of pretty much every pet wearable crowdfunding campaign to date, which means basically everyone who claims to have invented a smartcollar is lying about something. Buddy, DogTelligent, and Nuzzle have left me quite cynical indeed.

Dog Tech: Updates!

The dog wearable tech market is expanding, and there's a lot of fun new smart collars and pet trackers on the horizon. March seems to be the month when almost everything will hit the market for real, and I'm hoping to have my hands on a couple of new products within the next month.

Whistle 2 - What We're Using Now

Whistle 2 is our first pet tracker smart collar wearable, and currently the only one I have actually used in person. Zip has been wearing this activity/GPS tracker for six weeks now. With our normal weekly routine of spending all day long away from the base station, and not using the active tracking feature, the battery lasts five days.

Whistle 2 is great if I want to know what my dog was up to yesterday. The active tracking is nice when I want to know precisely where my dog was 3 minutes ago. The alerts that my dog has left the safe zone arrive approximately 8-15 minutes after she has actually left. Overall the system is pretty good as long as I don't mind waiting for information. The tracker syncs with the base station and uploads data every 12-24 hours, so I can't use it to tell if Zip needs some extra dinner after a super active day because I don't normally have that data until the next morning.

The weekly report is nice, it gives me a summary of Zip's activity and rest, and compares it to other border collies the same age. She averages about two hours of high activity, and 13 hours of rest per day. I haven't had occasion to actually use the active tracking for anything other than my own amusement yet, but so far I'm not finding Whistle 2 to be worth the $10/month subscription fee.

Whistle 3 - February 2017?

Whistle 3 will use wifi, GPS, Bluetooh, and 3G cellular signal to accurately track your pet and record their activity. The collar unit is smaller than Whistle 2, so it's possible this one will be appropriate for cats as well as dogs. Whistle 3 is in the pre-order stage right now, and is scheduled for release this month. I have a bunch of questions for the Whistle team, but so far they've been saying they've "get back to me right away" for well over a month.

Nuzzle - March 2017

I love Nuzzle so much, I ordered them for all three dogs. This is a 3G/wifi/Bluetooth collar with geofencing, temperature monitoring, everything I want in a smartcollar. It does not work with a base station like Whistle 2, it just needs me, my dog, and my smartphone. It also does not have a subscription fee. Nuzzle comes with two batteries so I won't have to take it off to charge it every few days. We were expecting our Nuzzles to ship in the middle of January, but they discovered a quality control issue that has delayed the process until mid-March. 

I absolutely love this company because they have been extremely forthcoming with information about the shipping delay. I know exactly what happened, what they are doing to remedy the situation, and how long it will take. They even provided a breakdown of the entire process, and how long each step will take. Since the original notification of the delay, I have received two addition email updates. While I'm a bit sad to have to wait long for my smart collars, I am extremely pleased with how the company is handling it.

Link AKC - March 2017

I pre-ordered a Link AKC (<- this is an affiliate link) smart collar back in December, and at the time they were not forthcoming with an expected launch date. I've been expecting to get an email about it shipping since mid-January. I finally got a launch countdown notification a few days ago, and I'm expecting our collar to ship in early March. This is another wifi/GPS/Bluetooth/3G device, and it works with a base station that can be charged in the car. It can also use my phone as a base station. Link AKC has the unfortunate combination of a sky-high price and a monthly subscription fee, so I don't know how long we'll be using this one.

Pod 3 - March 2017

Pod 3's triple-funded Kickstarter (<- this is an affiliate link) projects it's shipping date at the end of March, with the interchangeable modules shipping in May. This is the smallest pet wearable out there, it was inspired by a beloved cat that went missing. It's a wifi/GPS/Bluetooth/3G device with a monthly subscription fee. I really want one, but I can't actually to buy ALL the smart collars.

Kyon - March 2017

The Kyon smart collar can display messages like "I'm lost!", and the GPS can tell you what floor your dog is on in the building. This is another one with both a high price ($250) and a monthly subscription fee. It offers temperature sensing, which is a big plus. It also uses a base station to set a safe zone. Kyon is an actual collar to which you can attach a leash, it doesn't have a removable module that can strap onto any collar or harness. This one is expected to ship at the end of March 2017.

