The 3 Best Dog GPS Trackers of 2024, Tested and Reviewed!
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There’s no worse feeling than when your dog goes missing — something celebrities like Paris Hilton have even experienced. If you worry about your furry friend wandering off, you can give yourself peace of mind by outfitting them with a GPS tracker. The best dog GPS trackers provide real-time location updates directly to your phone, allowing you to quickly find your pet and bring them home safely if they wander out of your yard or get lost while out hiking. It can happen in a second. Especially for those of us that walk with our dogs off- leash in open areas. Or…for the accidental “oh the gate blew open” as happened in MY case just the other day!
“GPS trackers have a lot of benefits,” explains Nicole Ellis, a certified professional dog trainer with Rover. “There is the obvious one of tracking our pets in the event they should get out, but there’s more than that. Quite a few GPS trackers will give you insights into your dog’s health, from how much exercise they are getting to the amount of itching and licking going on.”
When you’re looking at different GPS trackers, you’ll want to consider things like the size of the tracker, battery life, tracking range, and whether it requires a monthly subscription. There is a wide range of products to choose from for your pet, and we tested more than a dozen of the top-rated dog GPS trackers to see which ones performed the best. We have to be honest: We have yet to come across the perfect dog GPS tracker, and we’ve outlined the pros and cons in detail below. We take our pet’s safety seriously, and if you’re reading this, you likely do, too.
These are the best dog GPS trackers that we researched and Tested.
Pros
- The live GPS location updates are accurate and displayed on a detailed map that includes street names.
- The app includes training videos that are suitable for all ages.
- The battery can last for several days if you don’t use the live tracking mode.
- This tracker doesn’t require a monthly subscription fee.
- Cons
- The tracker would occasionally turn itself off during use, and the app doesn’t notify you.
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If you don’t mind spending a little more upfront, the Petfon 2 is a non-subscription option that performed well during our tests, earning it high all-around scores and the top spot as our best overall pick. It has a compact design that can easily be attached to your dog’s collar, and we were able to set it up in just a few minutes. We especially liked that there are comprehensive training videos that explain the different features of the tracker, and the brand has gone to lengths to ensure they’re accessible for users of all ages.
When we tested this tracker, it displayed accurate locations, and the map was labeled with street names and other details that make it easier to pinpoint your lost pet. The tracker itself will also light up and/or play a ringtone to help you find it, and we like that you can customize both of these settings by selecting your preferred color and tune. The Petfon app also keeps track of data such as your pet’s daily steps, minutes of activity, and minutes of rest, and it keeps an accurate history of your pet’s location.
While the brand lists this tracker’s battery life as eight to 16 hours, we found that it lasts significantly longer if you don’t frequently use the live tracking mode. In our testing, it was able to go 10 days before needing to be recharged, but we did notice that it occasionally shut itself off without notifying us. When this happened, we often didn’t realize the tracker was off until we opened the app, and this could pose an issue if it happens while your dog is wearing the device.
Dimensions: 42 x 42 x 18 millimeters | Weight: 0.97 ounces | Battery Life: 8-16 hours | Waterproof: No | Subscription: None
Pros
- The tag paired with our iPhone in less than 30 seconds.
- The AirTag was able to withstand being submerged in water for over a minute.
- This tracker is one of the smallest and lightest options we tested.
- This tracker doesn’t require a subscription.
- Cons
- Once the tracker is out of range of your phone, its accuracy suffers.
- AirTags can only be used with Apple phones, so this isn’t an option for Android users.
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After thorough testing, the Apple AirTag is another one of our top recommendations for a GPS tracker thanks to its ease of use, affordable price, and compact design. These round tracking devices are just over 1.5 inches in diameter and extremely lightweight, making them well-suited for both large and small dogs, and there is a wide selection of accessories you can use to attach the AirTag to your dog’s harness or collar. The AirTag is also rated IP67 so it’s splash, water, and dust resistant and can handle being up to one meter underwater for as long as 30 minutes. Each AirTag is reasonably priced, and it’s one of a few products that doesn’t have a monthly subscription fee, making it the best budget-friendly choice.
“We loved how easy it was to pair the AirTag to an iPhone. All you have to do is place the tag next to your phone, and it will sync up in a matter of seconds. It’s simple to operate using the Find My app, and it has the longest battery life of all the trackers we tested, lasting up to a full year. This is perfect if you want to attach the tracker to your dog’s collar and forget about it, as you won’t need to constantly take it off for charging. It’s also perfect to slip inside a dog backpack carrier when traveling.
