Which Garmin tracking/training collar?

[huntineveryday]

I was initially thinking I'd be wanting to shoot for "the best" and just go with the 200i, and I have been planning on that budget. The more I am reading and hearing, I think the 550+ is the way to go for me.

Budget-wise, that leaves me enough to get an instinct thrown in if I want, which I hadn't really considered until I talked to my breeder about her setup last weeeknd. She talked about how much she likes having the watch paired with the 550+, and it seems like the feedback here has been similar. I hunt sandhills quite a bit, I don't need a detailed map, but being able to drop a pin where the pickup is would be reallyweekend. There are a lot of functions on the instinct I'd use on hunting/hiking trips as well.

 

[*zap*]

So, for a dog that is 'trained' or even training a dog up I would think the command is the audible and not sure I would use tone before stim if the command is not followed. I guess tone could also be the command with no words spoken..one tone for one command and two for another, long tone for a third command and that list could go on for a few more....

 

[Superdoo]

So, for a dog that is 'trained' or even training a dog up I would think the command is the audible and not sure I would use tone before stim if the command is not followed. I guess tone could also be the command with no words spoken..one tone for one command and two for another, long tone for a third command and that list could go on for a few more....

I use the tone for multiple non verbal commands. The "beep" gets used if the dog is out too far or hunting towards an area I don't want them in yet. I also use it to reinforce "woah" on a dog that is creeping when we are hunting.
The tone gets their attention on me for hand signals too. The method has worked well on three pudelpointers and I will admit it is not conventional.
I probably rely on it too much, but it's really nice to not have to belt out commands while hunting.

 

[Roman Nose]

@Roman Nose and @cuttiebrownbow, how has the 550+ been while you're wearing gloves? Do you get used to the feel of the small toggle switch to select dogs?
I have always like to use tone before stim and figure I'd just transition to the more "traditional" method of no warnings and straight to stim with the 200i.

It’s works fine for me. I wear leather work gloves summer and winter training dogs and hunting. Have no issues acquiring the toggles.

Your top toggle is your dog selector. I will run 3 together but a lot of times just 2. It’s very easy to select what dog you want especially with 2 on the ground. I will set position one up for a collar and position 3. Flip toggle all the way up or all the way down.

Once on a dog, there’s a separate tone button at the top. I use tone to talk to my dogs also. One tone followed by a verbal Yuuup means get to the front. Multiple tones means you need to check in. If they don’t check in and I see they aren’t covering ground toward me by looking at my watch. I’ll do multiple tones and bump with e stimulation. This is all very easy to do on the 550+ without ever looking at it.

Your bottom toggle is momentary stim, collar lights, and constant stim. I personally only use constant stim, so again very easy to identity without looking. Just push the stim button all the way down. Have a different button for tone so once set it rarely changes.

Like I said I had the alpha for quite a while before the 550+. Only really use the 550+. In fact, I was lucky enough to drop my 550+ hand held in a slough last week in North Dakota while retrieving ducks with one of my dogs. Unclipped it from my wading belt for some stupid reason. Last day of a 5 day hunt. Thing sunk to the bottom and couldn’t find it. Already ordered another one.


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[Roman Nose]

I was initially thinking I'd be wanting to shoot for "the best" and just go with the 200i, and I have been planning on that budget. The more I am reading and hearing, I think the 550+ is the way to go for me.

Budget-wise, that leaves me enough to get an instinct thrown in if I want, which I hadn't really considered until I talked to my breeder about her setup last weeeknd. She talked about how much she likes having the watch paired with the 550+, and it seems like the feedback here has been similar. I hunt sandhills quite a bit, I don't need a detailed map, but being able to drop a pin where the pickup is would be reallyweekend. There are a lot of functions on the instinct I'd use on hunting/hiking trips as well.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Superdoo]

It’s works fine for me. I wear leather work gloves summer and winter training dogs and hunting. Have no issues acquiring the toggles.

Your top toggle is your dog selector. I will run 3 together but a lot of times just 2. It’s very easy to select what dog you want especially with 2 on the ground. I will set position one up for a collar and position 3. Flip toggle all the way up or all the way down.

Once on a dog, there’s a separate tone button at the top. I use tone to talk to my dogs also. One tone followed by a verbal Yuuup means get to the front. Multiple tones means you need to check in. If they don’t check in and I see they aren’t covering ground toward me by looking at my watch. I’ll do multiple tones and bump with e stimulation. This is all very easy to do on the 550+ without ever looking at it.

