Your canine could not know they’re sporting the Petcube GPS Tracker however you may know, and that peace of thoughts may be priceless. Maria Diaz/ZDNET
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Petcube GPS Tracker is now accessible on the market for $53.
- Held in a silicon case, the Petcube GPS tracker goes in your canine’s collar and lets customers monitor their pet’s location in actual time, set secure areas by means of geofencing, and activate ‘misplaced canine mode’.
- The tracker can solely be used with a month-to-month subscription, which begins at $5 a month — there isn’t any free strategy to monitor your pet’s location with the Petcube GPS Tracker. The gadget may also be too large and heavy for some small canines.
Petcube simply launched a brand new Petcube GPS Tracker that lets customers preserve tabs on their canine’s location. The tracker suits right into a silicon case that goes on a canine’s collar, The gadget, which has an LED gentle and a beeper that may be managed within the Petcube app, can also be waterproof.
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Anybody who has raised a pet possible is aware of the panic of getting the little scurry furball slide previous your legs by means of an open door. This exercise is often adopted by a panicked proprietor chasing a canine that has but to grasp recall, and is fueled by a scarcity of frequent sense and a want to wreak havoc, as puppies often are.
My canine is one and a half years previous now, and although his recall is considerably dependable due to coaching, he nonetheless prefers an excellent two minutes of freedom to poop within the neighbor’s yard, fairly than coming again to me instantly after I name him when he will get out.
Getting the Petcube GPS Tracker offers me peace of thoughts that I will be capable to discover my canine if he wanders, but additionally if I take him mountaineering or exploring within the woods behind my home.
I do not let my canine out unleashed past our fenced-in yard, however this tracker additionally lets me set secure zones by means of geofencing. If my canine leaves these secure zones, the Petcube alerts me with a telephone notification. This alert lets me relaxation simple that he is all the time the place he is imagined to be.
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Though I am all the time engaged on coaching him out of his crazed pet antics, I like the concept of getting a GPS tracker on him to not solely stop him from getting misplaced but additionally assist strengthen his recall. The Petcube GPS Tracker has a beeper you could ring on the Petcube app out of your smartphone. I am at the moment educating my canine to seek out me when he hears the beep, so he learns that beeping equates to me calling him.
The gadget suits my medium, 35-pound canine effectively, however because the gadget has a 2.3″ x 0.9″ x 0.7″ measurement and is sort of three ounces in weight, I can see how it could be too large for some small canines.
This GPS tracker additionally affords exercise monitoring, which tracks your pet’s burned energy, exercise time, and distance walked, all with historic information. Once you enter your canine’s info, together with its weight, the app will suggest a each day objective of exercise time to maintain your canine wholesome and blissful.
The Petcube GPS Tracker is waterproof and comes with a magnetic charger. Maria Diaz/ZDNET
A canine health tracker won’t be a precedence for a lot of pet homeowners, however it may be a welcome addition for individuals who wish to work out with their pet or these with a pup that should reduce weight. The historic information is a enjoyable addition that provides the GPS tracker an additional operate.
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The largest draw back to the Petcube GPS tracker is that it requires a month-to-month subscription, beginning at $5 a month. The subscription contains GPS and exercise monitoring, entry to the Petcube Tracker’s options, such because the built-in gentle and beeper, and even a Vet On-line chat seek the advice of, which supplies you entry to a licensed veterinarian on the app — for the subsequent time Fido chews that bizarre plant from the neighbor’s yard.
He seems far calmer in photos than in actual life — he is a runner. Maria Diaz/ZDNET
Petcube offers you totally different choices, from a primary subscription to a premium one, with choices to decide on month-to-month or annual funds. You may even pay for as much as 5 years upfront. However, on the finish of the day, it is nonetheless one other subscription added to your record of month-to-month funds.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
After testing the gadget for over per week, I might suggest the Petcube GPS Tracker for individuals who wish to discover their pets rapidly and simply through GPS, so long as you do not thoughts paying for a subscription.
Anybody trying to keep away from a subscription charge might go for an AirTag with a waterproof case, as is frequent observe for some pet homeowners. The AirTag would not use GPS. As an alternative, the gadget employs the iPhone’s Discover My community to speak its location. This strategy means an AirTag has the chance of not being present in distant places with no iPhones close by, comparable to in case you go mountaineering or tenting and lose your canine.
I like the very fact I can all the time see exactly the place my canine is and that I’ve peace of thoughts from monitoring his steps with ‘Misplaced Pet Mode’, which is a high-sensitivity monitoring mode you possibly can activate while you suppose you’ve got misplaced your canine.