Posted on 04/21/2009 10:21:57 AM PDT by JoeProBono
See Spot run. See Spot run away. See Spot's GPS. See Spot found.
That, in a nutshell, is the story of a tiny GPS unit called SpotLight. The 2.5-ounce device, which easily attaches to a dog's collar, is scheduled to be marketed by the American Kennel Club beginning next month. The SpotLight will be priced at $250.
Dogs can be located on the SpotLight Web site by cell phone, smartphone, or PC. Dog owners can text message or call into the American Kennel Club service to receive the location of their dogs "anytime, anywhere in the U.S. with pinpoint accuracy," according to a SpotLight spokesperson.
Owners can even establish their own SafeSpots -- safe locations set up by owners. When a dog leaves a SafeSpot, an alert is sent to its owners by text message or e-mail. Multiple alerts can be set up, for instance, if a dog leaves an owner's yard, and, again, if the dog leaves the owner's neighborhood.
Better yet, the service offers continuous tracking so owners can follow their pets' locations on a map as they roam about for up to a week. All SpotLight information -- alerts, SafeSpot locations, and location histories -- can be viewed from a single dashboard. American Kennel Club spotters are available every day around the clock to help owners locate and recover lost animals.
The device includes a bright LED light that's visible from 100 yards. The LED can be activated remotely by owners from their handsets or PCs. The light is activated by a simple text message, "Spot SpotLight On," and the LED beacon is instantly activated.
Fantastic idea.....and I do not mean the picture.....
Doggie ping
LOL! That’s so cute. :)
LOL on that picture.....they all look like they are in on the joke...
My dog would like one of those for me. She knows where I am all the time. The only time she doesn’t know where I am is when I’m at in the truck without her.
We had the ID chip implanted on our dogs, and I highly recommend it.
Something my wife found and bought for our ‘youngest’ female, nine month old daisy is pretty ‘neat’. We have a large backyard in a very rural area. Nightfall, its pitch black ‘out there’. My wife bought a flashing red strobe light that easily attaches to Daisy’s collar, we can spot it immediately out the window. Another gadget I highly recommend.
There was a lost hunting dog hanging around my neighborhood for the better part of a week during the winter. This would be perfect for avoiding those situations.
Oh I highly recommend chipping dogs. We have so many people bring lost dogs into my work to have scanned and they are never chipped. A very beautiful and very obviously well-cared for Irish Setter just yesterday was brought in. My dogs are all chipped. Totally worth it.
Cool!...and cheap.
There’s also a similar type product I just found out about yesterday—
“Now there is something that will dramatically reduce the risk of losing your family’s best friend. It’s called DogTracsTM, and it uses the latest GPS and Wireless technology combined with an easy to use Web-Based Control Center.
DogTracsTM will notify you if your dog gets out and help you find him before he is lost.”
http://www.dogtracs.com/index.asp?src=VET
My guess is that the 24 hour access to the web site that tracks the dog costs a monthly fee.
They can't do that with a chipped dog - but from what I've heard - all vets or shelters do not have the same chip reading devices, so if yours wind up at the wrong one - that's another concern.
>There was a lost hunting dog hanging around my neighborhood for the better part of a week during the winter. This would be perfect for avoiding those situations.<
http://www.gundogsupply.com/tracker-maxima-systems.html
Hunting Dawg tracking systems have been around for a while. The trouble is, sometimes PETArds have been known to take the collars off of Rover and throw them away.
http://www.yourish.com/2007/06/27
Yep, best money we’ve ever spent.
How neat is that!? Great idea!
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