Best Smart Dog Collar in 2024 (Top 7 Devices To Check Out)

The smart dog collar market has been growing as pet parents come to understand the benefits of this technology. In 2022, the best smart dog collar brands can do more than just monitor your pet’s location. Instead, what I love most about it is that you can monitor vital health signs and learn more about your dog. Pet parents can keep track of sleep and exercise patterns with some of the smart dog collars which are also the best dog activity monitor devices today. The smart dog collar market is showing no signs of going away anytime soon, with a growth of more than $600 million from 2020 to 2024 [1]. The use of new technologies is pushing smart dog collars into a new era of data and support for the health of your pampered pup. Making the right choice for your pup means spending some time doing your research into smart dog collars. I’ve searched for the best smart dog collar options in the market today and I’ll go over their features in my review below to help you weigh down your options.

The Best Smart Dog Collar of 2022

To get the best smart dog collar for your dog means reading reviews and doing your research. We have taken the guesswork out of buying a smart dog collar by putting all the reviews in a single post. The Whistle Switch Smart collar is our pick for the best all-around choice on the market.

Our Favorite: Whistle Switch Smart Collar

The Whistle Switch Smart collar is an excellent choice for dog owners hoping to do more than keep a dog in place. This smart dog collar gives pet parents the chance to use a wide range of services to keep their pup happy and healthy. The health tracking options with the Whistle Switch Smart collar are more detailed than just tracking steps and distance traveled. Pet parents can produce reports detailing licking, scratching, and passing gas. The report can be uploaded to a chosen vet to be monitored.

The collar is adjustable, with sizes to suit all dogs from five pounds up. The Whistle Switch dog collar does need to be recharged each night to maintain its 20-hour battery life. However, two rechargeable batteries are included to keep the collar working at all times. 

This smart collar allows you to take control of the health and wellbeing of your dog. The main reason for investing in a Whistle Switch Smart collar is the ability to track your dog’s location using GPS. To save on battery life, the collar does not track your dog’s location within the designated safe zone set by you. If your dog slips out of your safe area, her location is tracked every 15 seconds to give you live updates.

Making sure your dog is at the peak of her performance can be difficult. Among the problems we consider is whether our pet is getting the right amount of food. The Whistle Switch Smart collar is equipped with a food portion calculator using all the data gathered to monitor food intake. An annual charge for access to the app may be expensive for some. However, the access to such high levels of data makes the price a small one to pay.

The Best for no Shock Corrections: Wagz Freedom Smart Dog Collar

Wagz Freedom Smart collar is an impressive option for pet parents looking to keep their dogs contained without the use of physical fences. Physical fences can be costly and change the look of your yard. The Wagz Freedom Smart collar uses vibration and sounds to correct the behavior of your puppy safely. The collar uses GPS technology and cellular towers to track the location of your dog. If you want to keep your puppy away from a pool or pond on your property, the app allows you to establish multiple invisible dog fence systems. 

Not using electric shocks and currents to correct the behavior of your puppy is one of the pros of the Wagz collar. Burying an invisible fence creates an electrical current around your property that your dog will not want to pass because of pain. The use of vibration and lights makes the Wagz Freedom Smart collar a humane option.

Health apps are positive for everyone, including pets and their parents. The Wagz Freedom Smart collar links to an app allowing you to explore the fitness data produced. The Wagz Freedom Smart collar app gives you access to a vast array of data about the distance walked and calories burned by your puppy. In the most basic sense, you can track the distance you and your pet travel on walks to make sure you are meeting her daily fitness goals.

Rechargeable batteries are positive for pet parents looking to increase their ability to allow a dog outdoor time. If your property is large, the Wagz Freedom Smart dog collar provides you with a 15-feet buffer zone to allow for GPS inaccuracies. To keep an active subscription you can choose between an annual or monthly fee to keep track of your dogs health and location. The flexibility of app payments is not always the case with smart collars and makes this an affordable option for all.

Read our extensive Wagz Freedom Smart dog collar review.

The Best Smart Collar for Battery Life: Fi Smart Dog Collar

The Fi 2 Smart dog collar is set apart by its use of a battery lasting for up to three months. For owners who are unsure about recharging a battery every 20 to 24 hours, the Fi 2 Smart dog collar is a good option. The long life of the battery means it does not need to be changed for around three months. To preserve battery life, the Fi 2 Series can be connected to WiFi to limit its connection to the GPS network. The expense of buying new batteries every three months is a negative that needs to be considered before choosing this smart dog collar.

Since the release of the first Fi Smart collar, the creators have looked to improve upon its design and technology. The available technology for location tracking has been improved to include the use of LTE-M services. LTE-M and pet GPS tracker options combine to give a precise location for your pampered pup. Keeping track of your puppy is not always precise using GPS alone. The LTE-M network connects the Fi 2 Smart collar to cell towers for low-power, long-distance tracking. The use of LTE-M helps preserve battery life and increases your ability to get a real-time location if your puppy escapes. 

