Best GPS Tracker for Small Dogs: Learn the Top Devices
Are you looking for the best GPS tracker for small dogs?
GPS trackers help you keep track of your pet and will save you time and stress in trying to find them.
It is estimated that roughly 10 million pets are lost in the United States each year.
While there are many GPS trackers on the market, it’s tough to determine which ones are best for small dogs.
As a result, we have spent many hours creating this list including the pros and cons of each one.
Additionally, we have also included a few pet tags at the end that use GPS to locate your pet, but not in real-time.
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Table of Contents
1. FitBark: Health, Fitness, and Location Tracer
FitBark is one of the smallest yet comprehensive real-time GPS trackers on the market and is meant for dogs of all sizes.
It’s extremely lightweight weighing only 17 g (.037 lbs).
The device will work as long as there is LTE-M Verizon coverage in your area (it doesn’t require a Verizon plan).
You can check whether your area has coverage by clicking on “Expand interactive map” and filtering by “LTE-M” on the following page: Verizon coverage areas.
Further, it combines a location tracker with fitness and health monitoring such as monitoring stress, anxiety, sleep, and more.
This is certainly one of the best GPS trackers for small dogs.
In fact, it’s trusted by veterinary schools and research institutions as a dependable dog parenting device.
Pros and Cons of FitBark
- Long Battery Life: Enjoy a lasting 10-20 days of experience on a single charge (4 days in lost dog mode).
- LTE-M Coverage: Locate your pet in real-time even if it decides to wander across the nation, as long as the area has LTE-M Verizon coverage. See above for link.
- Extensive Health Monitoring: Keep track of a range of health conditions of your dog from its sleep quality to skin conditions.
- Excellent Customer Service: Customer support is excellent and available 24/7.
- 30-Day Money Back Guarantee.
2. Petfon: Locator and Activity Monitor
This lightweight and easy-fit tracker has no minimum weight requirement, so is great for a small dog.
Petfon has no subscription fee and is highly rated for its accurate real-time positioning using a range of technologies.
Additionally, it’s also very durable and meant to withstand the outdoors including rain and snow.
Keep in mind that it has a limited range of .65 miles in urban setting, while a range of 3.5 miles in open outdoor areas.
Pros and Cons of Petfon
- Budget-Friendly: Enjoy services with no monthly subscription fee.
- Voice Commands Feature: Communicate with your pet remotely using a pre-recorded phrase.
- Multicolor Alert System: Locate your dog easily in dark places and at nighttime.
- Portable battery charger: It comes with a portable recharging station, perfect for off-grid adventures.
- Lightweight: It’s very small with no minimum weight requirement for pets.
- Durable: It can withstand rain, snow, and storms.
- Cellular coverage is not required.
3. Whistle Go: Health and Tracer
Just like FitBark, Whistle Go is a comprehensive tracker with many other features like fitness and health monitoring.
It also offers email alerts, long-range real-time tracking, high accuracy, a record of pet activity, and durability.
Keep in mind that the Whistle Go and Whistle Go Explore are essentially the same besides battery life and a night light. Whistle Go has a battery life of 10 days, while Whistler Go Explore has a battery life of 20 days plus a night light.
Pros and Cons of Whistle Go
- Long-Range Real-Time Tracking: Locate your dog anywhere in U.S. even if hundreds of miles away.
- Long battery life: The battery lasts 10 days for Whistle Go and 20 days for Whistle Go Explore.
- Safe Zones: You can designate areas where your dog is allowed to go.
- Nationwide Coverage
- Fitness and Health Monitoring: You can track all types of activity such as distance traveled, sleeping activity, calories burned, and more.
- Lightweight: Whistle Go easily attaches to your dog’s collar and is lightweight.
- Access to vet: You can speak to a vet directly through their app.
- Durable: It is waterproof.
- Wellness Reports: Monitor your pet’s health and habits on a weekly basis
- Night Light: The Whistle Go Explore model has a night light for dark conditions.
4. Tractive Global Positioning System Canine LTE
Tractive GPS Dog LTE weighs roughly 1.2 oz (35g) and is meant to work for dogs of all sizes.
The device is mainly a tracker as opposed to a more comprehensive device, although it still has activity tracking.
However, it has tons of features related to the tracker portion.
You can track your dog using your smartphone or on a web browser.
Further, the tracker allows you to locate your pet in real-time with unlimited range and also record their full location history.
Additionally, it has many other features such as a long battery life of approximately 3-5 days, safe zones, and is waterproof and shock resistant.
