Garmin vs. Dogtra

[Mills Morrison]

We have been thinking about getting a shocking collar / GPS combo for Sherwood. It seems Dogtra and Garmin are the two options and it seems most people think Garmin is a little better, but more expensive.

What has been the experience here? Thanks in advance :bigbye:

[Timothy Salgado]

Mills, I believe Garmin and Tri-tronics are one company now, when I started training my hunting dogs in 1997 with the NAVHDA chapter here in Pa everyone recommended Tri-tronics and all the pro trainers I know use them. The collar systems I’ve had from them have always been rugged, dependable and easy to use. I currently use one of the basic units on my Labrador and it’s been trouble free for seven years and counting. I have never had a GPS collar so I can’t speak for them but if I go back to a pointing breed I will probably go that route.
Good luck,
Tim

[Matt Valinsky]

Mills, just my experience here. I have the Garmin Alpha 100 and the new Pro 550 Plus. The Alpha has more features than I will ever use and the Pro 550 Plus needs just one more and it would be perfect, at least for me.

The Alpha is not as user friendly to use for corrections in a hunting situation. Corrections should be made as soon as possible so the dog makes the connection, just can't be done with the Alpha especially if you want/need to change the level of stimulation. Other than that I like it for the features I use. Now, the Pro 550 Plus is extremely easy to use as a training collar. Once you get used to it you will not need to look at it for changing levels of stim and going from low, medium and high. The GPS feature is very basic, it will show the direction your dog is from you, distance from you and if he is on point, really all you need. It has a basic north arrow but no compass feature. The only feature it does not have that I like is the ability to mark your truck so you can get back to it. The Alpha allows you to do that.

For training and hunting in an area your familiar with, the Pro 550 Plus hands down.

Another option you might want to explore is the Sport Dog TEK 1.5. It is user friendly and is feature wise someplace between the Alpha and the Pro 550 Plus and will allow you to mark your truck. Another plus for the Sport Dog, it is Canadian legal where the Garmin Alpha and Pro 550 Plus are not. I had the Sport Dog TEK 1.0 that I used for several years and latter used it for a back up collar to the Alpha 100, it did everything I needed. I let one of the members at my bird dog club talk me out of it, not sure that was a wise decision on my part.

Hope some of this helps, if you have any questions, give me shout.

One more thing I should add. If your not familiar with using a training collar, get with someone who is. It's extremely important in my opinion that you collar condition a dog properly. Also, remember, it is not a device to deal out PUNISHMENT.

[Garry L Gordon]

I've used Tri-Tronics/Garmin for over 30 years (I still have my first training collar -- quite a dinosaur). I've used the "Pro" versions over the years, and have also used the various GPS/training versions. All worked well and met my needs. I train my dogs to respond to the tone so that I don't have to use voice commands or the whistle (although they are whistle trained, too) while hunting. The fact that you can almost infinitely set the stimulation levels is, for me, the real selling point for the Pro versions -- that, and their reliability.

I do have, and have used, a Dogtra training collar. i bought it upon recommendation from a long time professional trainer friend. It works fine and is reliable, but does not have the features I like.

[John Davis]

Mills, it's hard to have it all. IMO, the Garmin is a far superior GPS tracker but the Dogtra is the better e-collar. That all goes back to each companies roots. Since the locator is more important to me, I go with the Garmin and have a separate e-collar for training. However, I very seldom use the e-collar. Many a good dog has been ruined by handlers who didn't know what they were doing with a shock collar. I really like the Astro series, with the mini collar.

[Phillip Carr]

Matt and Garry are spot on with the feed back provided on the Alpha and the 550 Plus.
If Garmin adds the ability to mark the truck they will have they will have everything I would ever need in a collar.
If you don’t need that feature you will love the 550 Plus.
Simple and easy to use.

[Rich Anderson]

I have used the Dogtra collar for years. It has the locator and point/beep function I like when hunting grouse. The cover is thick and often I can't see the dog who might be only 30 yards away. However as I hunt in wolf country I'm also looking for a GPS collar that will incorporate the locator, stimulus, and point functions. A lot of the collars on the market have way more functions than I'll ever use. I have a GArmin hand held GPS unit I use to mark the truck so that's not a problem.

