20 Best Tracking Dogs For Hunting (2023 Updated)

The unit itself is good (have only tested it a few times) and the collar fits well and does not bother our dog. The antenna is longer than I expected. My biggest beef is the way Garmin sell/includes maps.

To load satellite imagery you need to use Garmin Basecamp which is no longer being developed. In my case, it would simply NOT work. So after a long search I discovered that there is a known bug, and you need to disable 2D viewing (otherwise the program just stalls).

Even doing this is difficult because the program literally takes forever to load until this is disabled. So why not make that the default setting (even if there is no more development)? Further, the Birdseye imagery is very fuzzy – nothing at all like eg: Google Maps.

Worse, within Basecamp, you do not see any map at all, unless your Garmin is linked to your computer. Even if I were to buy maps, it can only be loaded in one device – so you would need to tether the device to see it on the computer.

The software needs development because the Astro will not download tracks or anything like that using Garmin Express. So the unit is good, but it is let down by the desktop software and the fuzzy satellite maps.

There aren’t a lot of alternatives for use in Canada though.

Firstly, this thing works great. I’ve used Garmin GPS units before so the interface was easy for me to deal with. I’m not a hunter. We have a dog that takes off in the woods. He’s always come back but it’s a stressful time while he’s gone.

This thing has tracked him beautifully and there’s a function to go directly towards him with a fat pink line drawn in his direction on the map. It’s easy and intuitive. The only testing I’ve done for distance is in our neighborhood at home.

With houses and small buildings in the way, it has worked from up to 1. 3 km away. In the mountains the furthest our dog has run away is 350m before coming back. I hope he never runs 1. 3 km away but, if he does then I can walk in the direction he went and hopefully be able to pick up the signal again.

The only thing I don’t like is how long it takes for the unit and collar to synchronize when I turn them on. I’ve had to learn to be patient because sometimes it happens in seconds but sometimes it takes a couple minutes.

I’ve seen complaints of how fast it goes through batteries. With alkalines it probably lasts around 12 hours. With rechargeable AAs it last about 8. I usually use rechargeables but I keep an extra set of either fresh charged ones or new alkalines.

The collar lasts a long time. I’ve never drained it, even on long days. It’s tough to say this is good value because it is expensive but I’m very happy I have it.

Not cheap, but works as it should and worth its weight in gold to know where your dog is and their direction of travel when you can’t see them. I often find myself in places with no cell service, so a GPS-based unit was a must.

Takes a little while to figure out all the menus and yeah, it looks a little dated, but not a big deal. I like that you can switch from seeing the direction and distance your dog is at to a live map of where they are in relation to you.

Both are useful in different situations. The feature to alert you when your dog gets a certain distance away from you is very helpful. The gizmo to attach the handheld to your belt or pants pocket or waistband works well once you realize what it is and how to put it together.

It clips on and you can easily swivel it towards you to glance at the screen. It also can be removed from the clip easily. I decided to buy a set of the NiMH rechargables for the handheld, since we’re using this every day, often twice a day.

I’m glad I went with the Mini size for my petite, 36 pound, 20 inch ‘pocket rocket’ Vizsla.

I received the Tek 1. 5 tracker and e-collar as a gift late in the pheasant season. It was perfect for my hunting style, upland game in Minnesota and South Dakota. When my WPG goes on a point, she will not give it up.

Before having the Sportdog Tek 1. 5, several times, I “lost” her in heavy cover. I was using a beeper collar on her, but with snow and wind blowing, not to mention the sound of walking through the cover and swamps, the beeper was difficult if not impossible to hear even at relatively close ranges.

With the Tek 1. 5 I can now simply look at the screen and get a fix on her location. What a game changer for me and my dog. I chose the tracker with e-collar so that I can use this as my training collar as well.

The system is easy to use and well thought out. After using it once or twice I was fully comfortable with all the functions. I do like the way point and starting point settings. In some areas I have gotten a bit turned around and the start point helped me to easily navigate back to my truck.

I would love to give this a 5-star review but am only giving it 4 as I would like to see a couple of minor improvements. These two items are related. One thing that I found rather annoying is the lanyard.

