Dog Accessory Reviews

Pawscout Bluetooth Pet Tracker – An Innovative Solution for Lost Pets

Pawscout Bluetooth Pet Tracker Review
Written by Kevin Sando

A lost dog is every pet parents worst nightmare. Try as we might to keep them safe and out of harms way, accidents happen and dogs sometimes break free or escape.

While microchipping works well, you are still reliant on someone capturing your dog AND taking them to a proper facility for identification. What about for those times when your dog is simply making the rounds through the neighborhood, or if they can’t be caught? Wouldn’t it be nice to be notified of their exact location so that you can retrieve them immediately?

Pawscout Pet Tag Review

Introducing The Pawscout Bluetooth Pet Tracker

Pawscout dubs itself as “the smarter pet tag” and allows you to easily keep tabs on the whereabouts of your pet. The company recently sent us 2 units to test out, and they are sponsoring this post so that we can help spread the word about this potentially life saving technology!

MyDogLikes reviews the Pawscout Bluetooth pet tag

How Does the Pawscout work?

Pawscout is roughly the size of a standard dog tag and attaches to your dogs collar in exactly the same way. It works by emitting a low frequency Bluetooth radio signal which can be picked up by any smartphone within range and tracked using the Pawscout app. This allows you to check on the location of your pet in real-time, or assist you in locating them if they are lost.

The tag has a built in battery which means it does not need to be charged and should last 6-12 months. You will be alerted when it is running low so that you can pick one up at any drug store or online for less than a dollar.

What is the Pawscout’s Range?

The Pawscout signal reaches roughly 300 feet, or the length of a football field.

While you may initially wonder what good this device would be should your pet become lost, the real genius of this device lies in the app.

The Pawscout app links you up with its entire user base to create a meshed network of coverage. Anyone who downloads the Pawscout App strengthens the overall network by adding another bluetooth connection point. The app is completely free and you don’t even have to own a pet (or a Pawscout unit) to help others whose pets may become lost.

If your pup is out of range and you mark them as lost, you and anyone with the Pawscout app will be alerted when someone comes within 300 feet of your dog. They will also be prompted with your dogs digital profile and how to get in touch with you – their owner.

Unlike GPS or cellular based trackers, the Pawscout utilizes Bluetooth technology which requires no monthly service fees and comes at a significantly lower cost.

Order an engraved nameplate to attach to your tag

Custom Nameplates can be snapped into the back

Features of the Pawscout Pet Tracker App

As we mentioned above, the real key to the Pawscout’s functionality lies in the corresponding mobile app, which has some really cool features:

  • Create a Digital Profile for Each Pet – The PawScout App allows you to create a digital profile for your pet with any pertinent behavioral or medical information. Is your pet weary of strangers? Let someone know not to approach and scare them off, but to stay back and keep an eye on them until you arrive. Do they have any allergies? Include this information in their profile to avoid a potentially dangerous situation when they are found!
  • Set a Virtual Leash – Intended for outdoor use, setting a virtual leash will let you know if your pet strays more than 300 feet away from you. Perfect for a picnic or get-together where your pet can be safely off-leash, but you still want to make sure that they aren’t trying to wander too far!
  • View a Coverage Map – Check the strength of your local Pawscout network by viewing nearby app users.
  • Walk Tracker – Track and view statistics of your daily walks.

Setting up the Pawscout

Getting your Pawscout up and running takes only a couple of minutes and is super easy to do. Follow the steps below to get your pet protected in no time!

Step 1: Install the App

First things first, you need to download the Pawscout app which is available for free from iTunes or the Google Play store. After installation you will be prompted to set up your pets digital profile with important physical and behavioral characteristics.

Step 2: Pair with your Phone

In order to track with your Pawscout, it must first be paired with your smartphone.

First, make sure that your Bluetooth is ON, then navigate to the Connect your Tag screen. Next, set your tag right on the screen, pressing the button on the front of the Pawscout, and then press start. You should see a blue light flash on the tag while it is in the process of pairing.

