GPS dog collars are a great idea. I can tell you about my experience with the Global Pet Finder collar (globalpetfinder.com). Quick summary: better than nothing. OK, here's how it works. You you attach a box about the size of a large cell phone (see the web site for pictures) to your dog's collar. And I say "dog" because it's a big large for cats. If your dog gets lost, you send a text message via cell phone to the company.

Within a few minutes, you get a text message back with your dog's position. This can be delivered either as a street address, a latitude-longitude coordinate (useful if you're in a remote area), or an angle and distance from your own position, your choice. Or you can go to your PC and get the dog's position on a map. There's also a "geofence" feature that will alert you if your dog moves outside a fixed circle you can define. After over a year's experience with this unit I can make the following observations:

Pluses:
+ unit is pretty easy to use
+ reported location is accurate to within 100 feet
+ signal coverage is excellent - even gives reports on an animal in a moving car
+ once in "alert" mode, will continue to send position reports automatically until you deactivate it

Minuses:
- battery life is very short (two or three days max)
- battery changing requires removing the unit from the collar, removing the protective case, opening a cover, and prying out the old batteries. It ought to have a drop-in charger.
- the geofence feature simply doesn't work
- unit is not waterproof
- it's pretty expensive
- and this is a big one: response time is slow. The fastest reply I've gotten in tests has been 3 minutes, the longest, 17 minutes. If my dog is even just walking, she can be quite far away from the reported location by the time I get the position.

Supposedly, they're working on a new version that addresses these issues. Bottom line is, losing a treasured pet is one of the most horrible feelings you can have, and this is better than nothing. It does work, and I'd still get one, but don't expect miracles. The best anti-loss device is still a good leash and your eyeballs on your dog, plus a securely fenced yard.

And don't forget this unit is useless if your dog runs away after slipping its collar leaving the GPS behind. For that case, please consider getting him or her microchipped (see homeagain.com) and tattooed. All vets and animal shelters know to check for those. And remember, none of these ideas will help if your dog decides to dart into traffic on a busy road. Carnac says keep 'em safe!

Learn more about this author, Carnac.
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