The app has been updated with a new version of the escape detection algorithm which notifies you earlier when your pup slips out of her allocated area of your yard. For pet parents, the thought that you will be notified quickly if Fido escapes gives peace of mind. 

Fitness tracking has become one of the most important parts of being a pet parent in the 21st-century. The fitness-tracking abilities of the Fi 2 Smart collar are similar to those of other apps. The main points include tracking the distance covered by your dog each day. The app does record dog sleeping patterns to alert you of any irregularities you should be aware of. An irregular sleep pattern can be a sign of health problems that should be discussed with your veterinarian [1].

The Best for Invisible Fences: Halo 2 Collar

The Halo Collar has been through a series of upgrades to make it one of the best all-around smart collars on the market. The Halo Collar uses different technology than most of the smart collars on this list. Instead of linking to GPS and cellular towers, the Halo 2 collar uses beacons to create one of the best wireless dog fence systems. The use of smart fences allows you to set boundaries that keep your dog in a specific area of your property. Unlike other smart collars, the Halo 2 allows you to create unlimited fences in various locations. The security of Halo beacons allows you to keep your dog off-leash without needing WiFi or cellular service. 

Halo 2 smart collars use artificial learning to produce effective prevention tracking techniques. The latest technology from the Halo brand uses all the data about emergency alerts and fence warnings to help predict changes in behavior. The Halo 2 GPS dog collar makes it easy to identify areas where your pup is looking to escape or hide. 

The fitness tracking options from the Halo 2 Smart Collar allow pet parents to understand how much time and effort a puppy puts into active time. It is easy to see how much time your puppy is exercising and sleeping, which can provide clues to her health. If you are concerned about the quality of exercise your puppy is getting, you can use the Halo 2 for this reason.

The collar offers a range of impressive features. However, it does come with a hefty price tag of $999. The price tag does give you access to a smart collar that contains all the bells and whistles you could want. The hefty price tag does include 21-days of access to the training techniques of Cesar Milan and a 30-day trial subscription. Add into the overall cost a plan ranging from $10 to $30 and the overall cost of the Halo 2 is by far the most expensive.

Get full details through our Halo Collar review.

The Best for Customization: Fitbark 2 Dog Collar

The Fitbark 2 is a research-level smart dog collar that brings you access to the most options for tracking your puppy’s health. As a pet parent, the knowledge of every aspect of her life makes the Fitbark 2 the best option for tracking activity and health. The app allows you to monitor the health of your dog using Bluetooth technology. The lack of a pet location tracking feature, however, makes it difficult for this app to be ranked as one of the best. Pet tracking and invisible fences are among the reasons why smart collars have become so popular over the last few years.

The long battery life of the Fitbark 2 is one of its main benefits. Financial savings are important, and the need to purchase new batteries every six months can become a financial burden. This is why the six-month battery life is a bonus for pet parents who are hoping to avoid the issue of charging batteries each night.

Where the Fitbark 2 excels is in the delivery of data and fitness tracking. The available data is of the highest quality, with the Fitbark being used by veterinarian schools and academic institutions for research purposes. Linking your Fitbark to your phone gives you the ability to track the movement and health of your dog in great detail. The inclusion of a 3D accelerometer provides the most accurate monitoring of the movement of your puppy. The 3D accelerometer provides data on the movement, sleep, and nutrition of your puppy. 

The handy case for the Fitbark 2 makes it easy for your dog to enjoy life without worrying about breaking an expensive piece of equipment. The Fitbark 2 is shockproof and waterproof, to help you to monitor your dog’s activity in the best way.

The Best Low-Cost Activity Tracker: Whistle Health

Whistle Health is a low-cost option for entering fitness tracking and health monitoring. The Whistle Health fitness tracker offers a range of impressive features for a low initial cost. The tracker is a smart device that uses artificial intelligence to learn about the actions of your dog. The range of features is similar to those seen in different products on the fitness tracker market. 

Among the features a pet parent can use with the Whistle Health fitness tracker is the exercise monitoring app. The use of artificial intelligence allows pet parents to input the weight, breed, and age of their dog before using the app to explore the level of exercise completed. The app uses A.I. to determine if there are significant changes in the activity levels of your dog. 

The main benefits of the Whistle Health fitness tracker include the ability to monitor the health of your pet. This smart device helps pet parents track excessive licking and scratching. Reports can be created to provide information for veterinarians about the health of your pet. Other benefits include the ability to track the sleeping and eating habits of your pet to identify obvious changes. Metabolic issues can occur and be identified through the changes in your dog’s daily habits.

The low cost of the Whistle Health Smart collar device does not include the monthly subscription required to access the main parts of the associated app. The device attaches to your dog’s collar and increases the risk of it being lost during everyday use.

The Best Smart Collar for Pet Training: PetSafe Smart Dog Trainer

The PetSafe Smart pet trainer does exactly what it says on the packaging, trains your dog. The use of vibration to train your dog is a humane way of altering antisocial behaviors [1]. The trainer is a simple collar that uses vibration from a mobile phone app to correct bad behaviors. 