Pairing the Pawscout tag with an iPhone

This should take less than 30 seconds to complete. If it doesn’t pair on the first try, flip the tag over and you may have better luck – not sure why, but this worked for us!

Step 3: Attach to your Dog’s Collar

Now that the Pawscout is connected, it’s time to attach to your dogs collar.

Charlie wearing his tracking pet tag

Since Charlie’s collar has a really thick D-Ring, I used a different ring than what came with the unit, but you can also use the several slide on tag holders which are included.

Pawscout comes with 3 different size collar slides

Step 4: Spread the Word! 

The more people with the Pawscout app installed, the better, so we recommend asking friends, family and neighbors if they would add it to their phones. This way you will have better coverage in your area and a greater likelihood of being alerted quickly should your dog escape.

Looking at the Pawscout App profile and coverage map

Now that your Pawscout is paired to your phone, you can dig into all the app features that we described above. We particularly loved being able to see the coverage map of our local area, and were pleasantly surprised at the number of users already!

Our Thoughts the Pawscout Tag and App

We absolutely love the idea of a community based solution to lost pets. We envision that as word spreads about this technology, the coverage maps will become quite extensive, as it is such a small ask for people to have this app installed – whether they are dog owners themselves or not.

The Pawscout tracker is inexpensive, easy to setup and requires no monthly fees. This is a great option for pet parents to gain some priceless peace of mind.

Charlie wearing the Pawscout tracking tag for dogs

Why MyDogLikes the Pawscout Tracker

This device hits us particularly close to home as we know of a dog who was lost a few years back. This particular pup was very skittish and shy of new people and although there were multiple sightings over several weeks, he was never found and brought back home. This was despite an extensive search and Facebook campaign. 🙁

Had this pup been wearing a Pawscout tag, and the local community urged to install the app, perhaps it’s owners could have been alerted those times where he was approaching peoples homes looking for food. This way they could have attempted to coax him in as opposed to a stranger.

Whether you are considering purchasing a unit or not, we would encourage everyone to download the app, so that you can help reunite lost pets with their families!

Want to protect your pet with Pawscout?

Click Here to Order

 

About the author

Kevin Sando

Kevin is a mechanical engineer with a degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He has move than a decade experience in new product design, prototyping and early stage manufacturing. Pairing this background with his love of dogs, gives him a unique perspective to evaluate the design and execution of new and interesting pet products.

101 Comments

  • I love that it can connect to your phone. This would make things great for our three little ones. One it would be especially useful to track his walks since he needs to lose weight. The other two pets are quick to try and escape.

  • I love that the Pawscout tracker is inexpensive, easy to setup and requires no monthly fees.

  • I love the warning if your pet gets to far from me also this would be a great product for my deaf dog because if she gets lost I can’t drive around calling her name

  • I like that it is is inexpensive and easy to setup. This is such a great idea for all animals.

  • I like that you can track your dog on the app and set up virtual fences. We are going to be moving in a few months and it would give me more confidence that if my dog escaped shortly after moving that I would find her. Right now, she knows her way around the area & has a better chance of finding her way home than if she just moved to a new place.

  • I love the Walk Tracker and the Virtual Leash features! This sure would be amazing for our pup! Thanks so very much for the chance!

  • I like the app so that members of the community can install it and help bring lost pets home.

  • I like that you can put your pet’s profile on the chip. So many animals have special needs.

  • I like that it tells others so instead of putting paper flyers out they get a notice on there phone.

  • I like that there are no yearly fees. I would use this for my senior dog who is blind and deaf and gets lost in his own yard easily.

  • While I have 3 dogs I believe if they got out of our yard that they would stay together. The piece of mind knowing I could find them using my phone is invaluable.

  • I love that you can set a virtual leash! It really sounds amazing all the way around! Something I’d really appreciate having.