Scollar - August 2017

Scollar is a small smartcollar designed for cats and small dogs. Unlike most pet wearables, this one has a tappable display right on the collar. This one does GPS tracking, and has add-on modules for geofencing and vibration. There is a lot of emphasis on reminders for medication, feeding, and flea and tick treatments. This is an interesting one, but not one of my must-haves.

WUF - Summer 2017?

Wuf is unique because it is intended to be upgradable. My smartwatch isn't even upgradable! It offers tracking, geofencing, and a virtual leash, but their Kickstarter was fully funded two years ago so I'm not putting a lot of faith in the Wuf team at this point.

Buddy - Nobody Knows...

Squeaker's Buddy collar sounded amazing, it was going to have customizable LED colors and patterns in addition to all the wonderful smart collar features. They missed their October 2016 release date though, and started sending out refunds for their IndieGoGo backers four months ago. Nobody has responded to comments on the campaign page in three months, and nearly all mention of Buddy has been removed from the Squeaker website.

Shopping for a GPS Tracker

For a variety of reasons, I would like to purchase GPS trackers for Zip and Sisci Godzilla. We spend a lot of time outdoors, hiking and working, and once in awhile the girls go out of sight. Godzilla is very good about checking in with me every so often, but Zip tends to run far and wide before it occurs to her to come and find me. In addition to leashes, beacon lights, and reliable recalls, it would be nice to have some technology to help me locate my dogs should they ever not come when I call them.

Pet vs. Hunting Dog Tracking

It turns out there are two basic types of dog tracking devices out there: those for everyday tracking of pets and those for closely tracking hunting dogs. Hunting dog tracking devices are intended to be worn for several hours during a hunting trip. They are made for larger dogs, and can be rather bulky. Designed for use in remote areas, they use radio and GPS tracking technology. Many hunting dog telemetry collars are also electronic training collars, though tracking-only collars are also available. The battery on these tends to last about a day, and the range is about five miles. Telemetry systems for hunting dogs can be a pretty big investment, starting at $300 for an inexpensive one-dog setup, or $460 for a two-dog setup. Multi-dog systems that can pinpoint your dog's location and tell you whether they are running, walking, or standing cost well over $1000.

Pet trackers are relatively inexpensive, designed to be worn all day everyday, just in case pets get lost. These pet wearables usually have enough battery life to last for several days, and are largely modeled after human wearables, with smartphone apps and activity goals. There are a whole lot of them, and they use everything from GPS tracking, to cellular phone networks, to Bluetooth to locate your pet. This is an emerging market, and there are quite a few products in development right now, as well as a few that have been available for a few years already. These feel like they would be a better fit for my situation, and they're significantly cheaper than the hunting dog systems, but I'm having trouble deciding on one.

Whistle

Once upon a time there was Tagg, a GPS tracking system for your dog that used cellular netorks and GPS tracking to find your lost dog. The system worked with your phone, and sent you alerts if your dog went outside a predetermined area. Then Whistle, maker of pet activity trackers, purchased Tagg and everything went to hell. Though Tagg/Whistle has been around longer than anything else on the market, there still seem to be some major kinks that need to be worked out. 

Pros: Uses 3G cellular networks and GPS to locate pets. I get decent cellular signal at work, so this would be useful there.

Cons: The app is quite bloated. It is filled with activity tracking, social media connections, and pictures that detract from the basic locating functionality. It's not terribly accurate. It sends false notifications that your pet has left when they're safe, or fails to report when they actually leave their safe zone. It's slow, only updating every three minutes when actively tracking your lost pet. It also won't let you activate tracking when you know you pet is missing, instead you must wait until the system reads that your pet has left to begin tracking them. The battery life is only decent when near the home base station, which means having my dogs at work with me all day would rapidly drain it on a daily basis. There seem to be a lot of complaints about customer service.