Pros and Cons of Tractive
- Battery Life: Up to 5 days on one charge and extremely easy to charge by just attaching the magnetic battery side to the charger
- IPX7 Certified: Be 100% worry-free even if your pet is a water baby.
- Location and heat map: Discover the areas that your dog enjoys hanging out.
- Warranty: They will replace the device for free if lost, stolen or damaged during the warranty period of 12 months.
- Global Tracking Coverage/Family Sharing (with premium subscription)
5. Fi Smart Canine Collar
The Fi Smart Dog Collar is a sort of doggy Fitbit with a step counter to monitor your pet’s exercise levels.
The collar is recommended for dogs that weigh 10 lbs or more, but I’ve read you can request a smaller collar.
The device provides real-time GPS tracking and the ability to create geofenced safe zones in and around your home.
It also has a long battery life due to its low power mode, which you can switch to lost dog mode to get more accurate updates on your dog’s location.
Pros and Cons of Fi Smart
- Long Battery Life: It can last up to 3 months depending on your dog’s activity.
- Safe Zones: You can have multiple safe zones.
- Night Light LED: You can choose the colors for the night light LED function.
- Durable: It is rugged and waterproof.
- Customization: You can customize your dog’s health goals and compete with others by using the app.
- Add unlimited users to the app.
- It comes as a collar so you cannot attach to your own dog’s collar.
- Original collar only suitable for dogs weighing 10 lbs or more, but can request smaller one.
- It eats up battery life in ‘lost dog’ mode in a matter of days.
- The price is on the higher end and a subscription is required.
- It requires LTE-M coverage in the U.S. to track.
6. Findster Duo
Findster Duo is a GPS real-time pet tracker with no subscription that is recommended for pets over 8 lbs.
It has all of the features you would expect from a GPS pet tracker (such as safe zones and pet activity tracking), although it’s limited to a tracking range of 3 miles.
Some of the unique features include radar and the ability to operate without a cellular signal due to MAZE technology.
Additionally, there is an optional subscription called Findster Care. Under that plan, veterinarians will monitor your pet’s behavior and provide insights on their behavior, plus offer 24/7 access to answer questions.
Pros and Cons of Findster Duo
- No cell coverage required: You can track them even when no cell service is available.
- Durable: It is waterproof and shockproof.
- No subscription required: You pay for the device and that’s all.
- Real-time tracking: Get their location sent directly to your phone.
- Pet activity monitoring: It offers a physical activity log of your pet.
- Multiple Pet Tracking: You can track up to three pets.
- GPS works off-grid: You can use this tracker everywhere since no cell service is required.
- Works in any country
- It has an okay battery life of 3-7 days, but does provide 12 hours of charge for live tracking all day.
- The tracking only works up to 3 miles depending on conditions.
- It doesn’t work indoors.
- An additional piece of equipment called a ‘guardian module’ is required, which must be near the phone for tracking to work.
- It may be bulkier for smaller dogs to wear on a collar so attaching to a harness is a suggested alternative.
- There are reports of some lag time with location updates.
7. Humane Tribe Pet Tracer Tag
While this locator tag uses GPS technology, unlike the others, it does not provide live tracking.
Instead, it alerts the owner with a GPS location when the tag is accessed by the person who finds your pet.
It can be accessed by its internal nfc chip, QR code, or a short URL.
Pros and Cons of Humane Tribe
8. Dynotag Super Pet Tag
Dynotag Super Pet Tag is another pet locator tag like the previous product.
It is the size of an ID tag and requires your dog to be found to serve its purpose.
The tag simply says ‘Help Me Find My Owner!’.
When your dog is found, the tag can be easily scanned by a smartphone or computer with a web browser
Then, an alert is sent to the owner using GPS technology.
Pros and Cons of Dynotag Super Pet Tag
Comparison Chart for Best GPS Tracker for Small Dogs
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is not one universal best GPS tracker for small dogs.
While GPS trackers offer an easy way to keep track of your small dog, they are not all the same.
You should weigh the pros and cons of the list above to determine which one best fits your needs.
There are many factors to consider such as its tracking distance, your budget, whether you need real-time tracking, whether you want fitness or health monitoring, and more.
By the way, I also wrote an article on our recommended GPS tracker for all dogs including what to consider.
If you have further questions or feedback for any of the brands listed, let us help you in the comments section!
Hello,
Is the Fi Smart Dog Collar not compatible with Verizon?
According to their site, with an active subscription, their collar uses AT&T’s LTE-M cell network and essentially is its own cellular device. They say you can use any cell network on your phone. Here is the reference:
https://support.tryfi.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019369354–How-will-I-know-if-the-Fi-collar-has-cellular-coverage-in-my-area-