When the handheld unit is on the lanyard and you are walking, it tends to start swinging back and forth across your body, even when you cinch up the lanyard a bit. Super annoying. Secondly the tone on the handheld is not loud enough.

I set the handheld to beep and vibrate when my dog goes on point. As mentioned, hunting in cold, snowy blowing conditions can be a challenge. I am wearing multiple layers to stay warm and have a hat on.

In this condition I could neither hear the beep nor feel the vibration through the multiple layers as the handheld was dangling around my neck. My solution was to use a refrigerator magnet clip, remove the magnet and attached the clip to the back side of the handheld.

This allowed me to attach the handheld to my hunting vest where it was higher up and touching my body, without the annoyance of swinging back and forth. In this position, I could better hear and feel the vibration when my dog went on point.

I would love to see a way to increase the tone volume and have an adjustable clip on the back to attach to your vest so that both right-handed and left-handed shooters could mount it accordingly. One final minor point.

When my dog goes on point, the handheld will beep 3 quick times. Sometimes, she has just stopped for a moment and is not really on a point. It would be convenient to have a single beep when the dog starts moving again to let you know it is not a held point.

All in all, I really like the Sportdog Tek 1. 5 and would highly recommend it!.

This unit is described as a combination tracking /training with 3 stimulus buttons for training and a basic tracking feature. This sounded like a good solution for me. My dog seldom gets more than 200 yards away from me and I thought that if she goes on point in heavy cover, I would have a position and yardage to find her.

The receiver also vibrates when the dog stops moving which is a great feature. I’m not overly computer savvy so I had some problems setting the unit up. I had to call customer service twice, both times the rep was extremely helpful.

The main issue I have with this device is that in the tracking mode only the top button on the receiver will deliver a stimulus to the dog. My dog responds to the vibration so that is my choice for button 1.

My concern is that there are times when the dog needs a more powerful stimulus. Examples would be: chasing a porcupine or skunk or running toward a road. It would be nice to have the other 2 buttons to give a greater stimulus when in the tracking mode rather then fumbling with the controller while the dog is getting in harms way.

I have been a Garmin E collar owner and this is my first SportDOG collar. I am impressed by the long battery life of the collar and handheld. It powers up very quickly and the screens are easy to navigate and understand.

My only reservation is that in bright sunlight the handheld screen is a bit difficult to read, particularly on the Tracking screen. The type size is small and the color of the type doesn’t contrast very well.

However, I am very happy with the purchase and recommend to anyone.

this is a second collar to my current system , Purchased the first due to a high energy English pointer that can really cover the country and the idea of losing a dog was a real concern helped in training to correct when chasing deer, and has the ability to track with gps in the event a dog gets away from you.

So with a pup coming along this season it just made sense to add a collar to the system for him.

I bought the item, because on all specs from Garmin it is said that it is compatible with Alpha 100 handheld. Well, I got the collar and it turns out that the frequency that the collar operates on doesnt work at all in my country because the frequency is blocked.

And this is the case in most European countries. So the collar does not work at all.

No reason to take a chance losing a dog. Use this product to save time looking for a dog on point or one that just got away from you. Awesome product and its much cheaper then trying to replace a bird dog.

I recently lost my 1 1/2 year old GSP in a vast wilderness area. After 8 hours and 14 miles of hiking around I finally found him. or he found me, not sure which. I never had him take off on me on any previous hunts or training sessions, so I didn’t worry about on our first hunt in the mountains.

Wrong again!! I had previously considered buying a Garmin 200i, but felt the cost out weighed the benefits. I was WRONG. I’d have gladly paid the price when he went missing. I’ve had the 200i TT15 system for a few weeks now and use it several times each week.

Hank (my GSP) adapted quickly to the antenna and gets excited to have the collar on. I haven’t figured out all the features and functions yet, but I love being able to monitor his location while we’re in the field.

He has been trained to recall on voice, whistle and collar tone. I’m able to monitor how quickly he responds when out of my sight by watching his distance on the display. This gives me the ability to give him a correction with the training function.

The “Dog has treed” & “Dog is on point” feature is great in heavy cover also. I have a learning curve to conquer for all the capabilities and functions that this unit has. Thus far I’m very happy with the basic GPS & Training capabilities.

