This one is a bit closer to home

Animals
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You and Bruce have really got me going on this Jane, although the cost is a bit of an offputter.

I have been doing some research and it seems they may all be US sourced, but one that came top of a list of 5 was available from Amazon.com so I went there and copied and pasted it into .de and it is available there without all the worry of import duties etc. But it does still come from the US I think and maybe costs have already been built in. About €500 delivered to France.

I will have a word too though with either my neighbour in the chasse or the head of the chasse who I know from my time with him on a local committee. Just hope they don’t offer to take me out with them to see how they perform. Killing animals is definitely not my thing. :frowning_face:

BTW, the only one I have checked so far has a ‘virtual fence’ facility, like the GPS ones. So, in the case of Harper on Saturday night, on seeing her get up to go outside, without moving from my seat I could have switched the receiver on and been alerted the moment she left the garden. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Yes the virtual fence strikes me as very useful, especially in your position. And some of the cheaper ones seem to offer that.

Currently our dog seems to be ok with a psychological barrier to the garden. He could easily jump the gate, it is lower than things he jumps at agility classes, but he doesn’t.

Our problem is him heading into the hills after the scent of a carcass (there are lynx here). And he then lies down, hidden in undergrowth to chew bones for hours. Which is ok in local forest as we can wait, but less ok when we’re away from home and he doesn’t know where he is.

We’ve not yet found one that is affordable and would be sure to ne reliable in this scenario. It is a shame there doesn’t seem to be a way to try one out first!

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If I did scrape up the money to buy one, I would get 2 tags with it, but Harper aside, I can see how it might work with Jules. For a long time now he cannot be let off lead outside the garden and it has occurred to me that he could be again, if I could follow where he wanders.

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Hello David, the collar is a transmitter which sends out a continuous radio signal which is picked up by a handheld receiver, if within distance. There are 3 levels of search - long range, medium range and really close up, for finding a lost collar six inches away unseen in deep grass. You wave your receiver around in the air and it becomes evident in which direction the signal is coming from by the loudness of the bleeping. You follow the loudest bleeping. When you’ve done it once then it’s easy.

I found a collar on the edge of some woods where my cat just escaped a fox which dislodged the collar! Crushed buckle. Found another time in a neighbour’s garden under a wheelbarrow again caused by a fox. My cat had recognizable teeth marks on his head both times! Lucky escape. Another cat was gone but I traced him to a local wood and found him deep inside, much to his annoyance! The only problem with woods is climbing over fallen trees or through thick bramble and so on.

It works best on level ground as radio signals can’t go down into a hollow or get the other side of a hill, but it can see through woods and into and through buildings. When a bleep is not evident - the terrain is uneven or the collar is too far away - I get in the car with the receiver on until I get a signal. When it bleeps I get out and walk.

It is expensive to buy and on top of that there may be import duties - but in my case, because I can’t sleep at night worrying - I’m a worrier - it was worth paying for. Both the collar and the receiver are really well made, durable and reliable! And work well.

One thing to beware of is to make sure you change the collar batteries every 4 weeks. If a collar is lost and its battery is exhausted you’ve lost the collar! I’ve lost many collars!

Batteries for both collar transmitter and handheld receiver you can buy in any supermarket in Europe. Best get the collar batteries, Panasonic CR2032, from Amazon in quantity.

I believe the company is a family business but I think the costs are too high. I’ve searched for European equivalents but don’t think there are any. If you decide to give it a try you have to order their European version - something to do with radio waves.

The receiver can be set for up to 30 different collars. Dial in cat no1 or dog no 10 and off you go! You could share one receiver with friends or neighbours and dial in whichever multiple cat or dog is missing.

A young couple living near me who have cats, bought some collars and share my receiver. It can be done.

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I did pick up one of the tractive collars as an amazon warehouse deal for 9 euros. The problem is I have a lot of undesirable behaviour to get rid of first before I can ever use it. My Podenco is desperate to run and explore but he will chase livestock and cars and lorries so there is no way he can go offlead at present - if ever :disappointed_relieved:

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@james

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Now that’s a nice idea!

I’m not at all techy, but how does that differ from the type that the hunters use for their dogs with a handset? (Obviously too big for cats is first difference!)

These sorts of things…

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I don’t know what the hunters use. The collar transmitter and handheld receiver for cats and dogs are very convenient - not at all bulky. Perfectly designed in my opinion. Classic even.

I’ve attached images - dog collar and receiver - but the images might be a bit small. The handheld receiver has sliding blades folded up but which fold out to form an antenna. Receiver made from stout aluminium.

