08/18/2025
I love the Tractive GPS collar – it’s an amazing safety protocol to have in place, especially for flight-risk dogs or while you’re still working on building off-leash reliability. It can also be a fun way to track your walks and hikes!
But here’s the thing: this tool should never replace actual training or automatically allow you to let your dog off leash.
I often hear people say things like:
• “It’s okay, I let him off leash because he has the Tractive on.”
• “If she runs away, I’ll just track her and go get her.”
Unfortunately, that mindset can be dangerous. A GPS collar doesn’t protect your dog from harm. Even if you can track them, your dog could still:
• Run onto a busy road
• Approach an aggressive dog or wild animal
• Get stuck, injured, or lost in terrain you can’t reach quickly
• Or lose the collar altogether
Stories exist of dogs being seriously injured or even killed despite wearing GPS collars.
This goes for e-collars, leashes, or any other piece of equipment too – tools are only as good as the training and relationship behind them. With gps collars specifically, you have zero way to communicate with your dog. You’re not teaching your dog to stay close, just locating them after the fact.
If you dream of giving your dog safe off-leash freedom, training and relationship-building are the real solution. Tools are just backups.
And honestly, even if you’re perfectly happy using a long line forever, training your dog for the unpredictable is still one of the best ways to keep them safe – because life happens.
If you want that freedom and peace of mind, reach out for training – I’d love to help you and your dog earn that privilege the safe way.
