GPS collars for Dogs, Garmin vs Sportdog

[Holleyman]

I was wondering if any of the CGNers here who hunt with dogs have any experience with GPS collars for dogs. All my research has come down to the Sportdog Tek 1.0 and the Garmin DC50.
I am not hunting with my dog and don't wish for the trainer, just a GPS tracker. I lost my 6 year old 100% blind flatcoated retriever for 40 hours on the weekend and it was just dumb luck we managed to find him over 3 quarter sections away. He was spooked by a rifle shot on Saturday morning on our 80 wooded acres, bolted like lightning into the woods and I looked for all of Saturday and Sunday for him. Cell coverage is spotty at best out there so I was looking for a system that was stand alone and not cellular dependant. The Garmin seems to have a lot of bells and whistles for a premium price and the Tec 1 seems more base model at a cheaper price. Spending a few hundred dollars for a tracker seems like a better deal than wasting 2 precious days off that could be better enjoyed at the cabin.
Anyone have any experience with these two systems? Ease of use, robustness, battery life...?

Thanks

 

[88 man]

I don't know much about the gps systems but have looked into them a bit myself for my hounds.The only prob I have with them is I don't think the battery life when using them is much more than 24 hrs ?.This is why I'm not using a gps as with hounds ( or any dog for that matter ) it may take longer to find them then the battery will last if theres not many roads and they'er further in the woods you end up having to walk a long way ( as I've done many times ).I use a Johnson's Telemetry system and battery life for the size collars I use are 16,000 hrs.Smaller collars are available down to I think 2000 hrs.Might be more than your willing to spend on collars but for what I need they'er the cats meow !
Just my 0.02$

 

[Bland]

I realise this does not answer your question directly but my pup wears a bell. Really helps when out in the dense bush keeping track of Harley.

 

[fiddler]

I've owned and hunted with bird dogs most of my life. If your dog is trained , you don't need that stuff. There is no shortcut to a trained dog, and expensive devices will not make a better hunting dog.

 

[Holleyman]

Not hunting. I have a yellow lab, three flatcoats and a husky. All are well trained except the blind one is spooked easily and can bolt off. All have good recall except if the blind one is spooked, thunder, gun shots and fireworks he is not listening, he is in panic mode. I don't want him tied to a tree all the time as the whole point is to let them have some exercise and freedom so a tracking collar seems to work in this case.

The bell is a low tech idea I will do as well, good suggestion

 

[Vimy Ridge]

If your dog is trained , you don't need that stuff.

Some gun dogs, especially some of the versatile breeds can have massive ranges. Unless you're keeping up on horseback a dog can be on point literally km's away and you'd have no idea where to find it. As far as a bell goes, sure but not so good for hunting IMO.

No experience with the sportDOG GPS, but they make nice E-collars so I bet their GPS would be nice too. The Garmin GPS collars work great. As far as I can tell the main difference is the Garmin has maps where as the sportDOG doesn't. Personally, I'd get one with an E-collar/GPS combo.

There's a good comparison here:

http://www.gundogsupply.com/compare-sportdog-tek-to-garmin-astro.html

 

[Dominion Link]

I don't know much about the gps systems but have looked into them a bit myself for my hounds.The only prob I have with them is I don't think the battery life when using them is much more than 24 hrs ?.This is why I'm not using a gps as with hounds ( or any dog for that matter ) it may take longer to find them then the battery will last if theres not many roads and they'er further in the woods you end up having to walk a long way ( as I've done many times ).I use a Johnson's Telemetry system and battery life for the size collars I use are 16,000 hrs.Smaller collars are available down to I think 2000 hrs.Might be more than your willing to spend on collars but for what I need they'er the cats meow !
Just my 0.02$

It's true that the battery life isn't as long as in telemetry units. The big advantage of GPS is that you generally know where your dog is within a few yards. I've used the GPS system to walk right in to where the coonhounds were, many times. There's no guessing how far away they are, or if they have crossed a particular road, property line etc.. The GPS definitely has it's upside. That said, I know several people who use telemetry and GPS collars together when they run their bear hounds.

 

[stew]

I would go with garmin but you will only get a day in battery life, maybe a bit more on the lowest setting. So you would have to recharge every night and put back on the dog in the morning. If you want something with longer battery life go with a telemetry unit but they don't pinpoint as close. Also maybe put a bell on the dog it may help you to find him with out seeing him.

 

[69firebird]

Find an older garmin system that works, you can buy factory refurbished units. Like an astro 220 and dc30 collar. You can get them used for a decent price. Remember these are not 'legal' in Canada. The signal depends on line of sight so depends on the terrain you are in. You could get no signal, 2 miles or plus (I get 7 miles with a long range antenna on moving hounds). The sport dog is like PAC man compared to a modern video game today ( the garmin). Battery life varies depending on the dog position update rate, backlight, etc. I use lithium batteries in the handheld and I charge the collars after 2 days of hunting, just so I know they won't quit on me. PM me if you need more help. Telemetry is better yes but you must remeber to remove the magnet and you must know how to use it. The garmin is set up like any garmin GPS user wise and gets you within feet.

 

[kkahmann]

Listen to 69firebird--good advice. You don't need the new DC50 Collar and a 220 Garmin with DC-30 set-up is all you need. Not many run bear hounds in bush as thick as I do. I stopped runnin telemtry collars 2 years ago--don't need 'em and the Astro's system is less than half the price. I ran both collars for a couple of years but found I never had to use the telemtry.