Tracking Domestic Animals?

Solo-Malee asks: "My sister has a blind hunting dog (yes really) and will soon be moving to the wilderness area of Sweden. She is really worried that her dog will run off after the first elk that it sees never to be seen again (since he's already run off numerous times already). Are Slashdot readers aware of any practical inexpensive tracking system that can be applied to domestic animals?"

Comments

Invisible Fence

[Aix]

Tracking, unfortunately, won't keep your dog from getting hit by a car. It also won't keep you legal if unleashed dogs are against the law (which is quite common in the US, anyway). I would consider an "invisible fence" which is basically an RF proximity sensor on a collar that shocks the dog if it gets too close. They seem to be quite effective and can give the dog a very large area in which to roam. In particular, it makes sense in situations where a backyard-type fence is impractical (such as on a farm), but a border is well-defined by a cattle fence or some such. Here's the cursory google search: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=dog+invisible +fence&btnG=Google+Search

Re:Invisible Fence

[O.W.M]

Invisible fences are illegal in Sweden (they claim that they are cruel to the animals), but since the dog is blind you could just get a regular visible fence. The dog wouldn't be able to see the difference anyway...

Why track it ...

[Rip!ey]

... when you could just stop it from running too far away in the first place.

Have a battery operated unit fixed to the dogs collar that emits a sound wave (where the frequency is painful for the dog to listen too) if the dog gets too far away from a second unit carried by the dogs owner. The greater the distance, the greater the intensity of the sound emmitted.

Dogs are fast learners.

GPS GSM Collar

[Yokaze]

That may be the keywords for a more extensive google search.

Here is one for 860EUR, there may be cheeper ones. Just make sure your area is covered.

Don't know about the services available in Sweden, but it is also technical feasible to provide a localisation service with a GSM mobile alone.

False cognate. In English, it's called a Moose.

[SgtChaireBourne]

There are no elk in Sweden or any other nordic country except perhaps in the zoo. What you probably mean is a moose or alces alces. Alces alces is called älg in Swedish, elg in Norwegian, hirve in Finnish. The first two probably derive from German, which is elch, thus the mistake.

elk is Cervus elaphus or wapiti or some such beast.

Re:Wheels of Zeus...

[david duncan scott]

Might potentially?

The wOz system provides peace of mind for parents, caregivers and others who need to:

• watch over their children who are too young to carry wireless phones, ensuring they are near their homes, at school, at the playground, or any other place they should be
  
• monitor elderly individuals, particularly those impaired by Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia, and who may be prone to wandering into dangerous areas
  
• ensure pets remain within a yard or other safe zone
  
• ensure the security of valuables
  

With the wOz solution, caregivers can determine the exact location of their charges and items, and receive immediate notification of a deviation from a specified zone. It also tracks Smart-Tags that have left the zone, giving consumers the information needed to find and recover people and valuables they care about.

Sounds like that's their top application for it, along with blind hunting dogs.

Personally, I want this for my car. Not LoJack and all that, just a thing that says, "the car is 25 meters north of here" when I come out of the house in the morning. If wOz can do this on a dog or a child, why don't German luxury cars have this standard? I'm not sure I want OnStar to know where I am at all times, but a short-range where-the-hell-did-I-park dingus would be great.

Another GPS/GSM solution

[raitiovaunu]

This company has also a tracking product that might apply:

http://benefon.com/products/pointer_dog_gps/

Might cost a few hundred euros and requires GPS and especially GSM network coverage.

Not quite right.

[Jason Pollock]

Actually... It's stranger than that.

www.dictionary.com
elk

n : large northern deer with enormous flattened antlers in the male; called elk in Europe and moose in North America [syn: European elk, moose, Alces alces]

wapiti
n. wapiti or wapitis

A large light brown or grayish-brown North American deer (Cervus canadensis) having long, branching antlers. Also called American elk, elk.

moose
n. pl. moose

A hoofed mammal (Alces alces) found in forests of northern North America and in Eurasia and having a broad, pendulous muzzle and large, palmate antlers in the male.