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eng-pointer
PostPosted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 9:55 pm  Reply with quote
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I had a pretty scary weekend. My 5 year old chessie and I were working some fairly thick pheasant cover when all of a sudden she started barking and panicking like something was hurting her. At first she ran to me and I tried to comfort her but then she just ran full bore away from me. I called and called but she just kept running and barking. I started running after her but I lost her over the horizon. I ran to the truck and started to drive to where I last saw her. After about 45 minutes of looking I found her at an old house. Fortunately when I got out of the truck and called she came out of a shelter belt that was around the house and came to me. I don't know who was more happy me or her. Scared the crap out of me. I could find no injury and she has acted her normal self ever since. Crazy!

Anyway I am now in the market for a GPS tracking collar. I am looking at the Garmin Alpha 100 but I am open to suggestions. I have read previous posts about Various systems but I am specifically looking for what kind of actual range people have been getting.

Thanks, James

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Chicago
PostPosted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 10:40 pm  Reply with quote
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It depends on the topography and the amount of canopy, or at least that is my experience. My hunting partner and I both use the Alpha 100 and we both like the unit, despite the high cost.

When I hunt my dogs in the grouse woods I almost always have contact with them, but they are within a 100 yards of me. If I lose contact it is for seconds not minutes. When I hunt pheasant with them they are never out of contact. My buddies dog ran a deer (we think) last fall and he had contact under deep canopy up until 484 yards when the dog finally started back.

Following the deer event we decided to see how well it faired in the hills. I have a hunting cabin in Marquette, Mi and it is very hilly by the cabin. So my buddy takes the Alpha and gets in his car and drives off. I had good contact until 1.2 miles and then it was periodic (but I had him most of the time) until I lost him at a little over 4 miles from the cabin. Now they advertise 9 miles and I think if you were in a prairie situation that would be accurate. The terrain is up and down from the cabin although he was climbing to a higher elevation. So I am guessing whenever he dipped down low enough between the hills I lost him.

I don’t think you are going to find a unit that will maintain contact any better than Garmins. I don’t have any experience with the other manufacturers products. I do have a friend that ran a dogtra (I think) and I know he has moved over to the Alpha 100.

Hope this helps and Good Hunting,
Mike
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Gil S
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 5:02 am  Reply with quote
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I've used a Garmin Astro 320 for six years. The Alpha series has more versatility, but "better" is always the enemy of "good enough". My unit tracks both of my dogs and has an easy menu driven interface. The Alpha is touch screen. A friend has a Dogtra system and has had more problems with it in two years than I have had with the Garmin product in six. Any is better than none. When Abby was about 2, I tracked her running a deer at a stomach-knotting 800 yards in the flat woods. That was cured with an e-collar. The Alpha can do both correction and tracking; my Astro can't and the dogs wear separate collars. I hunt woodcock cover where often I can't see my dogs at five yards. A tracking collar eliminates losing a dog in cover when a bell isn't good enough. A Georgia trainer saved one of her dog's life when it was tracked into an abandoned barn head down wedged between an outer and inner wall. She would have never found her dog but for the Garmin. Gil
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double vision
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 5:31 am  Reply with quote
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I'm an Alpha convert. Resisted for a long time, but now I've started to understand and enjoy the benefits. The safety of the dog is probably the top plus, but any GPS can help you relax and not over-handle your dog. The Astro would also be a fine choice, but I like to have correction right handy and not have a second transmitter. I use the tone for silent recall, etc.

I think Chicago covered the range question well.
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Upland Carpenter
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 8:01 am  Reply with quote
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I have no advice on the gps collar but I'm glad to hear it turned out well in the end James.

Was she wearing an e-collar? Like anything else, they can fail. I've often wondered if a fault in the collar/transmitter could cause the collar to activate without the handler's knowledge. Not saying it happened to you, just thinking out loud.

Marc

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Riflemeister
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 8:33 am  Reply with quote
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I've run the Garmin Alpha on my GSP's for the last 5 years and have really come to depend on it, especially in heavy cover and out on the Montana prairies where they tend to stretch the range a bit. The only issue I have is running both dogs together, which I seldom do, The controller must be switched over from one dog to the other to tone or stimulate them. Working one dog at a time it is by far the best, most intuitive collar I've ever used. The ability to locate your dog at any time without interfering with his bird work is priceless. I'm not sure about the dogs, but I find bells and beepers very distracting and with my hearing only useful if the dogs are right under foot.

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gunut
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:15 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 05 Nov 2005
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Location: Sussex Wisconsin

Sounds like Your dog had some kind of episode and your wondering what kind of GPS collar to get....Id say take her to the Vet and explain what happened and have some tests done....then worry about electronics....

