Our picks of the best pet trackers are durable, comfortable and designed to help you keep your beloved four-legged pal safe. Perfect for pinpointing their location in real time, should they get lost or stolen, GPS pet tracking is becoming increasingly popular, and we're totally on board.
Smart tech wearables designed for humans don't seem to be going anywhere soon, and now it's time to get your furry friends on board, too. Here's our pick of the best pet trackers – at the best prices.
When you're done keep an eye on them indoors, too, with the best pet cameras.
What is the best pet tracker?
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In our opinion, the best pet tracker comes in the form of the , which could be considered the FitBit for dogs, thanks to its ability to report back on how much exercise your four legged friend has undertaken during the course of the day.
It also offers the option to complete multiple checks on multiple dogs, which is perfect if you're planning on monitoring more than one pooch.
How to buy the best pet tracker
When it comes to choosing the best pet tracker to suit the requirements of you – and your pup – there are a few factors worth considering. These include:
Continuation costs
Some units represent excellent value when first purchased, but ongoing subscription costs should be taken into account too.
Battery life
A lost cat or dog can be on the lam for hours or days, and a long battery life can make all the difference when it comes to tracking them down.
When you're done choosing a GPS tracker, why not have a look at our other pet-related buyer's guides?
The best pet trackers you can buy right now
If you’re worried that your pooch might be getting a little paunchy, here’s some good news: the Whistle Activity Monitor acts as a sort of Fitbit for dogs, fitting on to their collar and reporting back on how much exercise they’ve had during the day, and even the quality of that exercise, so you can make sure they’re getting all the outdoor fun they need to stay fit and healthy even if you’re not the one doing the bulk of the walking.
You can also have multiple users checking out one dog’s data, or multiple dogs on one account, so everyone gets an insight.
Shop more of the best pet trackers available from Amazon
The phrase 'for children and pets' will never fail to raise a giggle, but this double-duty tracker is no laughing matter.
Lightweight and relatively small, it shouldn’t intrude on comfort whoever it’s tagged onto, and it even comes with two years’ free data roaming, which makes for excellent value, but most of all testers loved the geofencing, which sends you an alert if your pet strays outside of a safe area, or off a safe route, that you’ve set for them, and location updates every few seconds for up-to-the-minute reassurance.
Lightweight but robust and waterproof, this pet tracking device is designed to be clipped on to any collar or harness, not to be felt, but still to stand up to the rigours of rough and tumble play and exploration.
Users agreed that this was a strong point of Tractive’s design, and that it stayed put through many a muddy adventure, but again, like our previous pick, arguably its biggest selling point is its geofencing capabilities, with real-time tracking that works in over 150 countries, no range limitation, and easy editing of virtual fences.
The Pod 3 marries our two different types of pet tracker with aplomb, offering activity and location tracking in one robust but lightweight package.
Like our previous handful of picks, it sends a push notification every time your pet steps outside of their virtual boundaries, but its star function is arguably its ability to set multiple virtual fences, rather than a single safe zone.
This means you can set one for your home, one for a parent’s or pet-sitter’s house, or even one around the cattery or kennel when you head off on holiday. Add to that shock-proofing and waterproofing, and it’s sure to be a reliable addition.
Shop the full range of pet trackers available from eBay
Okay, it’s not engineered specifically for pets, but hear us out: the Tile Sport has a cited battery life of up to one whole year.
That’s a full 355 days longer than our next longest-lasting option. It’s ideal if you don’t want to disturb your pet by repeatedly taking the tracker on and off for charging, and like to know where they’re hiding at any given time – it can come in especially handy if certain rooms in the house are off-limits, or for tracking them down pre-vet – but the main difference between the Tile and our other picks is that it only has a range of up to 200ft, so it’s best kept for inside the house or on close-quarters walks.
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