E Collar

L

lefthandshooter

New member
Greetings

New member here picking up my dog about a month from now from the breeder. He’s a Labrador retriever and will be around ten months old and trained as a started gun dog. I’m looking for advice on an e collar/tracking collar. I only have only hunted state run put and takes and preserves thus far. I’m hoping to take a Kansas trip next year after the dog has a few local trips under his belt

I don’t need a system that will track several dogs. I basically just need something that will track my dog, load some maps and get me back to my car safely as my sense of direction is horrible. Thanks for any input!
 
Welcome to the forum.
I got my first dog about a year ago, a Boykin Spaniel. This is her first season, and I'm using the Garmin Alpha 10, with the TT15 Mini collar.
I've used it quite a bit so far this season- hunted ND for two weeks in Sept, a week in SD in Nov, plus a couple of days in KS on the way home. Went to NM for scaled quail for a couple of days last week. I'm very happy with it. The battery on the collar easily lasts all day, and I just charge it at night. The battery on the Alpha 10 will last a couple of days no problem.
Since I've never used any other collar, I don't have anything to compare it to, but I'm totally satisfied with it.
 
I have had many through the years. The exact Garmin roadscholar is referring to is the best I've had, although salty at around 650.00 The Garmin and invisible fence are the two best investments I've ever made.
 
I have a Garmin 550 Pro Plus and I’m very pleased with it. It does tracking and e-collar all in one so you don’t need to put 2 collars on. The tracking on the transmitter only shows how far the dog is and what direction the dog is but unless you have a huge running dog that’s more than enough. With a lab your dog shouldn’t be too far from you anyway. If you want a map you can Bluetooth to your phone and it will show where you and the dog are on a base map. The e-collar portion is great too. You have 6 levels and each level has low, medium, and high without changing the power dial so you can increase or decrease the stim really quickly with just one hand.
 
lefthandshooter said:
I don’t need a system that will track several dogs. I basically just need something that will track my dog, load some maps and get me back to my car safely as my sense of direction is horrible. Thanks for any input!
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For what you are looking for in a collar it would appear that one of the Garmin Alpha collars would fill the bill.
 
I think you could do what you need in Kansas with a smart phone and onyx. If you’re getting a started lab I wouldn’t get a collar until after I picked up the dog worked it and talked to the trainer. You might find that a gps based collar or a gps collar that leans heavily towards tracking is not what you’re looking for on this particular dog.
 
BrownDogsCan2 said:
I think you could do what you need in Kansas with a smart phone and onyx. If you’re getting a started lab I wouldn’t get a collar until after I picked up the dog worked it and talked to the trainer. You might find that a gps based collar or a gps collar that leans heavily towards tracking is not what you’re looking for on this particular dog.
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Thats good advise. you might find that a bell or beeper will be all you need.
 
I would suggest a beeper or bell. You can use google maps to place a pin at your vehicle and navigate back. Avenza app you can do the same assuming you have a georeferenced map. Spending $1k to help get back to your truck might be a bit excessive imo. Do your research there is alot of alternatives to a gps dog collar.
 
Weimdogman said:
You guys should go re-read the op's post.
How the hell is a bell going to help the guy navigate or find his pickup? Seems the collar isn't just for the dogs travels and training.

To the op the alpha 10 set up seems ideal for your needs.
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He could get one of those wind chimes and hang it from his antenna or something
 
BrownDogsCan2 said:
He could get one of those wind chimes and hang it from his antenna or something
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Yup, The Alpha and tt15 mini. is ideal. But a map, compass and a cow bell would be a hell of a lot cheaper. But I do understand that if that's what you are looking for, bite the bullet and get the Garmin. Last summer I woke in the night hearing a crunching sound. Looked out and saw a light in the corner. My pup had got my receiver and chewed the short antenna up turned it on and permanently changed the dog name and chewed the Lanyard off. Still works great, If I remember to charge it!
 
birddude said:
Yup, The Alpha and tt15 mini. is ideal. But a map, compass and a cow bell would be a hell of a lot cheaper. But I do understand that if that's what you are looking for, bite the bullet and get the Garmin. Last summer I woke in the night hearing a crunching sound. Looked out and saw a light in the corner. My pup had got my receiver and chewed the short antenna up turned it on and permanently changed the dog name and chewed the Lanyard off. Still works great, If I remember to charge it!
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Can vouche for chewed up transmitter....lol
 
550 plus works perfect for training and knowledge of dog whereabouts. I think you have to carry a phone for emergencies. The onX system keeps you tracking back to your truck, and from keeping you from trespassing, on said phone.
 
One idea to save some $$$ by buying a sportdog and onX subscription for your phone. I run a flushing lab and that is the rout I have taken.
 
I really like my Garmin 550+. I also use their Instinct watch.
 
lefthandshooter said:
Greetings

New member here picking up my dog about a month from now from the breeder. He’s a Labrador retriever and will be around ten months old and trained as a started gun dog. I’m looking for advice on an e collar/tracking collar. I only have only hunted state run put and takes and preserves thus far. I’m hoping to take a Kansas trip next year after the dog has a few local trips under his belt

I don’t need a system that will track several dogs. I basically just need something that will track my dog, load some maps and get me back to my car safely as my sense of direction is horrible. Thanks for any input!
Click to expand...
Rather than a collar with gps for a lab, how about OnX hunt for you and an electronic collar for the dog.
If you have a lab and are letting him run that far from you in the field you’d likely have problems being in range of birds. If you want to keep you dog in where you can see and hear him I suggest a dogtra train and beep collar. I run a 2502 t&b 2 dog collar on my springers. This is designed for pointers and has a pretty loud beeper you can utilize for locating in heavy cover. You can turn off the run beep/point beep features and still use the locator beep as needed. It’s loud enough I actually have rubber covers over the horn an can still hear the beeper at about 35 yards. Without the cover you can hear it at closer to 60 yards.
as to your sense of direction OnX has track features that will allow you to retrace your direction in the field. as you already likely have a cell phone this utilizes gps and OnX is very reasonable priced app. as an older hunter I didn’t want to learn another app and only got it myself this year as North Dakota has implemented electronic posting for hunting. after minimal self training I found this tool simple and very good for marking your favorite spots, and land nav tracking.
 
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