Guest post: Dog Tracker Plus

Tom Clark enjoys writing on a variety of topics surrounding technology that makes pet owners’ lives easier.

Dog Tracker Plus

Losing your dog when you’re out on a walk can be a very stressful experience. In most cases you have no option but to persistently call out and search the surrounding area high and low, asking passer-by’s if they’ve seen your much loved pet. Not knowing where they are can send anyone into a panic, but thanks to Dog Tracker Plus, moments like this will be a thing of the past.

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Using the latest GPS technology, Retrieva have invented a durable, comfortable and rechargeable intelligent collar to track your dog’s whereabouts during those hair-raising moments. The collar sends tracking information to your mobile device through the Dog Tracker Plus App and helps you find your dog in no time by pin pointing their location on a map and showing the distance, direction and speed they are moving at. You can even switch to the camera mode to see where your dog is from your point of view, which helps in situations when they are in close proximity but hidden from sight.

By setting up Geofences and alerts on the app you can happily sit back and relax while your dog roams free during such occasions as a picnic at the park. As soon as your dog ventures out of this boundary you’ve set up, you’ll get an alert to your mobile device and can quickly call your four legged friend back.

Good news is the live tracking is always on, so there is never the worry of your dog unexpectedly escaping without the collar activated. So long as the collar has been charged and you have signal, you’ll always be able to find your pooch.

This high-tech collar doesn’t just help with dogs who love going walkabout, but it also helps monitor your pet’s fitness and health. If Fido is getting a little porky you can easily set goals in the app to keep your dog’s weight under control by measuring the distance, speed and level of exercise they’ve achieved daily, and by ensuring they beat these daily targets on their walks.

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Available exclusively at Pets Corner, the Dog Tracker Plus collar is a waterproof design with anti-cut webbing that will stay put no matter how energetic or adventurous your dog may be. It really is a must have for owners of active dogs who love to go on adventures on their own, as it ensures no matter how far they stray, you’ll always be able to find them.

Disclaimer: Tom Clark wrote this review. I was not paid to publish his review. I have not tried Pet Tracker Plus on the Boxer dogs.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the tracker collar. Please comment below and start a debate. Don't forget to pop over to Surrey Life blogs where this month we're asking 'Where's your willy?'

I'm guest blogging today at Christmas Pie Crafts

Helenium hybrid,
watercolour, 2010, Lesley Beeton

Do pop over to Christmas Pie Crafts to see the lovely, crafty cards that Jill makes, and to read my guest post today.

CHRISTMAS PIE CRAFTS

A BLOG ABOUT THE LIFE OF A CRAFTER WHO DESIGNS AND CREATES BEAUTIFUL ITEMS, INCLUDING GREETINGS CARDS, GIFT CARDS, NOTELETS, WEDDING STATIONERY, DECORATED GIFT BAGS AND GIFT BOXES AND SCENTED CANDLES. PLEASE DO GET IN TOUCH IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MY WORK: CHRISTMASPIECRAFTS@VIRGINMEDIA.COM

If you have time, please pop over to #BlogFlash2012, where you will find the link to many other contributors to a fun creative writing challenge for August.

I've lost my husband to the chicken house

Hopefully it won't be a permanent arrangement. But for now, his project Chicken Palace is keeping him busy at the bottom of the garden. My other theory is that he is actually hiding away down there, listening to the cricket. Summer days!

Look out for my garden diary guest post on Christmas Pie Crafts - coming soon. And remember that Jill always welcomes guest bloggers (on all subjects) to her Friday blog slot. Don't be shy, get in touch with Jill, and meet some new bloggers.

Smitten by Britain

OK, so you know I've been away, but that's not to say I haven't been busy. Have a look at the guest post I wrote for Smitten by Britain. It's a great website for all things Britophile. Many thanks, Melissa. I hope to do more guest blogging now that I am back in civilisation!

Smitten by Britain

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Where does the time go?

Strawberry plant coming back to life,
April 2012, Lesley Beeton

I have asked myself this question twice today. Once, because I meant to reply to an email last week and completely forgot, and secondly because I'm putting the finishing touches to the month end, quarter end and year end accounts. Ouch! Not my favourite time of year, hence I'm distracting myself with all sorts of things I shouldn't. I'm designing our new bathroom. I have chosen the furniture design and tiles and marked out the bathroom with masking tape. Don't stand on the tape when you go to the loo! I've also bought my birthday present. I shouldn't have really. My husband did want to buy it for me, but I was in the right place at the right time, and I've got what I want. Now I have to put it away for three weeks. I've also been blogging and gardening.

