GPS Dog collars: Garmin vs Dogtra

I just bought the Garmin Alpha 300 with the TT25 collar. It’s amazing what all it can do and I probably will only use 1/4 of it’s capabilities.

garmin alpha 10

I’ll 2nd the alpha 10. Especially if it’s only a single dog you are tracking.

I have an alpha 10 & the now discontinued alpha 100. I like the 10 for hunting because it connects to my phone for mapping and I am usually using my phone for onX, etc. The 3 buttons across the top on the 100/200/300 make it easier for training.

I think the a200 would be the way to go for 1 unit. I don't have experience with the dogtra, but everyone I hunt with typically uses Garmin, it's nice to be able to sync up with everyone and be able to track everyone and their dog's location on a hunt.

I’m definitely leaning more to the Garmin 200 because of all the reasons listed above, especially the training functionality over the Dogtra. However, are all those features worth the extra $400 is the question.

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Who here has any experience with the Garmin Alpha 2/3 or the Dogtra Pathfinder 2? What are your opinions? I’m looking at both for my Braque Francais who I’m training to be a woodcock dog.

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I have the gen 1 Garmin. Absolutely love it.

Took advantage of the free trial period and downloaded a ton of aerial and topo maps for all the areas I hunt.

The newest ones are even better, my other bird hunting partner bought one last year with 2 collars. Will upgrade next season.

I have a couple bird dogs and hunt/field trial with many people that have way more dogs than I do. Some are professional trainers and some are just serious hunters, not a single one of them uses anything other than Garmin for tracking purposes. That might be because Garmin grabbed a lot of the market share for tracking devices early on, but I see no reason to switch myself. I currently have an Alpha and have been happy with it.

I will say that the ecollar feature of the Alpha is not the most user friendly for administering corrections. I always run a 550 as the ecollar and the Alpha as strictly a tracking collar. So I carry 2 handhelds and have 2 collars on the dog.

My Alpha screen has a dead spot on it and I need to trade it for a refurb, and I’m considering going with the 550+ and just doing away with the Alpha. I always leave the Alpha on the compass display anyways, so it’s essentially functioning like the tracking display on the 550+. With OnX and the mapping apps being on phones these days, I truly cannot remember the last time I used the Alpha as an actual GPS outside of tracking a dog. The 550+ does the same thing and is a much better ecollar from an ease of use standpoint. This is a route you could consider.

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or once it is connected to your alpha

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It depends what device, but you are definitely able to connect it to multiple compatible handhelds at one time. You can give your hunting partners a tracking code where they are able to just track or a TT code where they have the ability to Track & Train from their handheld. I found the compatibility list, it looks like it only pairs with handhelds that have TT so it would pair to a 550+ but not the standard 550. I doubt it will pair to any of the older tritronics branded controllers. You may want to reach out to Garmin to see if you can pair the 550 to get training only functionality but it doesn't look like it.

Garmin TT25 Collar Compatibility:
ALPHA 300i / 300 / 200i / 200 / 100 / 10
PRO 550 PLUS (limited to 2.5-second update rate only, default beacon light color)
ASTRO 430 (tracking function only)
NOT compatible with Astro 320 or 220 handhelds


Edit to add, if you have a Garmin watch, the dog tracking wiggets are pretty slick. You can quickly check distances by just glancing at your watch if you keep your hand held in a holster or packed away.