The app is installed on your cell phone and can be accessed by multiple users. The benefits of the PetSafe Smart dog trainer include the 40 hours of rechargeable battery life to keep your dog trained for more than a day. The pet training device is waterproof up to five feet. The trainer allows you to correct behaviors up to 75 yards from your pet with a simple touch of your phone screen. The app can be kept running in the background of your cell phone to allow easy access to your pet training device. 

The lack of a fitness tracker and GPS location tracking are limitations that need to be considered when buying the PetSafe Smart pet trainer.

The Best Lightweight Fitness Monitor: PitPat Dog Activity and Fitness Monitor

The PitPat Dog Activity and Fitness Monitor is a lightweight attachment to any collar. The activity tracker has limited functions but has been designed by veterinarians to provide accurate information about daily activities. The lightweight and small size of the tracker makes it an easy addition to any collar. The unit is small enough for puppies to wear without problems. 

Large dogs can wear the tracker on their collar and continue to be as rough as they wish without damaging the tracker. The tracker is fitted with a velcro strap that will not harm the skin of your pet. A pet parent will enjoy learning about the activities of their dog, with measurements of the distances covered and other information about their daily activities. 

There are some advantages to purchasing the PitPat Dog Activity and Fitness Monitor. These advantages include not needing to buy a monthly subscription to retain a connection to the app. The battery life of the PitPat Activity and Fitness Tracker is up to one year, with new batteries being the only associated long-term cost.

How Does a Smart Dog Collar Work?

The majority of the best smart collars work using the GPS satellite system. GPS technology was created by the U.S. military to allow for accurate monitoring of its equipment. The collar sends a signal to the GPS network, which response by returning the signal to pinpoint the location of the smart collar. The smart collars using GPS also use cell towers to triangulate the position of your pet. The cell service in your area and WiFi networks can be used to determine the location of your pet. 

You should remember the GPS network can be affected by your surroundings. If your yard is covered with a thick canopy of trees, the service could be interrupted. Invisible fences created using the app with a smart collar give pet parents the chance to isolate their dog in a specific area. The GPS network identifies when your dog is coming close to the border and signals the collar to use vibration and sounds to halt her movement. 

The latest smart dog collars use powerful technology to monitor the movement and breathing of your pet. Your pup will be monitored as she exercises and the information provided used to determine if she is getting enough exercise. The weight and breed of your dog are among the information needed to determine how much exercise is needed.

Do I Really Need a Smart Dog Collar?

To determine if you need a smart collar you will need to understand the needs of your dog. Firstly, if your dog is small and does not move around much you may not need to track her movement and location. If your dog is the kind to run for the door at the first opportunity, you should consider one of the best dog GPS tracker collars today. 

Fitness tracking technology has come a long way in the last few years. If you are not concerned about your dog running away, a simple fitness tracking device could be enough to keep you informed of her exercise routine. A dog that has faced health issues will benefit from the Artificial Intelligence technology that gives you the chance to monitor changes in your puppy’s daily routine.

Guide to Getting the Best Smart Dog Collar

The Whistle Switch smart Collar has all the technology you need to give you the information you want. The first choice for any smart dog collar buyer is to determine what you need in a smart collar. Once you have determined your dog’s needs in terms of a collar, you can set about researching the collars that meet your requirements. 

If you are living on a property with a fenced-in yard you may want to consider a simple fitness tracker. However, if your main concern is your dog disappearing into the night at the sign of any open gate, a GPS dog fence or tracker is your best option.

After you have determined your needs, you should take a look at your budget and determine how much you can afford to spend. Looking online at the different options is the first step in completing your research. Do not forget to factor the cost of subscriptions into your budget. The subscriptions can be paid for annually or monthly, the biggest savings are available when you choose to subscribe annually for your smart collar app.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does Fi collar have a monthly fee?

The Fi Series 2 Smart Dog Collar does have an annual subscription. The collar can be used without the subscription but it does not provide you with the full capabilities of the technology. If you choose not to obtain a subscription, you will receive the basic services over WiFi and using the pet parents mobile phone app. The Fi Series 2 Smart Dog Collar has an annual subscription of $149 for one year, with further years added at a discounted rate.

2. How do dog GPS trackers work?

There are three basic types of smart dog tracking devices, radio, cellular, and GPS. Some of the latest smart dog collars include multiple options for tracking your dog. The GPS uses overhead satellites to track your dog with pinpoint location accuracy. A thick canopy of trees can interfere with your GPS signal and require cellular technology to keep your signal intact.

3. What is a smart dog collar?

A smart dog collar can take many forms. In basic terms, the latest smart dog collars use technology to track the movement and location of your dog. Pet parents can choose between smart dog collars capable of tracking location and those acting as simple fitness trackers. The best smart dog collars can connect to cellular networks and WiFi signals to provide a connection between pet and parent. A smart dog collar can include artificial intelligence to monitor the behavior of a dog and check for changes to their everyday behaviors.