The 'boys' have kept me pretty busy too. The recent fine weather brought out a few loonies to the Woods. One lot even offered us a bit of German sausage! We declined. There has been an increase in the number of poo(h) sticks. I know, Pooh sticks is a game played by honey bears and donkeys and piglets in the woods. I mean of course, poo bags on sticks in the woods. But I am easily amused. I'm told that it will all degrade over time, but why can't people just clear up after their dogs?

Occasionally, my lovely Boxers will be disgusting dogs; like the time the big big dog pee'd on my leg in his excitement at going on a new walk. But yesterday, was really awful. They had been on a lovely run across the farm, and had a drink from the bird bath, then decided to run at full speed, which prompted a vomit - into my slipper, when I was wearing it! I screamed so loudly my husband rushed over thinking I had broken my leg! I don't do vomit, or dead mice but that's another story.

When I was growing up in South Africa we had a splendid tortoise as a pet. Meat Pie was his name. He was fond on tomatoes. And he would come when called. I recall my Dad doing mouth to mouth on him after he fell in the swimming pool. We then dried him out in a low temperature oven. He came round with a cough and a splutter and is still going strong in a reptile park near Johannesburg. We think he is close to one hundred years old. *The action shot below is a fun 'on dog' demonstration of 'hardandfast' the British Heart Foundation promotion for hands-only CPR. Check out the Defibrillator Club here.

Hands-only CPR demonstration, for fun only!

The neighbour and I saw off a strange fellow asking for scrap metal. The 'boys' were pretty vocal too. The Village suffers from opportunistic burglaries. Many of us met up on Friday night to chew over the village issues. It was a fun evening in the Pub. I don't think anything was decided but it feels like everyone wants to do something. One of the village matriarchs was propping up a bar stool . I had never met her before. She is a bit fierce, but mostly friendly, I think.

On the dog walker training, we have made some progress. It's amazing what a bit of steak can do for Boxer motivation. We will know tomorrow if we have been successful; when the dog walker turns up I expect two Boxer dogs to jump in the back of the van. Only a few weeks to go now before they go to Kennels.

Gosh, well that is a lot of news, look at the time! Don't forget to read Jill Spain's guest post before you go.

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A puppy saved my life – Brin’s story

This story first appeared as a guest post at Christmas Pie Crafts. Thank you to Jill for hosting my guest post. I look forward to hosting a guest post from Jill in the very near future. What a really good idea, and very friendly blogging.

  

We never thought it would happen to us. Growing up in Johannesburg, crime was all around us, but somehow we were much more aware of danger then. We moved to a village in Surrey. It all seemed idyllic, just what we had imagined, and longed for. A large garden, neighbours separated by woods, no street lighting. Surely no evil would be lurking here.

Leafy Surrey, no evil here

How wrong we were. Just three months after moving in, still unpacking, decorating and renovating, a burglar broke in to our home.  He forced a bathroom window and ransacked our property. Nothing was left untouched. And he stole just about everything of value, some items of great sentimental value. Our lovely old rescue cat, Rosie, never quite recovered from the fright of it, and we lost her a few months later.

The Police came and rattled off the statistics about burglary in Surrey. It wasn’t very reassuring but we withstood the assault and moved on with our lives. It wasn’t going to happen to us again. We beefed up window and door locks, fenced the garden and secured the garden gates. No alarm system, we said. We don’t need it.

Oh, but we did need it. Four months later, coming home from work early on a Friday afternoon, I saw a man at the front door, inside the front door, inside the house. Almost in slow motion I jumped out of the car, trying to get the key in the front door, while dialing 999 and shouting at the operator for the Police.

Luckily for me, the burglar escaped through the broken window at the back of the house. The Police dog arrived minutes later and gave chase, but never caught him. He took nothing with him, but had caused several thousands pounds of damage breaking into the house.

We had a terrible weekend. I suffered from flashbacks, thinking about what could have happened if he hadn’t run away. I had run into the road to shout for help, but no-one could hear me. There was no-one around.

We ordered an alarm system, with monitoring and a link to the Police. We paid a security company to be first call, so that I would never face a choice like that again.

Darling Brin

And we found our darling Boxer dog, Brin. My saviour. Brin has the most effervescent personality. He’s a real human dog, very sensitive. And he loves his walks. It was because of him that I started to leave the house again. He depended on me and I needed to be brave. Slowly, the terrible migraines lifted. The little panic attacks receded. I actually started to enjoy the walks, too. And Brin grew into my steady companion. He’s a big boy, so provides quite a presence to strangers, too.

I can honestly say that little puppy saved my life, gave me courage, and showed so much commitment to our relationship.

Five months later we brought Themba home. Themba means ‘hope’ in Zulu. You can read Themba's story here.

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