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3birddogs
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:55 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 07 Sep 2011
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I had a similar episode with one of my english Setters. He was working fine and then went bonkers running crazy, barking, and finally ran off and hid in a big blow down. I did have a beeper collar( not an e-collar) on him so I found him easily when the beeper went off. He was dazed/confused and came out with his tail between his legs. Put him on a leash, took him to the trucck. It happened once again whwn he didnt have the beeper collar on.
Long story short--I believe it was exercise-induced hypoglycemia and not some type of seizure. After that I always carried some Karo syrup in a squeeze bottle and would give him some periodically. i also for a while was putting Glycocharge on his food. The problem just kind of disappeared as he got old. Googlr exercise induced hypoglycemia and see what you think. Maybe the veternarians will weigh in with their thoughts.
I have also been contemplating a GPS for the dogs, the biggest problem for me is with young dogs who are not truly deer broke. Two years ago, I spent an entire day in the UP looking for a young dog that I thought was deer broke, line out after a deer. Luckily, just before dark she made it back to the truck--would have given alot of money for a GPS collar that day.

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eng-pointer
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:29 am  Reply with quote
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Quote:
Was she wearing an e-collar? Like anything else, they can fail. I've often wondered if a fault in the collar/transmitter could cause the collar to activate without the handler's knowledge. Not saying it happened to you, just thinking out loud.

Marc


No I did not have a e-collar on her. Usually I have a beeper collar on her but forgot that morning. It was weird. I wish I knew what happened. Something completely freaked her out. Completely out of character for her.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and information.

James

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eng-pointer
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:51 am  Reply with quote
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Quote:
Sounds like Your dog had some kind of episode and your wondering what kind of GPS collar to get....Id say take her to the Vet and explain what happened and have some tests done....then worry about electronics....


Always good advice to seek a professional medical opinion. In this case I graduated from Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1998 and did a Post Doctorate in Veterinary Physiology from Oklahoma State University so I have that aspect covered but again always good advice.

James

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jswanson
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 1:05 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 03 Feb 2008
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I had a similar occurrence. But it appeared that the e collar wS zapping her on a very high setting..
Not sure what could have triggered it.but back when garage door openers had been known to do this. With a the technology we walk around with today it could happen . Was you dog.wearing an s collar??

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3birddogs
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 2:31 pm  Reply with quote



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James, what do you think about the "exercise induced hypoglycemia" theory? I've read up on it, but just throwing that out as a possibility. I am not a veterinarian( my brother is, in Ashville, NC) but I am an optometrist in a rural hospital setting.

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tramroad28
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 3:43 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 20 Jul 2011
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Location: Ohio..where ruffed grouse were

Astro..........from having one when pup wore the antanaee on their back.
However, one must evaluate themselves and decide with what level of fiddly one chooses to live....or needs.....or, really, likes.
That amount changes, as fiddly stuff re electronics enters our lives more fully all the time.
Buy good, keep it updated and understand we all think we have made good decisions....reevaluate as your choice ages and then, act accordingly.

Interesting on the dog’s reaction....I would first think a failed trap or, likely, a failed snare or, some snappy critter that did not want bothered.
Dogs often act out of character will all such stuff.....I had an 8 year-old setter point a coon trying to hide in yucca in KS recently. In fact, I led him away and he went 300 yards back and pointed the ‘coon again....thankfully the coon did not cause an issue.
No barking but....they are all different in their reactions.
Injuries might be a bit difficult to find or identify....to me.

It does not sound at all like EIC, sugar issues or, seizures.
I have sadly had experience with the last two.
fwliw....ol’ chick-filet gives a honey packet that is handy for field carry.
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eng-pointer
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 4:11 pm  Reply with quote
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Quote:
James, what do you think about the "exercise induced hypoglycemia" theory? I've read up on it, but just throwing that out as a possibility. I am not a veterinarian( my brother is, in Ashville, NC) but I am an optometrist in a rural hospital setting.


I did 16 yrs as an Emergency Veterinarian and I saw a number of cases. They were almost exclusively heavily muscled, very lean dogs mainly English Pointers but I do remember a few setters and a couple of Brittanies. The cases I see with exercise induced hypoglycemia (EIH) when they presented were generally stable but lethargic. The histories were generally that the dogs were weak and ataxic (stumbling, drunk acting and wanted to just lay down). Some reported seizures but I think they were more consistant with muscle tremors than true seizures. I have never had one that ran away or acted like they were in a panic. They can certainly be disoriented but they do not have the energy to run. Difficult to say with your experience and certainly the fact that it repeated is suspecious but the clinical signs you described are not very consistant wih what I have seen.

James

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canvasback
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 5:35 pm  Reply with quote



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I hunted the north shore of Lake Superior in MN with Fourtrax and he lent me an older Garmin GPS to use on my setter. First time in 20 plus years of owning setters that I've used one.

It was a revelation!!!! Thick woods when she'd normally be out of sight at 5-10 yards and knowing where she was at all times meant for a dramatically more relaxed me. She never ranged more that 200 yards and more typically 30 to 90 yards but it was fantastic. Now I just have to stop spending money on guns long enough to buy my own rig.

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