[Rick Losey]

I looked at them both and chose the Garmin-

I already had Garmin GPS and liked them, the unit works a a GPS as well as a tracking colar

and i think the dogtra requires using your phone as a screen- i would just as soon keep the phone dry in the marsh- much less - i don't have three hands for gun controller and phone

[John Davis]

I'm not too worried about getting back home, the horse can usually find his way back to the barn.

[Rick Losey]

I'm not too worried about getting back home, the horse can usually find his way back to the barn.

we just may not have that much horse-sense :rolleyes:


the idea of the tracking collar is to know where the dog is - I can't hear him, but i can find him

I always carry a compass, but the GPS is still nice to have along

[Tom Jay]

Mills, I keep hunting and training aids separate. I train my setter with the Garmin 550 (best and easiest to use ecollar in the industry) and use a bell and Astro 320 GPS to hunt and in field trials. My grandfather taught me that corrections should only be made while training and not when hunting. Just my opinion.

[Mills Morrison]

I hope to never have to use the shock function when hunting and would only do so if the dog got near a road or started chasing a wild hog. Actually, if it were not for those two concerns, I would only be interested in the GPS. The shock collar that died served its purpose in teaching the here command. I have had to use the vibrate a few times when he got distracted and excited by something and stopped listening to commands

[Tom Jay]

An ecollar is a great tool for collar conditioning a dog. Sounds like your dog is not quite there yet. To collar condition a dog I use a whistle, the command (here, quarter, whoa, etc.) and slight continuous stimulation.. After a few or more sessions the collar comes off and the dog responds to the command and/or whistle that is associated to what he's suppose to do regardless of the distraction (boar, deer, turkey, fast moving water or a road). I find this part of dog training fascinating as it makes the dog/handler bond stronger.

[Mills Morrison]

He is very close to there. He is naturally high spirited which is a plus mostly with some drawbacks.

[Rich Anderson]

It's rare for me to use the stimulus (shock) function but it does have it's purposes. Daisy got on a deer and a loud whoa didn't do anything but when I combined whoa and a zap that got her attention and she never chased another deer.

[Garry L Gordon]

I hope to never have to use the shock function when hunting and would only do so if the dog got near a road or started chasing a wild hog. Actually, if it were not for those two concerns, I would only be interested in the GPS. The shock collar that died served its purpose in teaching the here command. I have had to use the vibrate a few times when he got distracted and excited by something and stopped listening to commands

Mills,

I rarely use any stimulation, and only to help with situations like chasing deer, or if they are about to encounter a porcupine or skunk. Once they understand the commands, I associate them with both the collar tone function and the whistle. This way I can communicate with them via two means, and using the tone, there is no noise to spook game. I "beep" them, they look back or turn, and I can give them hand signals. It's great in the grouse woods, and when I run my dogs as a brace when quail hunting (using the tone, I can communicate with just one dog, whereas when I use the whistle, they both will respond).

[Mills Morrison]

Thanks for all the recommendations and advice. Even though I grew up with bird dogs, having my own now is very much a work in progress.

Sherwood stayed at a pet resort this weekend while we went to the Braves game. The owner said he had enough energy for 20 dogs.

[Garry L Gordon]

Thanks for all the recommendations and advice. Even though I grew up with bird dogs, having my own now is very much a work in progress.

Sherwood stayed at a pet resort this weekend while we went to the Braves game. The owner said he had enough energy for 20 dogs.

Just another fine "youngster" for you to acculturate to the upland life! Enjoy.

[Rich Anderson]

Ike is high energy also. He rough houses with Duke constantly. If Sherwood is a little hard headed you might see a big difference when he has the collar on. Daisy was bullheaded and Ike is to to some degree. When the collar goes on they seem to mellow out and mind much much better. The collar is a tool not a solution.

[Mills Morrison]

I was worried about that but he responds pretty well without the collar too.