GPS tracker for dogs

cocker5

Hi All,

I am seriously thinking of getting this for my guy, i know it doesnt protect against theft or if it falls off etc... but only against if he runs off / gets lost etc while out walking up the mountains etc

http://www.snoopypetfinder.ie/products/details/kippy-pet-finder/1#

any advice is much appreciated

intheclouds

Id love one for my cat. She'd never wear something that size though. Be grand for a dog.

There is a yearly service fee of 30 euro on it.

I wonder how effective it is in places like under shrubbery, hidey places etc - the exact types of places where they go!

pawrick

intheclouds wrote: »

Id love one for my cat. She'd never wear something that size though. Be grand for a dog.

There is a yearly service fee of 30 euro on it.

I wonder how effective it is in places like under shrubbery, hidey places etc - the exact types of places where they go!

I assume like a sat nav it would need to be visible by a satellite to receive a signal so might not work if the cat/dog goes under a solid object like a shed roof etc.

seems good though for what the op needs but are there any hiking options for people which could be used in a similar way on a dog without the annual charge?

tk123

Would you have mobile coverage/signal up the mountains or somewhere remote to track him if you did lose him? I got my dad a cheap little tile type tracker recently - just for his keys lol and it's grand - if his phone and keys get too far away they both chime. No subscription and shows last location on goggle maps - maybe a higher end one like that would do the trick for less?

This is the cheapo one I got - no good for a dog I know but you get the idea :
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B014FBVTI6/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1467297371&sr=1&keywords=gps+tracker

cocker5

pawrick wrote: »

I assume like a sat nav it would need to be visible by a satellite to receive a signal so might not work if the cat/dog goes under a solid object like a shed roof etc.

seems good though for what the op needs but are there any hiking options for people which could be used in a similar way on a dog without the annual charge?

Thanks guys - yeah he is always with us or in the kitchen, NEVER off lead or anything as he's a crazy nose driven gun dog but we do alot of mountain hikes and if he slipped the lead or something mental (yes i know im OTT but terrified of him getting lost).. it would help get him back... im hoping it could be a life saver literally.

I dont mind the €30 a year fee... just wondering if anyone else has used something similar

intheclouds

Its a pity they dont have a chip that can be inserted under the skin.

When real time GPS tracking becomes available with smaller devices, and no need for an annual charge plus a very long battery life people will be sticking chips to their pets, cars, grannies etc...

cocker5

tk123 wrote: »

Would you have mobile coverage/signal up the mountains or somewhere remote to track him if you did lose him? I got my dad a cheap little tile type tracker recently - just for his keys lol and it's grand - if his phone and keys get too far away they both chime. No subscription and shows last location on goggle maps - maybe a higher end one like that would do the trick for less?

This is the cheapo one I got - no good for a dog I know but you get the idea :
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B014FBVTI6/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1467297371&sr=1&keywords=gps+tracker

well i use my fit bit when doing the hiking and that tracks my distance and all other details etc so i assume if i have coverage with my iphone and fit bit it would track cody on the move?

i did see the tile ones recently.. thought they are a good idea too!

The one i was looking at is shock proof and water proof (for the best part).. so im kinda torn... yes i know im being OTT but mates of mine dog got lost while out with the dog walker in February... nothing since :eek:

cocker5

intheclouds wrote: »

Its a pity they dont have a chip that can be inserted under the skin.

When real time GPS tracking becomes available with smaller devices, and no need for an annual charge plus a very long battery life people will be sticking chips to their pets, cars, grannies etc...

I always wondered why we dont have this yet... would help with lost of pets being stolen too not too mention kids too!

Judge790

Hey, new member here. Just had to register and post about the Kippy.

I purchased one last year and although I could see my pet 30m away it was telling me he was 2.2km away! It then said it could not find a GPS signal. I tried again on a bright sunny day with no success. The company I purchased it from then replaced it as there was "an issue" with the original but this did not improve things.

The company have a Returns policy which I adhered to. The reason I wanted to return the item was that it did not work... at all. It either had no signal or was giving me false information. I have not heard anything since. I have sent numerous emails and letters. I have the Kippy in its original box in the back of my car since September 2015.

I strongly feel I was scammed and feel I need to warn everyone about buying these.
The company I purchased it from are based in the Celbridge area. This cost me €150.
In my opinion these do not work and when you realise this it is too late as your €150 is already gone.
Mick

Alun

Any fresh, out of the box, GPS receiver (whether it's a satnav, outdoor GPS, tracker or whatever) in the worst case can take up to 25 minutes, but typically 15, to get it's very first fix. It needs to be placed in one place with a clear unobstructed view of the sky for that time, the weather is totally irrelevant. Once this is done, it should get a fix fairly quickly after that, each time it's switched on.

The 2.2km fix was probably down to it using mobile phone mast triangulation to get an initial fix, which depending on your location can be extremely inaccurate.

Judge790

I had it for about a week and every day tried to connect. I was at it for at least an hour each day and on the first few days was a number of hours at it. At the time our dog was running away so we were determined to get it working. Unfortunately, the product just was no good.

Alun

Did you have it attached to the dog at the time you were doing all this and was he moving around? If so, and the GPS receiver is straight out of the box and has to do a so-called "cold start", it'll never succeed. I've got a fair bit of experience with GPS, and I'd be happy to take a look at it and see if I can get it working if you'd like.

Judge790

Hi, Thanks a million for the offer, but I won't be subscribing to the Kippy service again which I would have to do at this stage to try set it up. But no, the unit was just out of its box and myself and my kids sat on the lawn trying to set it up. We only put it on the dog after hours/days of failing to connect to a GPS signal. We tried to connect a number of times over the week or so. A friend of mine was working in a GPS vehicle tracking company and he was the tracker fitter, he just said it was a useless system and not to bother. I will probably just end up dumping it.
Thanks again.