Collection: Pet GPS Trackers

A GPS tracker tells you where your dog or cat actually is. A Bluetooth finder tells you where your phone last saw the collar — useful for a tag down the back of the sofa, and no help at all when a dog has bolted across a field.

A great many trackers sold online are Bluetooth devices listed under GPS keywords. We check the specification on every one we list and say plainly which technology it uses. The quickest test you can run yourself: if a tracker claims six months to a year of battery life from a small button cell, it is Bluetooth. A genuine GPS tracker has a rechargeable battery measured in days or weeks, because satellite positioning and a mobile connection cost real power.

That mobile connection is the other thing to understand before you buy. Every true GPS tracker reports its location over a mobile network, so there is a SIM and data involved somewhere. We would rather you asked us up front than found out after the box arrives — get in touch and we will confirm exactly how it works on the model you are looking at.

Choosing one

• Dogs that run. You need GPS, not Bluetooth. Range is the whole point.
• Cats that roam. Size and weight matter most — look for a small tag, and always use a quick-release safety collar.
• Battery. Standby figures assume you are not watching the map constantly. Live tracking cuts any quoted figure substantially.
• Water. If your dog swims, check the rating rather than assuming.

A tracker is a tool, not a replacement for a collar tag or a microchip. In the UK your dog must legally wear an ID tag in public and be microchipped, whatever else is on the collar.