DogTra Pathfinder Mini2

phillips321

Well-Known Member
So I've had this device for just under a week now and will post my updates here as to how I'm finding it. I paid (£455) for this with my own money so this is not a sponsored post, just my honest review for those not wishing to splash out on a garmin model.

@Dogtra U.K. who is a member here will be able to answer more questions should anyone have any.

I've got a ~10kg Jagd X Patterdale terrier, the mini collar fits fine. The collar flashes green every 3-4 seconds to show its on and working. They're a little bright at first/last light so i'd prefer if after 3 minutes of being switched on this flashed once every 60 seconds.

I would also prefer if the button on the handheld had a physical lock covering the button to prevent accidental use.

I like the ability to link to my phone to see the mapping, i'm used to working with satellite imagery and it's nice to see exactly where an animal is rather than on a crap terrain map offered by some alternatives.

I haven't tested it in thick woodland/restock yet, but next time i drop fallow in the thick stuff i'll see how well it tracks the dog and report back.

One thing i would say that's annoying is that the unit comes with a foreign USB wall plug and an adapter to fit into UK sockets.
 
Thanks for your review. Re your final point. The U.K. is just too small a market for E-collars for Dogtra to supply dedicated 3 pin chargers. Unfortunately we just get lumped in with the rest of Europe.
 
So first outing with it in thick woodland and the unit works well. Dog was at most 75m from me at anyone time so not a true representation yet. Battery life is great, and the units charger very quickly.

I've got the bitch responding to the audible pitch on the collar as a return to me instruction, will keep working on that but pleased so far.
 
Just a little update, really pleased with the battery life. Software pretty good and does the job.

A recent simple track shown here is great for keeping an eye on the dog in long grass. The animal was headshot after being bumped in the long grass. My line is the blue line, orange line is the dog.

Due to dogs height she did not see where the deer was after being bumped and finally shot.

Wind was in the wrong direction so she went to where the roe was bed down and followed the fresh scent to the shot sight. Grass roughly twice the height of the dog so a perfect test for using her nose (obviously no blood trail)
IMG_2575.jpegIMG_2576.jpeg
 
What a cracking looking dog, and clearly keen as mustard :thumb:

What is the refresh rate between the GPS tracker and the App? Is it updated in real time, do you know, or is the refresh frequency longer than that (every 5/10/30 seconds, etc)?

I ask as some of the personal trackers only refresh every 30 seconds which, whilst fine for tracking a car, might not work so well when tracking a working dog.
 
Is it updated in real time, do you know, or is the refresh frequency longer than that (every 5/10/30 seconds, etc)?
This is adjustable in the app. It's more or less instant (maybe 1-2seconds out). Even with this high refresh rate the battery life hasn't been a problem or concern for me. It has to have a high refresh rate as you can set things like mobile boundaries (it'll vibrate on the phone if the dog is more than X metres from me).
This is 100% built for purpose and works well, looking at your location you're relatively local to me if you wanted to see it in person and in use?
 
This is adjustable in the app. It's more or less instant (maybe 1-2seconds out). Even with this high refresh rate the battery life hasn't been a problem or concern for me. It has to have a high refresh rate as you can set things like mobile boundaries (it'll vibrate on the phone if the dog is more than X metres from me).
This is 100% built for purpose and works well, looking at your location you're relatively local to me if you wanted to see it in person and in use?
Many thanks for that - really useful info, particularly given your first-hand experience.

Thanks also for the offer to meet up. :thumb:
 
I'm happy to hear that you're working a jagd x patt .... mine is as keen as mustard and so deer orientated it'll even sit and tolerate that cervus man on erm... YouTube erm... lol...

I run her on a long lead for tracking as I'm not in the position to afford a fancy collar yet... but as I've just got a bavarian x lab to train for deer I might look at one in the future and as Dogtra is a fellow Doncaster chap I'll give him a shout.
 
Defo look into the collar. For me it’s peace of mind. It really affords me the ability to let her go out of eye sight without holding her back.

I’ve used a long lead historically but they get snagged, are really noisey, and also take up loads of space if stalking with the dog!
 
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