I love this unit& Hank does too. I highly recommend it if, especially if you have a dog that likes to range out too far for your comfort level.

I got this pair of Alpha200i with collars for some squirrel/coon dogs. The 200i seems to be an amazing device. When you walk your dog with the TT15 on, and use the tone/vibrate they learn quick. If the dog is going a direction i don’t want it to, i will tone and redirect with leash and give the “come” command.

If ignored I will then vibrate and give a “NO” command. If still ignored, i light that ass UP! When its time to go I repetitively tone the dog while whistling it in. This device gives you the ability to control your dog from a few miles away if you put in the time to train them with the collar.

I will never again hunt dogs without one.

This thing is absolutely crap! Screen quality is terrible! Can’t even see trails or ponds on it. Hopefully sportsmans will let me exchange it for a montana

I can set on my back porch and track my dogs every movement. Dogs learn the tone quickly. Better than a dog whistle! I lost both lugs in the TT15 collar. Must have been loose and I did not check them for tightness.

The map card is a must!.

I live in NH which is hilly and use to run a Astro 430. I would consistently get 1-3 miles. I recently bought the Alpha 200i and a tt15 mini and have been unable to get beyond 600 yards without a lost communication signal (?).

This will not keep your dog in the yard or even near your house. It looks like it would but there is no shock for leaving the geo fence area. This is basically a gps tracker with added shock trainer which works well as that.

That is all it does.

Easy to use. Good battery life. Only can be charged from 110 V power source, so would be difficult to take on an extended wilderness trip.

Very happy with this product all around I would definitely buy it again if I needed it

I have German Shorthaired Pointers. I use this for hunting, camping, and horseback riding. My dogs run pretty big. I love and rely on this tracker. I only gave it 4 stars because it doesn’t have the range that’s advertised.

2-3 miles max, on flat terrain. When Garmin first came out with the Astro 15 years ago, I thought it was pretty expensive and hesitated to buy it. Then I lost a dog for 3 days, missing 2 days of work and hiking 20+ miles and lost 7lbs in one day.

Then it didn’t seem so expensive. The price hasn’t gone up for the Astro after all this time. And the Alpha has been extremely reliable after 1 year of 24/7 use. (My dogs are escape artists).

The Garmin Alpha 100 GPS works as advertised. It’s fairly intuitive, so if you leave the instructions behind, you should still be able to figure it out from the built in menu. I paired it with the TT15 training collar, watched some videos on using it in training mode and after five minutes, my dog was trained! That was in the backyard.

Then I headed into the forest with my dog. My dog responded best to level 6 in the traditional training mode. While tracking my dog, who was now over a mile away, I whistled for my dog to come. I could see on the GPS that my dog was ignoring the whistle.

He stopped to listen then continued on, increasing his distance from me. Then I hit the middle training button (continuous) and my dog began closing the distance between us. Within a minute, my dog was back at my side! Upon repeated attempts, I had similar results.

This is like having an electronic leash!.

Best way to manage/keep track of a long ranging German shorthaired pointer. An invaluable tool for hunting, hiking, camping…etc. Gives me peace of mind and allows my boy more freedom.

I bought the Dogtra Pathfinder Mini, as well as two other friends one year ago (Dec 2020). The tracking feature is great no complaints other than at times it is slow to connect. Now for the bad news.

The e-collar is pure junk. It works maybe 30% of the time so you can not trust it. One day it will work the next in the same location it will not. If all of us are in the field at the same time some may work others can not tone or shock.

I ended up running two collars on my dogs. The pathfinder and a shock collar because this one is not to be trusted. One friend sold his pathfinder earlier this fall and bought the Alpha and loves it, because it works all the time.

If you can afford, or justify the extra cost of the Alpha it is defiantly the better product.

I have had this since January of 2018, best purchase IMO, is it perfect? No, does it work really really well? Yes it does. Is it sometimes slow to lock onto your phone? Yes, easy fix as I turn the collar and receiver on prior to getting ready or when we get into the car, that way everything is good to go when its time to go.

