Your doggo will the win “Most Stylish” award at the park with Link AKC’s snazzy smart collar, which comes in elegant leather or a black sporty edition. But while its sleek design definitely ups the your dog’s collar game, the Link AKC’s features and performance are what make this American Kennel Club-endorsed device one of the best GPS trackers in the space.
The Link AKC Smart Collar package includes a collar, a water- and shock-resistant tracker, a collar carrier for attaching the tracker, a base station, and a power cord. You need a service plan to activate on-demand location tracking, enabled by the AT&T cellular network (options start at $6.95 a month), but the subscription includes access to a Pet Poison Hotline, free collar size exchange, and Amazon Alexa integration.
Once you activate your device, you’re on your way to more off-leash adventures with your furry friend (hooray). Reviewers report that the location tracking, which uses advanced GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular data, has been immediate and the feature is super easy to use. You can also use Bluetooth with the Link AKC’s base station to create a “safe zone” — the app will send you alerts if your pup wanders out of the range of that designated safe area.
If you and your doggo are the outdoorsy types, you’ll also love the Adventure feature, which lets you remember and record walks, hikes, and other trips with virtual scrapbooks, complete with maps and photos. Link AKC also lets you manage your dog’s health and wellness with activity tracking (which monitors your pet’s movements throughout the day), personalized activity recommendations (based on your dog’s weight, breed, and behavior), and an option to store vet records and reminders.
Still worried about your pet’s safety? The Link AKC also has an option for temperature alerts, which notify you when your dog may be in an environment which is too hot or too cold for them. The collar also has an LED light, which you can turn on remotely, for nighttime safety.
Amazon reviewer, Steve, writes:
“I received my dogs collar a few weeks ago. Impressively package and engineered the collar offers the flexibility I need. My dog, a chocolate lab is in the water at least five days a week. I moved the tracker unit from the rugged, attractive leather collar to my dogs water collar. This flexibility is a great feature for us. The ‘electronics’ of the unit are very impressive as well … The collar tracks my dog’s location on a close to real time display on a cell phone app. While my dog is not a huge roamer it is nice to know I can find her when she does stray. The light on the collar I find is very helpful for locating her quickly when I let her out at night. My neighborhood is very dark at night and this feature is probably my favorite … I am a big FitBit person and the activity tracker built into the collar works great to provide me with the insight I need to keep my dog’s activity level where it should be. The algorithm the collar uses to calculate activity delivers a precise value base on your dog’s breed, weight and age … The temperature alert is also a great feature especially in the warm weather. Dogs in cars is a concern to me and most responsible dog owners. The alert let’s you know when the ambient temperature reaches a threshold that you set. There is a setting for high and low temperature thresholds.”