The American Beagler Forum

anybody had dogs bang their legs up with gps collars---??? what im really after is anybody come up with any practical solution- ? i have a couple dogs that i have to limit their running because of it--- and alot of other dogs, no issues at all ?? i hope this doesnt turn out like the bloddy tail thread im breeding for longer necks but need a short term solution

Do you run the Garmin mini's ? the ones designed for smaller dogs ? I've seen dogs that bang up their legs on the old Garmin collars and Tri-tronics collars.

i run minis with small telemetry collars -- or tt15s without telemetry --

I have small dogs. I have yet to see one hit there legs....in my scenario.

I put the tuff skin antennas on them and that longer antenna tends to counterbalance the unit. I always put the tracker up front, ahead of the regular collar, and always put in on very snug. Not choking them tight, but snug on the neck. I spin the collar to the side, so the box is on the side of there neck, not under. That is where the longer antenna helps....I believe.....the antenna is down laying across the neck and dangling down the opposite side of the box.

I don't have issues with the box part of the collar moving down where they can hit there legs....this has continually worked for me.

Good luck!

BCBeagles has it right, run your collar close to the ears and off to the side and use the mini is about all you can do. I found the dogs that keep there head down have more problems. Running two tracking collars can't be helping, you still having issues with the Garmins Snowshoe ?

Ran my dogs this a.m. without the collars as they were really getting their legs banged up. Ones a 15" and the other a 13". Going to buy the minis. Was a big difference in their running for the better today since they did not have them on. The knots they had on their legs are going away. Would definitely make sure the collar is riding high in front of the regular collar.

steve yeah ive had big problems with minis off and on --still- - after the last update they worked good for a couple weeks -- week before last i had them quit 8 times ----5 in ONE day-- all 5 dogs that i had out NONE working-- nobody at garmin or double u has any explanation-- - thyre gonna get with engineers at the end of the month i did master reset on collars and HH and ran them 5 days since then with no major problems-- lost gps for short time and straying all over for short time and that was only one day out of 5 --

l - i love garmin when they work -- i hate using telemtry --- but it always works---
i will not run a mini without telemetry until i see them work for months without issues - its been a year ,, hasnt happened yet for me ---just aquired some very small telemtry collars with dead batteries - going to rebuild them with even smaller battery -- and try that on dogs that are getting banged up --
i ran hounds on everything from rabbits to bear with telemtry for 32 years and i lost one collar--and 99% sure that dog was stolen--- measure reliability in years with telemtry , about the best ive seen from garmin minis is ten DAYS

the full size tt15s have been ten times better than the minis-- - i do use those without telemtry on bigger beagles -- even those have totally quit on me 4 times in last year-- --

ive got 2 out of 16 dogs im running that are banging their legs-- what sux is they are 2 of my favorites lol

I've ran beep beep colars on all my hounds, Beagles & Coondawgs consistantly for well over 30 years, I still use a Tracker Maxima 5000 receiver,a Tracker Maxima 7000 receiver and a Wildlife TRX 64 receiver on the Coondawg when he gets really deep in these hills & hollers.

I use extended range Johnson 5000hr sealed colars on the Coondawg , and have about a dozen of the Wildlife Ultralite 3850 replacable battery collars to use on beagles and friends beagles.

I run dogs year round almost every weekend Friday, Saturday & Sunday

I have never ever lost a dog, left one in the woods or gone home without my dogs, have never ever lost signal or not been able to locate a hound....

Granted, I can't tell you how many yards they are from me, how fast MPH they are traveling or how many miles they've covered, but seriously WHO CARES about that nonsense anyways other than maybe the younger video game houndsmen amongst us!!!! if that's what your're interested in maybe you should just get you an APP of dogs chasing Pokemon or something stupid like that, go sit in your airconditioned SUV and play a game on your phone.

With this old school technology I can usually stay close enough to hear my dogs, plus I'm a pretty good judge at listening to how fast they are running or tracking.

I for one will stick with what has proven itself to me to be reliable and trouble free for the past 30 years I've used it, whenever GPS can do this I may switch but until then I'll stay with what works all the time every time I need it to.

Old School isn't a bad thing! I prefer to go with what works all the time everytime!

Hey Pete,

Perhaps it's your magnetic personality that's screwing up your Garmins??

Seriously though, it would seem Garmin ought to be sending a rep. out to you for a visit with the money you have invested.

Definitely poor publicity for them!

I'm sure all you guys that choose to stick with the dinosaur technology are finding great deals on used equipment too. Good for ya!

To the OP - switch to minis and leg banging problem solved. Guess I'm lucky, don't experience near the crashes/glitches others report. Personally satisfied with the purchase(s) made.

I remember when pay TV used to be "commercial free"...lol
An old saying comes to mind, "the more you take on, the more you create a job never finished".
The simple solution, It all goes back to the hound your breeding.
I liked this comment from Wicker.