DT-R_SH PR100A_FoldedAnt

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Why is Bonzocats post being passed onto James

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Looking at the video from the link you give the collar battery is rechargeable and only lasts 24 hours each charge. This is high tech stuff for dedicated American hunters who go hunting with dogs on a regular basis. That system can also send signals or sounds to the collar that the dog recognises and obeys.

And it is a GPS based system. You follow your dog on screen like you follow your route on your car’s GPS screen. Not sure how that works off road in woods that the GPS can’t see through. Looks interesting but too complicated in terms of simply looking for a lost dog.

One system I used for my cats at one time was one where I could send a bleep to a cat’s collar. Cat recognises bleep and comes running because there is food waiting! The problem with that system was that the collar unit was not waterproof. Cats do get wet and don’t seem to mind, but their collars do, and stop working.

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Erm because we might be interested in getting one. And what’s my posting got to do with you?

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I was just wondering if he had done something wrong

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73

Some people seem itching for a fight at the moment. Thank goodness it’s gone 5, time for Apero I think. Although to be fair after a year of Covid anytime from breakfast to bedtime is potentially time for booze… :beers::clinking_glasses::wine_glass::tumbler_glass::cocktail: :woozy_face::crazy_face:

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Has anyone sat at their computer all day long, enthusiastically, not noticing that time flies? It’s gone 5 and your timely posting, Kirstea, has woken me up. So, I have just put the bins out for collection and am settling down now, not to booze, but a cup of tea. Thanks!

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I have had a look at Bruce’s tracker, which I think is only available from USA and, in £ terms allowing for delivery, customs VAT etc. appears to cost £ 345

There is one from Amazon.fr

Eureka Technology MarcoPolo Advanced pour Animal Domestique de Surveillance, Suivi et système de localisation (pour Chiens et Chats 2,3 Kilogram et Doux)

which with free delivery costs £ 376

or from Amazon.com £ 221

Of course these can all be transferred to euros but it was easier to use a common currency, but my head is spinning now and I reckon I am ready for a glass of water.

I might have got them mixed up but too much for me at the moment anyway and I would sooner buy in Europe if the difference wasn’t too great. Amazon.de sells the Eureka but dearer and charges delivery.

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Well done David, seems this tracker has been around for some time. Never seen this one before. See YouTube clips demonstrating the Marco Polo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwQj7hFWfdU and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUHxc57r7RA

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Interesting thanks (not the glass of water, and I’ve had my cup of tea).

We had looked into this before because of our disappearing pooch, but then let it drop as all got too difficult to decide. But given he still vanishes especially at this time of year, I think we will get one of some sort now.

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David, have a look at this review of the MarcoPolo. - Marco Polo Review - Pet Tracker Reviews

The only comment I’d make is that you have to look down at the MarcoPolo receiver screen as you walk along to see which way to go, possibly with some difficuly in bright sunlight. Whereas with the one I recommend you look straight ahead all the time and just listen to the sound of beeping while keeping a lookout at the same time. There’s a very short video of my one on Facebook - scroll down and click on the video - https://www.facebook.com/The-Locator-Pet-Tracking-System-106850179877/

The other point I’d make is that although battery life is shown as 45 days the rechargeable battery will only last up to 3 days in actual use.

Difficult to know what to go for. Pity you can’t have trial runs of these things.

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I’ve lived with a car chasing tyre cruncher for many years and I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to change the way she’s wired…especially not at her late age

Are there any enclosed secure fields nearby that could be hired for an hour of off lead running…???

The tracker collars do seem to be a good idea and probably depend on each individual dog and the surrounding environment…for instance if one of mine escaped my boundaries (as my pup just recently did) then I would be able to watch them in 3 directions…trouble is that 2 directions there are often cattle enclosed by electric fencing…1 direction has crops…and the 4th would lead them to an admittedly not very busy road but for all those moments they might run out of sight I don’t think I could stand the worry of having lost sight of them even if I could jump in the car and track them…I’d be a nervous wreck and imagining all sorts of bad outcomes until I found them again…

My pup isn’t yet displaying any tendency to chase traffic/tractors but he does bark at every car that pulls into my cul de sac (which both my oldies have always done too) .I’m trying to train a “quiet” command which works sometimes but now my oldies have worked out that when he barks they don’t have to do anything at all except wait for a treat when he comes back in…:slightly_smiling_face:

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80

That’s an adorable image :green_heart:

Thanks for your reply and the secure field suggestion. I did phone around but the secure field I found turned out not to be and Aston went and chased lorries down the N79. Fortunately no harm done.

But that’s the big thing I think about the tracker collars, they won’t prevent accidents. There is a saying if you can’t see your dog they are probably up to no good…

I did get a book called Total Recall which is good. Unfortunately we are at the total lack of recall stage :laughing:

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