Your bottom toggle is momentary stim, collar lights, and constant stim. I personally only use constant stim, so again very easy to identity without looking. Just push the stim button all the way down. Have a different button for tone so once set it rarely changes.

Like I said I had the alpha for quite a while before the 550+. Only really use the 550+. In fact, I was lucky enough to drop my 550+ hand held in a slough last week in North Dakota while retrieving ducks with one of my dogs. Unclipped it from my wading belt for some stupid reason. Last day of a 5 day hunt. Thing sunk to the bottom and couldn’t find it. Already ordered another one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks. I ran my old tritonics transmitter the same way, but the toggle switch was bigger and had a much better tactile feel to it.
I ordered the 200i, but if I get it out in the field and don’t like it, it will be going back and I’ll take the 550+ for a spin.

 

[antmarvel]

I have used Sport Dog and Garmin products. Both are good, Garmin is higher quality. I’d go with Garmin if you’re not worried about cost.

 

[TSAMP]

Any updates Superdoo? I'm considering the GPS leap myself. Beeper getting hard to hear in high winds.

 

[Superdoo]

Any updates Superdoo? I'm considering the GPS leap myself. Beeper getting hard to hear in high winds.

So far so good with the 200i. Only thing that sucks is Garmin came out with an updated model that vastly improved the battery life so the market for the used 200i is garbage!
You’ll definitely want the additional battery capacity. My version won’t even last a day if I don’t turn it off while driving.

I just had to put down the old girl but I ran two dogs on this system pretty effectively for over a year.

There are definite downsides when you lose the tactile feel of the traditional transmitter. The biggest downside is that the transmitter screen sucks the battery enough that you need to run it with a screen timeout. The result of that is when you want to see the location of your animals, you have to rotate the transmitter and short press the power button in order to view the screen again.
I would much prefer that the screen turned back on with the push of any button, but that’s not an option.
To rectify this I bought a Fenix watch and use the dog tracking widget.

If I had to make the decision again I’d still go with alpha over the 550, just make sure you buy the latest model.

 

[TSAMP]

So far so good with the 200i. Only thing that sucks is Garmin came out with an updated model that vastly improved the battery life so the market for the used 200i is garbage!
You’ll definitely want the additional battery capacity. My version won’t even last a day if I don’t turn it off while driving.

I just had to put down the old girl but I ran two dogs on this system pretty effectively for over a year.

There are definite downsides when you lose the tactile feel of the traditional transmitter. The biggest downside is that the transmitter screen sucks the battery enough that you need to run it with a screen timeout. The result of that is when you want to see the location of your animals, you have to rotate the transmitter and short press the power button in order to view the screen again.
I would much prefer that the screen turned back on with the push of any button, but that’s not an option.
To rectify this I bought a Fenix watch and use the dog tracking widget.

If I had to make the decision again I’d still go with alpha over the 550, just make sure you buy the latest model.

Sorry to hear about your dog.
I'm leaning toward the alpha 10. I did see the new 300 and read about those improvements. I think im mainly after a way to get notified of points and also track dog mileage post hunt. The beeper works but with hearing pro in and a decent crosswind it's hard to locate.

The inreach version has me considering the upgrade though. But that would be used a couple weeks a year max and I've survived without.

 

[Sooty42]

How do you carry your 550 plus? It looks like it doesn’t come with a belt clip like other handhelds. Is the back of it flat, so you could add a stick on belt clip.

It looks like some people just have them hanging off their bottom from a lanyard. Seems like it would swing around and be annoying. I like the simplicity of this device, but can’t picture how I will carry it in the field.

 

[See_Bennie_Point]

How do you carry your 550 plus? It looks like it doesn’t come with a belt clip like other handhelds. Is the back of it flat, so you could add a stick on belt clip.

It looks like some people just have them hanging off their bottom from a lanyard. Seems like it would swing around and be annoying. I like the simplicity of this device, but can’t picture how I will carry it in the field.

They have a small loop hole in the base to run a lanyard. I have a small piece of parador cinched down to a carabiner which I clip onto a D-ring on my hip belt, it does swing a bit but doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Sometimes I will clip it to the sternum strap of my pack as well.

Final rise makes a pouch for the 550 as does Q5/Chief Upland. There is a semi-flat section on the back of the device, I'm not sure how a belt clip would work though. I have not looked into that or thought of doing that.

 

[bduke7645]

I ran an alpha 100 for good amount of time but still chose to use a Astro paired with a garmin 550.

The track/train is a good system but remember if you loose connection to the dog/signal you loose everything as to why I run 2 collars so I always have some sort of function.

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