Regarding accuracy, the AirTag was pretty good but not perfect. (You’ll see that none of the trackers we tested wowed us with their accuracy.) If the tracker is within Bluetooth range of your phone, which is roughly 33 feet, the Precision Tracking feature will provide an exact location and allow you to ping the AirTag. However, we found that once it’s out of range of your phone, the accuracy suffers a bit as your phone works to locate it.
While it is one of our top picks, that’s not to say the Apple AirTag is a perfect solution. The biggest downside of this tracker is that it’s only available for iPhone users — the tags can’t be paired with Android or Google phones, which may rule it out for many people. Additionally, because of how it works, this GPS tracker is most effective and accurate in locations where there are a lot of iPhone users around — a.k.a. a city or busy neighborhood. When the tag is out of your phone’s Bluetooth range, its signal is tracked by other nearby Apple devices, which confidentially transmit the location of your AirTag to iCloud. Essentially, you’re relying on other people’s iPhones to pinpoint your dog’s location. If you’re in a more rural location, such as a hiking trail, with no one else around, the long-distance tracking abilities are essentially rendered useless.
The Apple AirTag was previously our top pick for a dog GPS tracker, but due to the Apple software limitations, it was outranked during this round of testing. However, for the affordable price and ease of use, we think this is still an excellent choice for iPhone users, particularly those who want to spend their money on other essential.” –{People Magazine)
Dimensions: 1.6 x 1.6 x 0.1 inches | Weight: 0.39 ounces | Battery Life: 1 year | Waterproof: Yes, IP67 | Subscription: None
Pros
- The tracker is compact and doesn’t seem bulky when attached to a collar.
- This tracker has a range up to 3.5 miles in open outdoor spaces.
- When it has a strong connection, the tracker provides frequent and accurate location updates.
- The battery life depletes quickly — it dropped 6 percent in the first 10 minutes of use.
- This tracker sometimes loses its connection to the phone, sometimes for several minutes at a time.
- Cons
- The battery life depletes quickly — it dropped 6 percent in the first 10 minutes of use.
- This tracker sometimes loses its connection to the phone, sometimes for several minutes at a time.
If you’re only planning to use your GPS tracker during short outings with your pet, the Petfon GPS Tracker is a solid no-subscription option. It does have a higher upfront cost, but it offers real-time GPS tracking with a range of 3.5 miles in open outdoor areas. (In dense city areas, the range drops to 0.65 miles.) The tracker comes with a band that you can attach to your dog’s collar, and we liked the sleek, compact design, which isn’t overly bulky, even on smaller dogs.
“The Petfon GPS Tracker has the shortest battery life of the products we tested, lasting just eight to 16 hours per charge, but it does come with a portable case that can recharge the tracker up to three times. We think this tracker would be well-suited for activities like hiking, especially since it works best in open outdoor environments, but if you want it for daily use, you’ll likely need to charge it every day.
In terms of accuracy, it was one of the better options we tested. It does occasionally lose connection with the app, but overall, we found that its updates were more frequent and accurate than other trackers. The device has a light that you can turn on to help locate your pet at night, and while there’s also a feature that lets you ping the tracker, we found that it’s too quiet to be much help.”–People Magazine
Dimensions: 1.7 x 1.7 x 0.6 inches | Weight: 0.97 ounces | Battery Life: 8-16 hours | Waterproof: No | Subscription: None
Photos by Amazon
Pros
- The tracker provides extremely accurate location data on Google Maps, making it easy to pinpoint your dog’s location.
- The app logs activity data and can even differentiate between running and walking.
- The app is user-friendly and easy to navigate — it’s similar to the Fitbit app.
- Cons
- The tracker is fairly bulky.
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For larger dogs, the Link Smart Pet Tracker is another worthwhile option. While the tracker itself is somewhat bulky, we found that this device offered extremely precise location data — it could even tell us what room of the house the dog was in! Plus, it displays the tracker’s location on Google Maps, allowing you to see street names and other landmarks to find your dog faster.
This tracker also captures a variety of additional health data, such as steps, miles traveled, and even time spent walking vs. running. You can also set daily fitness goals for your dog if desired. The app has a very user-friendly design — it reminded us of the Fitbit app — and it’s easy to set up and navigate. The battery on the tracker itself only goes down about five percent on an average day, so it really only needs to be charged once a week.
The Link Tracker is fairly expensive upfront and also includes a monthly subscription fee, but like most devices, you get a discount if you opt for a longer contract. Your subscription also includes a few additional features, such as 24/7 access to televet services and discounts on products and services from the brand’s partners.
Dimensions: 2.25 x 1.4 x 0.8 inches | Weight: 1.1 ounces | Battery Life:Up to 14 days | Waterproof: Water-resistant, IPX8 | Subscription:$9.99/month
