Dog Furiendly
When you’ve got adventurous dogs who love exploring new places, keeping track of where they are (and how much exercise they’ve had) is always on your mind. That’s where Tractive comes in – a GPS tracker designed specifically for dogs, so you can see their location in real time, set safe zones, and monitor activity levels straight from your phone.
We recently put Tractive to the test on a trip to Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight, one of our favourite walking spots. With winding woodland paths, open fields, and plenty of spots to sniff, it was the perfect place to test the Dog 6 Smart Tracker… Why don’t you join us?
What is Tractive?
Tractive is a lightweight GPS tracker that attaches securely to your dog’s collar or harness. As you can see, Oscar and Henry don’t wear a collar, so we attached it to their harnesses. Considering they are small dogs, I was pleasantly surprised that the tracker fit onto their harnesses so nicely.
Using the Tractive app, you can:
- Track your dog’s location – See where your dog is in real time, anywhere in the world.
- Set virtual fences (geofences) – Receive alerts if your dog wanders outside of the areas that you set as home.
- Monitor activity and health stats – You can set your dog daily goals, calories burned, and rest time…. Similarly to how you would yourself with a fitness watch.
- Share tracking – You have the option to share your dog’s location with family and friends, so everyone can keep tabs on your dog. This is ideal if someone is looking after your dog.
The device works with a subscription plan, which covers the mobile network connection that powers the GPS tracking. The basic plan is just £7 a month, while the premium plan is £8 a month.
How Tractive Works
Getting started with Tractive is really simple. Once the tracker is charged and clipped onto your dog’s collar or harness, you just need to download the Tractive GPS app (available on iOS and Android). From there, you’re ready to go in a few quick steps:
- Pair the tracker with the app – Follow the prompts to connect your device. It only takes a couple of minutes
- Create your dog’s profile – Add their name, breed, weight, and a cute picture.
- Set activity goals – The app suggests daily targets based on your dog’s breed and age, but you can tweak these to suit your dog’s routine.
- Start your adventure – When you head out for a walk, open the app and tap ‘Walk’ to see your dog’s location update every few seconds on the map.
- Explore the extras – You can view a heatmap showing where your dog explored most, track total distance covered and if you have two dogs, like me, you can compare who did most steps.
- Check progress – At the end of your walk, you’ll see a summary of your dog’s distance, time active, calories burned, and whether they hit their daily goal.
Putting Tractive to the Test
We clipped the trackers onto the dogs’ harnesses and set off for a walk around Quarr Abbey. The app connected quickly, and within seconds we could see both dogs on the map, their little icons darting along the paths as we walked.
One of our favourite features was the Live Mode, which updates the location every 2-3 seconds. This came in really handy when the dogs decided to investigate in the forest area, as we could see exactly where they had gone. Years ago, we actually lost Oscar in the forest on a dog walk. He was only gone for a few minutes, but it was the scariest (and longest) few minutes of my life. If we had a Tractive at the time, it would have saved a lot of worry.
Final Thoughts
Overall, we were really impressed with Tractive. It gave us peace of mind during our adventure at Quarr Abbey, and the activity tracking has been eye-opening for understanding just how much exercise the dogs actually get.
For anyone with an energetic dog who loves to explore, we’d definitely recommend giving Tractive a try. For future walks, we’ll be taking Tractive along with us. It feels like a must-have piece of kit for dog-friendly adventures, especially when you are away from home… and the battery life is excellent. When you’re at home, it enters power saving mode, which means it doesn’t use battery until you are actually out on your adventures.
Until 31st October 2025, Tractive are offering a massive 40% off trackers. You can visit their website here to purchase one of your own.
Happy exploring! 🐕
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