Granted, I can't tell you how many yards they are from me, how fast MPH they are traveling or how many miles they've covered, but seriously WHO CARES about that nonsense anyways other than maybe the younger video game houndsmen amongst us!!!! if that what's your're interested in maybe you should just get you an APP of dogs chasing Pokemon or something stupid like that, sit in your airconditioned SUV and play on your phone.

Listening to some, I feel we've almost engineered ourselves out of the enjoyment of hounds and hunting...
Maybe a computer generated model of hounds running. Those that do bang their legs against those who don't bang their legs. A structural flaw must be the answer and will become evident when the plan is put into motion.
If there is a chip that can find a stolen car, there must be a chip that can track a hound...lol

Pete it's gotta suck to still not be able to trust your system, was hoping you worked thru the problem by now. Mine has been pretty much trouble free I did lose a collar twice and did a update and all was good agian, my buddy has never updated and never had one problem.
To the nay sayer's I too ran telemetry for years and will not say they were no good but between signal bounce broken antennas and battery issue's in cold weather I have more faith in the Garmin. I enjoy running my hounds just fine and certainly don't need the Garmin to get them home. Some people say the glass is half full others half empty just like some always talk of the past and the good old days and others like my self are more concerned with the future and what it will bring. To each their own and do what makes you happy.

steve w wrote:To the nay sayer's I too ran telemetry for years and will not say they were no good but between signal bounce broken antennas and battery issue's in cold weather I have more faith in the Garmin. I enjoy running my hounds just fine and certainly don't need the Garmin to get them home. Some people say the glass is half full others half empty just like some always talk of the past and the good old days and others like my self are more concerned with the future and what it will bring. To each their own and do what makes you happy.

I agree. I enjoy my hounds more having the Garmin system. Have had very,very few issues. It opens a whole new window of confidence when it comes to hunting new country and hunting in big country. I like the ability to see roads and trails and the topo map that shows rivers,streams and bodies of water, roads and more. The radio telemetry is reliable for sure but if you've ever had a dog injured, hung up fall in a well,etc. the garmin will take you to within 5 feet of the dog. I know this for a fact because I've had it happen. Radio Telemetry does not have that kind of accuracy. I had that for years to.

Hare Chaser wrote:

steve w wrote:To the nay sayer's I too ran telemetry for years and will not say they were no good but between signal bounce broken antennas and battery issue's in cold weather I have more faith in the Garmin. I enjoy running my hounds just fine and certainly don't need the Garmin to get them home. Some people say the glass is half full others half empty just like some always talk of the past and the good old days and others like my self are more concerned with the future and what it will bring. To each their own and do what makes you happy.

I agree. I enjoy my hounds more having the Garmin system. Have had very,very few issues. It opens a whole new window of confidence when it comes to hunting new country and hunting in big country. I like the ability to see roads and trails and the topo map that shows rivers,streams and bodies of water, roads and more. The radio telemetry is reliable for sure but if you've ever had a dog injured, hung up fall in a well,etc. the garmin will take you to within 5 feet of the dog. I know this for a fact because I've had it happen. Radio Telemetry does not have that kind of accuracy. I had that for years to.

. The radio telemetry is reliable for sure but if you've ever had a dog injured, hung up fall in a well,etc. the garmin will take you to within 5 feet of the dog. I know this for a fact because I've had it happen. Radio Telemetry does not have that kind of accuracy. I had that for years to.

this is why i have such a magnetic personality when my garmin fails---
garmin is faster/easier when its working-- im not fond of trying to get yagi antenna thru a thicket --

ive never not been able to find a telemetry collar except once--in 37 years -
i have had issues with bounce with 217 and interference with 151 but always got it sorted out sooner or later - lol

ive found a collar a bear ripped off a dog- over a mile from any roads found 2 dogsthat crossed into canada and got shot - collars hung in trees 20 feet up -collars throwed in pond-- in the river---- stolen dogs- -- 2 different dogs fallen inthe same well- lost one for days once on indian land in maine and got him in newbrunswick a couple days later-- pretty much u name it -- ive found every collar but one-- dog had coyote bayed against a headstone in a cemetary ,, i had a big rifle , long walk back to truck to get a 22 and came back and could tell by tracks in the snow that somebody had picked him up --- thought somebody would call me--never did - the big thing is is ive found dogs lost in roadless areas several days later---cant do that with a garmin--hopefully wont have to with beagles - bear and coyote hounds can take you on some adventures lol and sometimes deal with some unfriendly type people that will try to sabotage you--- i wished somebody had taught me about 20 years earlier how to triangulate with telemtry-and a map -- that has helped me find some of the worse cases since--
you can kind of do it roughly with map on gps-- will get u very close--

- ive used my telemetry collars to find my garmin collars maybe 30 times in the last year -- i did go almost 5 days with no issues this week--- and 2 screwed up today-- didnt need to use telemetry today -but good feeling to know i have it for backup--
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