As a dog owner, what is your worst fear?!? I think I can guess; losing your dog (it’s certainly my worst fear!) With Microchipping laws coming into force in April this year (at last!!) you may think finding your lost dog couldn’t be easier… What if we told you scanning for microchips isn’t compulsory? Crazy, right? Maybe you think “well my details are attached to my dog’s collar, so people could locate me there?” Correct (and also compulsory) but what about the realities of when a dog goes missing? Imagine the panic. Who do you tell? How do you even begin to search for your dog? Join us today as we introduce you to the latest pet tech helping reunite us with our dogs. Welcome to…DogTrac!!

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WHAT IS DOGTRAC?

Imagine a technology which enabled you to spread the word about your lost dog to your local area from a touch of a button. A technology enabling you to be part of a community helping reunite lost dogs in your local area (even if you don’t own a dog). A technology which enabled you to register your dogs details on a National Database. And the best news? What if most of this was FREE? Well a new and exciting pet tech platform, DogTrac, does just that!! Brilliant!! We were approached by DogTrac to trial their DogTrac platform (and of course I wanted to try something which could be used as a tool to help track Ted or Millie, should they become lost in the future, heaven forbid!) But first, here’s a short video to explain a little more about how DogTrac could help you.

DOGTRAC SMART ID TAG. HOW DOES IT WORK?

imageWe were sent a DogTrac Smart ID Tag; small and light for your dog to carry (even for someone as small as Ted & Millie!) Please note they come in two sizes for both little and large dogs and only costs £14.95! This will become you and your dog’s information centre!! We quickly set about activating it online via the DogTrac website HERE.

PART ONE OF THE PROCESS

The instructions online meant it was easy to set up and only took five minutes to register our tag. Part One was all about the owners details as well as providing an alternative contact’s details, which is helpful if you’re away.dogtrac

PART TWO OF THE PROCESS

Part Two was all about registering Ted & Millie’s details so the people who find them (or any other dog) know the key information. You may not want to input all your dogs details but you can decide what you feel comfortable with. Helpful Tip: Inserting an image is a good idea, so it’s easy for your dog to be identified if he/she should become lost. People will then know exactly what they’re looking for once you’ve notified the Dog Watch Community, which we’ll come on to shortly.

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Once our details were all filled in, we were registered and ready to go! Please Note: It doesn’t tell you you’re registered, you simply press ‘Save’ and voilà, your dog and your details have been saved to the DogTrac platform. Perfection!

PART THREE OF THE PROCESS

The next step is to download the DogTrac app to your phone (for FREE) which will provide the following to you:

Screenshot of Dog Trac App

1) Enable you to report your lost dog at the press of a button. Literally. This alert will then be circulated to other DogTrac Dog Watch Community, within a 5 mile radius of where your dog went missing.

2) Enable you to send an SOS alert for you to use if you need help when dog walking e.g. a health issue, feeling threatened etc.

3) Enable you to report you have found a dog with a DogTrac ID and help reunite him/her with their owner.

4) A flashlight, to help you identify a DogTrac ID easily (& handy to have anyway when on a dog walk if, like us, you don’t have a torch on your phone!)

*Helpful Tip: when installing the app it will ask for access to your camera. You must agree to this as otherwise you are unable to scan the DogTrac Smart ID tag!! It may also ask for your location if you scan a tag. This will be helpful as this location will be sent to the dog’s owners once you have confirmed you have found a dog, so the owners knows exactly where their dog can be found! The joys of technology!

DOES IT WORK? 

The answer? Yes! I arranged for one my friends to download the app and scan the DogTrac Smart ID tag belonging to Ted. Literally within seconds, I received confirmation Ted had been ‘found’ via both email and a text message straight to my phone. It was so quick! From looking at our friend’s phone, all of the information we uploaded earlier was available. Fabulous!!

The Smart ID tag is great but obviously dependent on who should find your dog and whether they utilise the information provided correctly. This would be the same in any situation where a dog is found though and doesn’t detract from the impressive way DogTrac have utilised technology to speed up the process of reuniting a dog and their owner. The more people who own a Smart ID tag and/or sign up to the Dog Watch Community, the better, as this will make the DogTrac platform more effective, which we’ll tell you more about below.

DOGTRAC DOG WATCH COMMUNITY & NATIONAL RECOVERY DATABASE

Screenshot of the DogWatch Community websiteIt is worth noting, even if you don’t buy the Smart ID tag there is also the option of signing up for DogTrac Dog Watch Community for FREE, which means you will be alerted to any missing dogs within a 5 mile radius of where you live. This way you can be on the look out for any lost dogs in your area.

Just remember, the slightest sighting can give hope to an owner. I think this scheme is fabulous and I have signed up to be a part of it!! You can be a part of the scheme too, even if you don’t own a dog! All you need to do is sign up via the website or download the phone app (which is also FREE by the way) and you can be a part of helping reunite lost dogs in your area. You can do so HERE. We’re telling all our friends (with and without dogs) to join as they know how devastated we would be if Ted or Millie went missing and understand other owners would feel exactly the same. It’s going to be their good deed for 2016!! Let us know if you’re going to do the same. We’d love to know!!

You can also register your dog for FREE, to the DogTrac National Recovery Database HERE which will give you the opportunity to also communicate with the Dog Watch Community if your dog goes missing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In summary I found the whole platform really easy to use and navigate. In what could be a truly horrific situation, I imagine it provides extra peace of mind and assistance. Even if you don’t want to pay for the Smart ID tag, the DogTrac National Recovery Database and Dog Watch Community are all FREE and in my opinion, completely worth being part of. If you’re keen to find out more, purchase one of the Smart ID tags or even just sign up to the DogTrac National Recovery Database or Dog Watch Community, please follow the link HERE.

In the meantime a huge WELL DONE to DogTrac for recognising dogs are part of the family. This is at the heart of what they do and in turn, their pet tech could help so many of us dog owners. Thank you to them for providing us with the opportunity of trialling the DogTrac platform.

Sarah, Ted & Millie xxx