Best Dog Trackers for 2022

The newer model of Tractive tracker, which doesn’t just contain the GPS feature but also an activity monitor for anybody who wants an all-round picture of their dog’s behaviour.

It gives real-time results through the free app, which is great if they aren’t where they were in the park two seconds ago. Location updates are every 2-3 seconds, which is good news if you are hot on their heels.

This can also be displayed in a web browser, in case you’re at home or don’t have your phone on you and need to borrow one. There is an option to view location history so you can see where they were when with the dog walker or at doggy daycare.

We love the virtual fence feature as well, which allows you to set a customised safe area and will alert you if your dog ventures from that distance – great if they have free reign of a large garden or you live on open land.

Also given is their daily activity, with useful information which gives a picture of their health. You have the option to set a daily activity goal as well, say if they should ideally be getting 2 hours of activity per day to stop them piling on the pounds or getting bored at night.

The battery is rechargeable, taking ~2 hours to fully charge and then lasting for 2-5 days, so charging overnight ready for the next day would be ideal. Subscription is £3.33/month, but with that, you get worldwide coverage, unlimited location tracking and the option to share with friends and family.

Is your dog getting enough exercise? Are they eating too much and not working it off?

The PitPat 2 will attach to their collar and tell you everything you need to know. This includes how much running, walking and resting they have done, how far they have been and how many calories they have burnt – fab if you have been asked by the vet to help them lose a bit of weight.

You also get exercise recommendations based on the breed of your dog, with over 200 set up ready to choose from. This will give calorie, distance and time cues in a general term, which you can use as a baseline.

There is no GPS, but this is not an issue if they don’t run off or go where they shouldn’t. The ability to set and track exercise goals, as well as keeping a history of their weight for easy comparison, will make it a handy piece of kit for long-term aims.

Even better is the fact that there is no subscription fee, no rechargeable battery (just replace it when it runs out) and it gives you a really simple free app.

Sometimes trackers can be unreliable showing past locations, or they give a loose idea of a location, but this Vodafone tracker provides real-time information via the smart app, so you’re not always going to be following behind. It provides multiple tracking tech, unlike other trackers that just use Bluetooth, but we recommend the subscription in order to use the GPS functionality.

This tracker has incredible distance capabilities as well, thanks to the SIM card that reaches as far as other countries. It’s also waterproof and lightweight, so it won’t restrict your pup in any way. The 7-day battery life on certain tracking modes also means you won’t have to charge it every other day.

Thanks to the advanced motion sensor technology, this Activity Monitor can record your pet’s activities 24/7. This data is then sent to the cloud, where it is analysed and assessed, before being sent to your phone for easy reading and comparison.

But what data does it collect? Well, it is one of the few which can analyse sleep to ensure they are getting enough throughout the day (which is particularly handy if you are away or they tend to nap). This also monitors the quality of their sleep, so if they tend to be woken up frequently throughout the night, you can assess why this might be and what disturbs them.

There’s a consumption record too, analysing the calories they have burnt and activity levels, as well as allowing you to put in data about what they eat and their breed so it can help you control how much they eat.

You get a daily Health Report which includes the above as well as Mood Alerts – say, if they are happy or seem a bit off-colour. It will also give you a quick breakdown of whether they have had enough deep sleep or exercise over the previous 24 hours, so you can make losses up.

Made from Magnalium, it is strong and unbreakable while still being lightweight enough to be used on smaller dogs and cats, too. The battery will last ~4 months and is replaceable, but be aware there is no GPS.

This collar-mounted tracker, from the brand which has brought us microchip cat flaps and food bowls, learns and interprets behaviour from your dog.

It will sync with the Sure Petcare Animo app on your phone via Bluetooth and gives you a good picture of their overall behaviour and activities day-to-day. Because it learns what they usually do, it can then alert you if there is anything out of the ordinary.

Say they are scratching, barking or shaking more than usual – this may indicate that they are stressed or unhappy with recent changes to your home or family, or that something is disturbing them during the day (which could be as simple as a cat coming into your garden).

It will also let you know how long they have been active for each day, as well as when they last exercised, and how many calories have been burnt. There is also data for sleep quality, so you know whether they are getting enough and can rule this out if their behaviour changes.

There is no GPS and the fixing band is thin so only works with collars up to 30mm. Pairing it can also take a while, and the data wasn’t the most accurate of all of those reviewed, but it is one of the few which can monitor behaviour to such a high degree if this is your main concern.

This tracker from Vodafone can track your dog in real-time, but the technology it uses to do this makes it one of the most reliable ones on the market.

Some other trackers just use Bluetooth, so can only pick up the collar when your phone is nearby. But thanks to an embedded sim, your dog could travel quite the distance and you can still see where they are.

You can set safe zones which will alert you if your dog goes beyond them, and there are extra clips included in case you have multiple collars, or one day want to attach it to your bag instead. You also have flexibility with how often you want it to update, which can be every minute.

This precision does mean that a V-Sim subscription is required at £2 per month, but the first 6 months are included free so you can get a good feel of whether it is the product for you. There’s also a rechargeable battery so that is one less cost every month.