The longest it has taken to acquire and lock on to my phone had been around 5 minutes. I use this several (3-4) times and week and haven’t had any issues with the collar prongs bothering my dogs neck or causing issues.

IMO it is an excellent value for the cost and its peace of mind knowing I know where my dog is at all times.

I hesitated to buy this for a while, since it was a lot of money for me with the subscription cost too. I did a lot of research and finally took the plunge. I had some concerns about my dog running away, getting out or being swiped, but buying this product instantly stopped those concerns.

This is so much more than just a tracker. It blew me away. It’s like a FitBit for dogs as well. It keeps track of how active my dog is, tracks her energy output, sets goals for her and even tracks her sleep/rest times.

It inspired me to get her out for longer, so she’s healthier for it. I love the live tracking feature. I find it works really well and it’s so easy to locate her, so the peace of mind it gives is next level.

I know some have complained about the service in remote areas, but any GPS requires high signal areas. You need to consider how any GPS products would work if you’re in a remote location, although I’ve done a lot of research on this product and heard quite a few people in remote areas had no issue.

I love the battery saving feature where you can mark a “safe zone” for the product to go into power saving mode in. You can click a button to check that the product is still working and online while in the “safe zone”, which is helpful.

It charges ridiculously quickly and a single charge can last days if your dog spends time in the “safe zone”. The corresponding app works incredibly well too. It’s not glitched once in months of use and works quickly and smoothly.

This product was worth every cent. It’s so well designed and thought out, it’s such a smart little product. It’s slimline, succinct and stylish. I feel so much better when she has it on. I’ve gotten so many friends onto this product and everyone loves it.

It’s absolutely worth it.

This device actually monitors your dog via GPS. Competitors actually try to connect to your phone and map that way. The live mode on this device will actually update is close to real time as you can with the latency and coverage issues.

I can actually monitor where my dog is moving, but about 5 to 10 seconds behind. I get an a direction arrow and the distance of how far he is away from me in live mode. I can try to history of where he was at what particular second on the hike.

Because of this, the battery life is not as good as some of the competitors. But that’s to be expected because it’s doing what you want it to do! Also note that some of the reviews are not accurate with current features.

This Device does track your pets activity. It does so in minutes which I think is more accurate than steps for a dog. You can see a chart of the activity throughout the day and compare your dogs to other dogs and your area and of the same breed.

The latest firmware update also added a battery saving mode so you can connect it directly to your Wi-Fi in your home. Which means you can go much longer without recharging your battery, which was the weakness of this device before.

Honestly, with the devices I’ve tried this is the only one that does what I need to do in real time, and it does it at a fraction of the price. You can get this device with activation for less than the base price of the competitors.

I also like the ideas that the device is relatively small and can be removed easily. This means I can move it to another dog necessary. I can even throw it in my kids pocket at event if they get separated.

I’ll know exactly where he is. It’s just simply fantastic. Where other devices use Bluetooth to connect to your device and actually use your phone for the tracking. Tractive uses GPS unless you are at home using power saving mode in your house, then it’s using Wi-Fi.

No base station is needed. Bluetooth is used to synchronize activity data into initially configure your device. The latest firmware has improved the performance of the synchronization of activity information.

This design is much more functional. I don’t mind rechargeing my battery every 3 or 4 days to be able to do all these cool things. Get this!.

I researched trackers for a long time before settling on this one. It was between this and one other. The other was a lot higher in price and reviewed about the same. So I went with this one. I got the tracker and chose to get one month of services to try it out.

I only have a few small issues with it so far. I ordered the collar they were selling with it figuring it would probably be better suited for having the tracker attached to it. The tracker isn’t overly heavy, but at least 2/3 days a week I find it just randomly lying somewhere.

It gets snagged and comes off VERY easily. I adjusted the small red clip that makes the breakaway harder to pull off. It still came off and the red clip is no where to be found. Il assuming the weight and bulk of the tracker on the collar makes it easier to pull apart.

When this happens, I have a hard time finding it if it’s within the power saving area (which is usually is) and I’m walking for a LONG time trying to get the little icon to come up telling me I’m close to it.