Pod

I got to play with a Pod tracker at SuperZoo, and I was incredibly impressed with how light and compact it was. Like the Whistle, it allows you to set up a predetermined safe zone, and will alert you if your pet leaves that zone. However, it has some improvements over Whistle's current system.

Pros: Uses Wifi as well as cellular and GPS tracking, for more accurate indoor locations. Allows the user to set how often the location updates, and the safe zone can just be turned off to save battery life.  Is not dependent upon a base station to define safe zone, can be set anywhere. Comes with two removable batteries, so one can always be charged and ready to go. Much smaller than the Whistle tracker, small enough to out on cats and large birds and tiny dogs. The company offers a 50% upgrade to their newest product. Their customer service seems to be really good.

Cons: The Pod tracker only uses 2G cellular networks. In case you hadn't heard, the remaining vestiges of the AT&T 2G network is going down next month. T-Mobile is keeping at least some of their 2G up until 2020, but coverage is certainly not going to get any better. Pod is supposedly going to come out with a 3G version in February...maybe. At SuperZoo they were claiming it would be out before AT&T killed the majority of the 2G network. The current Pod tracker probably wouldn't be able to track my dogs while we are at work, or on hiking trips. Or possibly at all.

Tractive

Tractive is another GPS+cellular pet tracker. It seems to be a bit more compact than the Whistle, but doesn't offer as many customized options as the Pod.

Pros: Does not seem to need a base station. Allows customized safe zone and alerts if pet leaves that zone.

Cons: Appears to be basically a foreign knockoff of the Whistle, with a lighter but less user-friendly interface and worse customer service. Uses only 2G cellular networks, with no plans to update to something that isn't rapidly becoming obsolete. The annual fee for the device appears to be equal to the purchase price.

Nuzzle

The Nuzzle collar is brand new and just started shipping in the last month or two. Unfortunately, this means there aren't yet product reviews out there about the actual battery life, or other ups and downs.

Pros: Uses 3G cellular networks, GPS, and also Bluetooth. Comes with two batteries. Comes with a custom collar, but can be attached to any collar. Offers temperature monitoring.
Cons: Uses a base station, so may be intended for dogs that spend most of their time at home, like the Whistle.

AKC Link

AKC's Link collar is another brand new product that hasn't been widely reviewed yet. Unfortunately, their website is pretty short on information, so I have no idea if it uses 3G cellular networks, or experiences shorter battery life away from its base station. It sounds pretty awesome, but it's hard to tell what actual user experiences are like.

Pros: Specifically can be used to set mobile safe zones for off-leash activity or visiting friends. Temperature monitoring. Supposedly uses an algorithm to determine what counts as intense activity for your dog, versus moderate activity. 

Cons: No idea if it uses 3G or not. 

PetTronix RoamEO SeekR

This one looks like a significantly more simple product than any of the ones above. The RoamEO is not an activity monitor, it's not a smartcollar, it just tracks your pet. This one just uses GPS, so it should work both in town and way out in the backcountry.

Pros: Has customized safe zone that can be any shape, not just a circle. Safe zone can be mobile for off-leash activity. 

Cons: Has 3-5 mile range for active tracking, not sure if it also does remote monitoring.

Coming Soon...

There are some neat-looking smartcollars and pet tracking devices that may be coming out soon, but are not actually shipping yet. The Kyon smartcollar appears to be marketed toward urban dog owners, as its GPS location technology will tell you what floor of a building your pet is on. The Kyon collar is expected to ship in January 2017. Squeaker's Buddy smartcollar looks pretty amazing, with custom LED light colors and patterns for nighttime safety, as well as the usual suite of smartcollar features. However, it is being developed via Indiegogo campaign, and the updates have been few and far between. Apparently it was fully-funded over a year ago, four months ago they were shooting for a release date of December 2016, and they have not updated in the last four months. It also going to be crazy expensive, $250 for campaign backers and $450 for the general public if it ever comes to market. Wuf is yet another smartcollar with integrated phone app, that may or may not ship in spring of 2017.