Kamla sporting her WagR Pet GPS Tracker
In this post, discover how Apple AirTag & Samsung SmartTag offer peace of mind by tracking pets during travel, ensuring their safety, and preventing loss. I used both the devices and it was very reassuring to see my pet live as she traveled halfway across the world from India to the USA.
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Why use a GPS tracker for pets?
The first GPS tracker for Kamla was from a Bengaluru startup called WagR.
It was a nifty little device that cost a pretty penny and worked well for our purpose- we were living in a rural area then, and she was the local stray. She would go off on her daily adventures and come home only to eat and sleep.
The only reason I believed she would not be home for her meals and sleep was if she got into an accident, as the area she would venture into was near a highway. She was a free dog and the boss of her area, and although she was street-smart and careful, we were always concerned for her because the world is filled with reckless and unkind people.
We were often asked if we were so concerned, why not always keep her inside the house?
Well, that was not a decision for us to make. She was her own individual and was free before meeting us. With time, she trusted and loved us enough and stayed more and more at home, so the GPS tracker became redundant.
This was before Samsung’s Smart Tag and Apple’s Airtag were available
Using Apple AirTag and Samsung Smart Tag.
When we recently had to move overseas for work, it was a given that she would come with us. And if your Facebook newsfeed looks anything like mine, you must have seen the video of a man grieving after the airline lost his dogs.
Or of a dog escaping from its crate and running loose on the tarmac.
I did not want this for Kamla. While I had no control over how the airlines handle live animal transport, I could at least do some damage control by tagging her with a GPS tracker and microchipping her.
So, if the airline loses her in transit, the Apple Airtag and Samsung Smart Tag will be useful.
In case she is set loose from her crate- microchip, with the hope that the one who finds her takes her to a vet and they scan her for it.
I also had a name tag with a phone number that had my complete India phone number with the +91 code.
I used both Apple Airtag and Samsung Smart Tag to relocate Kamla from India to the USA.
I bought a soft silicon collar with a built-in holder for Airtag and looped in the Samsung Smart Tag on the buckle.
I did loads of dry runs a few days before her flight and was pleased with their accuracy.
Where should these tracking devices be kept during dog transport?
Please note that the dog cannot be collared or harnessed during flight. I was allowed to keep her collar inside the crate, and I attached the Samsung and Apple tags to it.
The airline personnel had no problem with the tracker devices inside the crate.
A microchip is NOT a GPS tracking device.
A microchip cannot track your dog like an Apple or Samsung tag can.
A microchip is a small electronic device, the size of a grain of rice, that contains your pet’s microchip number. When scanned by a scanning device, the number is displayed, which can then be searched on online pet microchip registries that will have the details (owner, veterinarian) that will help identify the pet.
This is what will help trace your pet back in case it somehow escapes from its crate, like the dog in the video at the beginning of this post.
Here is an article by the American Veterinary Pet Association about it: Microchipping FAQ
Which should be used for pet travel: a dedicated GPS device or an Apple / Samsung Tag?
A pet GPS tracker, while excellent to use daily with features like a pet activity tracker, is not the best for international travel due to the following:
1) Battery life: The conventional pet GPS tracker battery life is limited. The one I had for Kamla needed to be charged every second day. Other brands last longer, but nothing matches the Apple Air Tag and Samsung Smart Tag, which are said to last for a year, depending on usage.
2) Pet GPS trackers need SIM card connectivity to work. While this works great locally, it won’t really function during international travel, whereas Apple Air Tags and Samsung Smart Tag use Bluetooth to connect to nearby Apple and Samsung devices—both of which are very common devices in all parts of the world.
Considering these two factors, one should use the Apple / Samsung tags rather than a pet GPD tracker.
Trivia
The Bluetooth technology invented by Jaap C. Haartsen, on which AppleiTag and Samsung Smart Tag are based is named after the 10th-century Viking King Harald Bluetooth, who united the tribes of Denmark into a single kingdom- much like how the Bluetooth technology unites different devices.