I have to buy a new collar and it’s only been 2 weeks. I’m worried it will keep happening with any breakaway collar because of the bulk and worry about using a non breakaway collar. She’s not a fan of a harness but may have to try that just to be able to keep the device on her.

Also two times I have gotten notices telling me that she has left the “safe” area I gad set for her. And it’s a LARGE safe area. Twice it’s told me she left that area when she was sleeping on the other side of the room from me.

Also, the sound on it is SO weak that I don’t even hear it when she’s right next to me sometimes. Would LOVE a louder sound!! Also, even with my cat out roaming a few hours in the later afternoon, I only have to charge it maybe every 4-5 days.

Guessing people having an issue with the battery life have pets who are out roaming all day long? Or I just got a really good battery in mine! I am very please with the battery life and it was the one thing I was most worried about.

Nothing is perfect though. Anyone else know of a good collar that works well for this device? Like I said, I’ve only had it a few weeks and these are very minor issues compared to the benefits of having the tracker!.

This trainer was excellent (5 stars) until the antenna inexplicably broke less than three months into owning the unit. It had great range and never really had to go over level four. Instead of a tone I’d prefer a vibration button as a warning instead.

It’s not feasible to turn the dial 180 degrees to get to vibrate. I also feel the antenna was poorly designed from the outset as it’s a separate piece and was wobbly to start. It made me wonder how waterproof it was as well.

It should be one solid piece. Overall it’s an excellent trainer that works well if it doesn’t break. So many trainers use it that I’d recommend different colors or hand engrave it so you don’t mix it up at the dog trainer sites.

I actually created an account on Chewy to leave this review. I have been using this e-collar for two years, and all I can say it is incredible. I have read other reviews, and concluded that frankly others don’t understand how to use an e-collar.

The collar is designed to offer graded stimulation, with only one setting for vibrate and tone. If you feel uncomfortable using an e-collar and only want a vibrate feature, save your money and buy a cheap collar.

However, if you really want a durable, effective, and elegantly simple-to-use e-collar this is the one. I love that there are no LED screens to try to read in the sunlight. The spinning dial is super easy to adjust in the midst of training sessions and in the field.

The range is great, and I have never been out of touch with my dog (a pretty big-ranging German Shorthaired Pointer). The toggle to other collars is also really easy and simple (by the way, you can get multiple collars from GARMIN that work with this transmitter.

Do not buy a duplicate transmitter just to get an extra collar. ) I love that I can turn the running lights on when I let my dog out at night. The only aspect of this collar I have not utilized in the bark collar feature.

Overall, I have found it to be absolutely worth the money and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting a fairly serious training tool.

I’ve had this system for over a year now and use it about 4 nights a week. I just purchased my second collar from Peppy Pet Place and it works perfectly. Battery drainage from using the Dogtra Pathfinder app with these collars hasn’t been an issue at all.

All the map features are awesome and I havent had any problems tracking my dogs or controlling them. I’d recommend it to anybody.

This item has been great so far. No issues so it has been functioning well. Only thing that I would have like was for the collar strap to be green as it was shown on the box. Not a big deal. Its working great so far.

it is refurbished so a few scratches but works great. my old one couldn’t swim when i turned over in the gulf so i ordered this one. i use base camp so i had no problem loading tracks, way points and other files i had on my old one.

i went to garmin and found they was an update available. now with this one i can see my dogs on my laptop. i plug usb cable into laptop i have basecamp on. when i turn on gps it asks do i want basecamp mode.

yes and i see where we are on gps and laptop. i have birdseye so it is great. i called Thursday morning to order and the unit was in my mailbox Saturday. service don’t get no better than that. will i order from these people again–yes sir i will.

I purchased a used Astro 320. This is the first handheld gps I have owned or used. Very satisfied with the unit easy to use. For being used it is great shape screen not scratched. I would recommend the Astro.

Can be used for normal gps and also used for tracking dogs. Very happy. Great job Garmin on this one.

It was a great product that arrived on time and was a reasonable price. I liked how this product was easy to use and came assembled and ready for immediate use. It is definitely the best product on the market for our use and we will be recommending these collars to our friends.

