Tractive – Wearable GPS with us on every walk

Our getting ready for a dog walk routine: call dog, dress her with collar and harness, find snacks and poo bags, get my shoes and coat, pick up her leash and make a final check she’s wearing her Tractive GPS.

Sally’s been a Tractive dog since her teenage sleddog phase, when for her safety and my peace of mind I bought a first generation Tractive. We upgraded to the new Dog 4 GPS last January, so have now field and loch and going through gorse bushes tested it.

Tractive recently asked me would I like to review their dog GPS. I said “yes” because it’s an essential piece of Sally’s kit (disclosure: this is a paid partnership, Tractive made a generous contribution to Pet Blood Bank UK on Sally’s behalf, but all views and opinions in this piece are my own).

What is Tractive?

Tractive are the market leader in pet GPS tracking. They make pet wearables that couldn’t be easier to set up and use. Here I’ll be reviewing the new model Dog 4.

What’s in the box?

You get the Tractive GPS device, a stretchy rubber collar clip, and a charging lead that connects to a standard USB power adapter.

The GPS is small (71 x 28 x 17 mm), lightweight (35 g) and streamlined with rounded corners to prevent it from snagging on obstacles. It sits along your dog’s collar or harness, being connected by the fragile looking but tough rubber clip (it’s survived 6 months of Sally’s best efforts to dislodge it – it’s tough!). Unlike the older devices, you don’t have to unclip it for charging as the charging pins connect at one end. The LED will turn from red to green once it’s ready and it takes only 2-3 hours for a full charge.

Set-up

Each device has a unique code, to activate it download the free Tractive app (available in the Apple and Google Play stores), make a user profile, choose your subscription plan (similarly to a mobile phone you need to pay for data usage, but this is a flat fee per month) and upload your code.

You need to take the Tractive outside for it to begin location tracking. Location finding is through GPS, but information is relayed back to you through cellular connections. Unlike your own phone, the device is not limited to one network but uses any of several cellular networks, selecting the one with the strongest signal.  

Tracking

The device handshakes with the GPS satellites every 10-15 mins, so, when you open the app, the map should load with a relatively recent position. Activating LIVE mode will give you constant updates, and you can also turn on a light and sound (we don’t use these options, as the LED is invisible in Sally’s fluff and the sound annoyed her, so she tried to remove the device). There’s a choice of map types – standard, satellite, OSM and there’s also a new augmented reality mode which overlays your dog’s position on your phone camera view (see screengrab below).

There’s a few seconds timelag in position updates, but this hasn’t ever been an issue. Using the “show trace and heatmap” function, I know where Sally’s been and can see the direction she’s headed.

Bluetooth, share function and limits

On a walk near her Grandpaw’s house there’s poor mobile phone connection. The Tractive device is constantly receiving GPS data from satellites, so as soon it gets even a blink of cellular connection (far sooner than my phone) it reports its location. I’m reliably informed from Grandpaw back at home (if you choose Premium subscription, you can share your dog’s location with friends/family) that he can view Sally’s whereabouts. So, if the worst happened and you lost your dog in an area with poor cellular coverage, once they re-enter coverage, the Tractive will report in, and you’ll see where they’ve been.

It will fail to get a GPS signal in dense woodland, but I’ve found it works on trails with overhead breaks in the tree canopy cover (see screengrabs above). As most animals will use paths if they find them, I feel that if Sally became lost in woodland, I’d locate her again as soon as she discovered a path. The device also uses Bluetooth to communicate to your phone at close range. This means that if your dog is close by, you’ll be able to find them even in dense woodland (or down a rabbit burrow!).

Waterproof

It is FULLY waterproof to IPX7-standard (up to 1 metre depth, 30 minutes). This has been frequently tested by Sally going into lochs, rivers and the sea. She’s not a swimmer but she does enjoy sticking her face underwater, so when on her collar the device is completely submerged.

Virtual fence & battery saving zones

You can set up a “virtual fence” and be alerted if your dog leaves. I set it around Grandpaw’s house as it’s *nearly* a completely enclosed garden and Sally likes to snooze outside the back door but will occasionally disappear on a rabbit-chasing adventure. With Virtual Fence I get an alert as soon as she reaches the neighbouring hedgerow!

To save battery, you can set a power saving zone near your home Wifi. Speaking of battery life, it’s pretty good. I’ve found it needs charged every 2-3 days. If you use LIVE tracking, it will rapidly run down the battery, but it can cover a 2 hour walk on LIVE and then survive the rest of the day on normal use. You are sent phone notifications when the battery reaches 20%. Having a longer battery life is important to me, because if Sally were to run several miles (if she got spooked by thunder or hunting gunshots) it may be some time before she would turn for home. I always make sure her Tractive is charged up before offleash walks.

Activity & sleep tracking

This new model has activity and sleep tracking. To use them it’s recommended you leave the device permanently on your dog’s collar and the collar on the dog (except for charging). I’m not using these features to best advantage as Sally is usually “naked dog” at home, with her collar removed.

You are encouraged to set a daily activity goal and see how your dog compares with to others using local, breed, global and friend leaderboards. If you have friends using Tractive you can invite them to your “friends” board. It’s interesting to see how Sally, who only wears her Tractive for walks, measures up against the constant wearers. I worry you could go to competitive extremes and overwalk a young or infirm dog, so I appreciate the most recent update that anonymously compares your dog against others of the same breed, age and weight, plus the recent option to opt-out of the leaderboards.

The sleep tracker is interesting and will be a good way to monitor changes as Sally gets older and may start developing doggy arthritis or dementia. I’ll be able to see if she was up during the night (but she would have to wear her collar for this). Currently she’s showing unusually high sleep efficiency as her collar is off overnight so the Tractive isn’t moving.

Activity data is downloaded via Bluetooth when the app is open. The GPS device can store about a week’s worth before it overwrites (rather annoyingly if you have just managed a 100-day streak of completing your recommended daily exercise but forgot to download it, but that’s a minor grumble).

History

The History function is a great way to relive walks later, to see where you’ve been, and if you turn on the heat trace, you can see where you’ve lingered the longest and identify the good picnic spot for next time (or the rabbit warren or squirrel tree you want to avoid!). With Premium you can go back to any past date within the last year and view your adventures – and you can share the route maps with family and friends to tell everyone about your dog’s walks. Sally likes to come home and show her Granny where she’s been on her weekend trip to Grandpaw.

Pimp your device

The Tractive comes in Snow, Coffee or Midnight blue. With usage the outer plastic will inevitably become scratched and marked – see the photo below of Sally’s Tractive after 6 months of hard wear!

Tractive sell protective sleeves and covers that protect and jazz up the device – but they need removed before charging. I found the hard cover easier to remove than the soft sleeve but wish there was one that could stay on for charging. There’s a limited choice of colours and patterns, hopefully they’ll soon bring out some more, I’d like a girly pink for the fluffy princesses such as Sally!

Overall impressions – 100% Sally approved

Tractive gets the 100% Sally Approved rating from us. The small lightweight wearable disappears into her fluff to the extent it’s usually invisible, but knowing it’s there gives me peace of mind. The battery lasts a reassuring several days, and the device and attachment clip are robust and waterproof and survive all that Sally throws at them. The app is easy to use, and the new features help you better understand your dog’s daily activity. Tractive comes with us on all Sally’s adventures and it’s thanks to them I feel more confident giving Sally some offleash freedom.

Do you use Tractive? Do you find it easy to use? Any stories or comments about dog GPS you’d like to share then please comment below! And if this has encouraged you to get a Tractive for your pet then click the link https://tractive.com/en/pd/gps-tracker-dog!