Keeping Track Of Your Pets With A GPS Smartphone App

There's a growing interest with pet owners to track the family pet.  Now there's an iPhone App for that, making it easier to track your pooch without having to carry extra devices.      

SpotLight GPS Pet Locator was developed by Positioning Animals Worldwide, Inc. (PAW) in conjunction with the American Kennel Club Companion Animal Recovery (AKC CAR), the nation's largest not-for-profit pet ID and recovery service.  The GPS Pet Locator is just 2.5-ounces and can be easily attached to your dog's collar.  Should your pet start to drift from home, the App uses Google Maps to show its location and give you directions on how to get reunited with your pooch.  It costs $249 and then a monthly subscription fee, so it is not inexpensive but does give you a recovery service.  

There are other solutions on the market, such as the Apisphere Collar.   This is a dog collar with an embedded SIM using Apisphere's geo-mobility platform to transmit location-aware data across AT&T's wireless network, directly to a pet owner's cell phone or personal computer. An owner sets up a virtual geo-fence around the home allowing the pet to roam within that boundary.  If the pet strays outside those parameters,  your set alerts will go off on your smartphone, text, email etc.  No pricing has yet been released as this product is expected to be launched later this year.  

There are approximately 77.5 million owned dogs in the U.S.  I am sure location based dog tracking Apps are going to a huge market.