The receiver has a good sized screen and is easy to navigate. We achieved great range with the collars and receiver. Overall this purchase has been brilliant and I would no doubt be considering purchasing one if you are in need of a tracker.

Perfect size for my feist. Works great as a handheld gps unit as well as a tracking device for the dog as well as a training device. You can set it to vibrate and/or beep as opposed to the traditional shock.

Also comes with multiple prong sizes for different dog coats, and they are removable if you will only use the vibrate/beep training correction. Really like the feature that allows you to set a perimeter alert so you can keep your dogs safely in your planned hunt area.

I think the price is a little high. I have two dogs and I’m trying to use it to keep them on my 7. 5 acres and not go to the neighbors for a chicken dinner. It takes about 5 minutes to get both my dogs set up and ready to leave the house.

So, a little longer than I wish, but I’m getting quicker all of the time. Honestly this is a pretty cool device and I would recommend it. I’m just not as savvy as I need to be yet. And, I really don’t know if the dogs get a beep, buzz or shock when they get close to my geofence? I might be missing that somewhere, but if someone can comment and let me know, I’d appreciate it.

Thanks and yes. I’d recommend purchasing this unit. A lot of features I have yet to work with.

I have had this collar for approximately 6 months. Every time i go to use it, it take several minutes to get everything to sync. After it finally syncs the tracking system works, decent. The dog can be laying down somewhere and it will show the dog moving over 50 yards including across a road.

The geo fence system will only make you aware that the dog is either in or out, it will not tone or shock the dog. Actually, the collar wont shock the dog at all, even when the button is pressed in the app.

Having to use the phone is also a major inconvenience. I dont walk places staring at my phone, so its locked and in my pocket. If i need to tone or shock the dog you must first get the phone out, unlock it, get into the app, get to the right screen and then you have control.

In this amount of time the dog has moved on to doing something different. This collar is simply not worth the money.

I have been a loyal Dogtra customer for years now. This particular collar has proven to be better for my uses than any other GPS system on the market. I have decent vision for my age but even I have issues with seeing things on the other company’s handhelds.

This system uses my phone, and I’m more than familiar with it, and can use it much easier than searching for things on those handhelds. My phone lasts more than a full day, in normal use, and when I use this system added on to it I find it doesn’t change a thing.

I’d take greater battery use, which doesn’t happen, just for the ease of having a much larger controller to see and use than those dinky little handhelds. This system gives you it all and much more.

Could not get the T5 mini tracking collar to work the first day of hunting how to go on the computer and do a hard reset on the collar so far it’s working

I purchased the Garmin after trying to other brands that did not work. I guess like the saying goes. 3rd times the charm I used this on my 80 pound pitty. Like I said the two previous brands he completely shrugged off and the did not phase him one bit! I tried the other two units on myself to see if they were working and they were.

I purchased the Garmin after reading the reviews. They were spot on. The features worked great. And as far as the shock features go this thing is no joke and it could make the dog Yelp if set to high.

I used a shock setting of 4 on my pitty Anything above 5 or 6 would really grab the dogs attention. I can only imagine the higher settings are for super aggressive dogs. But in any case this unit will work on the smallest to largest dogs.

It shocks ,it vibrates, it beeps, it lights up and IT WORKS!!! when you purchase this unit and see its results you will then see how well you spent your money and were it went in your dogs behavior.

Product initially worked well. Combination of tone, vibration, and shock works well for training. My golden retriever responded well. Unfortunately the second time I went to charge the collar, the connection between the collar and the charger would not make contact.

I chatted with cabelas and asked if they could send me a new charger dongle and they said I wanted that option I would need to work directly with Garmin. They gave me the option to return by mail, but I didn’t want to be without the collar for that long.

Instead I drove to the store to exchange it but they did not have the model available in the store. I returned it at the store and ordered a replacement on line. Once the replacement arrives, I am hoping I just got a lemon.

This unit is made for ease of use without having to fuss around. All the features you need for training are available right away without having to fuss around with settings or switch from one mode to another.

I have found the battery life for the collar and remote lasts quite a long time. This collar is definitely worth money you pay. I have had mine for 4 years and the only issue I had was the charging clip for the collar which Garmin readily replaced.

Customer service has been great.