  • I have 4 dogs that I need to keep watch over. I love that this is easy peasy to use! Thank you for offering us this giveaway

  • I like the idea of a community based solution to lost pets and that there are no yearly fees.

  • I like that the device connects you with other people with the app, so while the 300 feet range might not seem like a lot, it becomes virtually unlimited with more people having the app. I have three rescued Treeing Walker Coonhounds who are known to follow their noses. This would actually give me a good start on figuring out just which way they went should they get out of my yard. One reason I always walk them the same route from my house is that when they have gotten loose in the past, they tend to follow that route.

  • My favorite feature is that it connects to an app right on my phone so that if my dog is ever lost I can quickly look to see where he is at.

  • This sounds like it would work in areas where a lot of people have them and access the website. I am a biologist and have radio tracked wild animals, I wish that tech was less expensive. There are systems for dogs on hunting websites but very $$.

  • I like that’s it’s pretty small and they could wear it without issue as its the size of a dog tag. I also like the app feature and being able to look where your animals might be in the neighborhood right away.

  • I take my ESA with me everywhere I go. Camping, hiking etc. She tends to go ahead of me at times and, being a pit bull, she can be intimidating to others (even though she is TOTALLY loving and friendly). Having this will let me keep tabs on her and make sure that she doesn’t go where she isn’t supposed to go and frighten people.

  • I Would absolutely love this tournament. This is such a perfect solution. Thanks so much for the chance to win

  • I like the virtual leash component. It gives your dog some freedom and the pawrent some piece of mind.

  • I think the virtual leash is a great idea!! I’ve known of many pets both dogs and cats that will wait until someone is leaving the house and try to sneak out with them. Many times someone who is just visiting doesn’t realize the pets aren’t allowed outside and think nothing of it to let them out. But more often it’s when the kids or their friends or going out or coming inside that pets make a run for it and they don’t even notice. By the time anyone realizes the pets aren’t in the house they can blocks or even miles away, in our case we’re located by a very busy road and this exact scenario happened to happened to my moms dog ( they live across the street from us.) They didn’t even know Dex had gotten out until our neighbor saw him get hit by a car and came to tell them. Thankfully Dex was ok but had he been wearing the Pawscout Tracker with the Virtual Leash this could’ve been prevented.

  • I like being able to enter medical information on the PawScout App and that the App is free and there are no subscription fees with PawScout.

  • Love that the Pawscout tracker has a No monthly fee and a Pawscout Community to help look if your pet does get lost

  • I love the app whereby, as they expand users, a whole community can look for lost pets. Thanks for the super giveaway opportunity! We have an escape artist in our home!

  • There are so many great things about this tag! The virtual leash, no monthly fees, that you can find where your dog is in real time. I would love to try this out and win one!

  • favorite feature is it will let you know if your pet strays more than 300 feet away from you

  • This would make me feel better knowing that my pet can be tracked with this devise in case my pet ran away.

  • I like the convenience of clipping it to the dog’s collar to make sure that you don’t lose it

  • My favorite features are that it’s easy to set up and does not require an additional monthly fee. This looks like a wonderful product.

  • .My favorite features are that it’s easy to set up and does not require an additional monthly fee. This looks like a wonderful product.

  • I like the app – I’m thinking of putting this on my cat so when she doesn’t come in immediately after I walk the dog – I know where to go get her

  • I like that it looks easy to set up. Also, priceless to keep track of our beloved furry family member.

  • I think the biggest plus for me when a pet tracker like this as there are no hidden fees or additional monthly service charges.

    P.S. Where did you get the tie dye dog collar? I want 3 for my pups! 🙂

  • I love the size of it. I hate to even think of what would happen to our Rusty if he was lost. It would break my heart.

  • I love Pawscout tracker that it can connect to your phone and is inexpensive. This would make things great for max and his baby sister. Also, it would be especially useful to track their walks since the needs to lose weight. The other.