Garmin vs. Dogtra

[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.

[mobirdhunter]

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.