Letting your dog roam off-leash without the worry of them going missing is a dream made true by SpotOn. Their collar and app allow you to set up a virtual fence with GPS technology that will activate a warning to both you and your darling pup to stop them from venturing beyond the boundary.

SpotOn is highly rated and considered one of the best virtual dog fences on the market. My experience with SpotOn has only been good and has spared me much stress of my baby going missing on our holiday getaways.

All you need to set up the virtual fence system is the SpotOn collar and their app on your phone -nothing else. You’ll need to connect the collar to the app via Bluetooth and walk the boundary you’d like to set up with the collar in hand, following the instructions provided by the app. The perimeter will then get programmed into the app, and you must press the activate button.

You then place the collar on your adorable pup, and anytime they come close to the perimeter, it will warn you on the app and give a beep to warn your dog. If they get closer to the fence, you can set up a harmless static correction – of course, that is optional, and you can stick to just beeping sounds.

The beeping or vibrations may not be enough to deter your dog from the perimeter, and it would be best to train them on how to react. You can use some treats, bring your furball to the boundary, and teach them to turn around when they hear the first warning beep. The SpotOn app has tips on how to train your pup.

One of SpotOn’s most remarkable features is that it can cover a large surface area. There are no maximum limits, but the perimeter is suggested to cover a minimum of half an acre.

The minimum fence width is 80 feet, and you should make sure the boundary is 15 feet away from dangerous sections like roads. If you need to cover a large acreage, you might run into challenges, but they are solvable, and you can call customer care like this couple!

SpotOn uses four satellites, including GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo. These satellites also get used by the US Military, which means that tracking and real-time location are virtually error-free, making SpotOn the best dog tracking and virtual fence provider.

If you go camping with your canine, you don’t have to worry about trees and bushes obscuring the GPS, as it can handle any terrain without any trouble. Your doggo can roam free to his heart’s content, and you won’t have to worry about losing track, thanks to SpotOn’s accuracy.

An added feature on the SpotOn app allows you to live-track your dog, so you’ll know where they are at all times, leaving you stress-free! If your pup is within 10 feet, chasing a squirrel or two, and you’d like to know where he is, all you need to do is leave his collar on and use the app feature.

The location tracking updates every 6 seconds for great real-time locating. You will need to pay more for the activity tracking feature, but it is affordable at around $10 a month, with one-year and two-year subscriptions available to save a few extra dollars. Not all areas can utilize the tracking service, so it’s best to try a month before committing!

The SpotOn Virtual Fence is completely portable; you can use it anywhere with cellular coverage. The portability means you can track your furry friend even when you’re out and about without them. When you are out with your dog, setting up new fences is easy and doesn’t affect your old ones.

You can have up to 1000 different fences set up, regardless of shape or size. You name them as you go along and activate them when needed. You can also have them in other locations and have some that overlap.

The collar can be set to beep, vibrate, or release a non-painful static shock if you wish to increase the warning as your dog gets closer to or beyond the virtual fence. You can also set the intensity so you don’t have to worry about scaring your pup.

The collar is lightweight and comfortable. You can buy the collar in small, medium, and large sizes to fit any pup. There are no wires, and it’s waterproof, so if your dog likes to swim like mine, there are no issues!

The SpotOn collar has a stellar battery life. When you first get it, you should charge it for 24 hours to give it a kickstart. The battery life of this collar stands out, as it lasts 18 hours before the next power-up is needed.

Your dog can play all day without worrying about the virtual fence disappearing with the power. When your dog is home and settled for the evening after a long hard day of playing, the collar charge time is only about an hour, which is quite impressive!

The SpotOn Virtual Fence app is available on both Google Play and Apple. The app doesn’t have an excellent reputation on either store and has received many complaints about its usability and function. The complaints regarding logging in and setting up have since improved, by the looks of things.

The app has also seen a lot of complaints on both Google and Apple about crashing, which is sad to see considering the price of the SpotOn collar. Still, the developers are responsive and have been working on improvements continuously.

Now you know about the big mouthful of features that makes one wonder if any or all of them perform well. After some research, the verdict of SpotOn Virtual Fence users is that the collar works well and does what’s intended.

The main issues SpotOn users run into are app crashes and a not-so-common GPS signal loss. The other topics include the price being too much and the minimum area of the virtual fence being too large for their requirements. My experience has been well worth the money for outdoor traveling with my pup, but it isn’t for everyone.

There are good and bad things when it comes to anything in life, and the SpotOn Virtual Fence is no exception to the rule. The usability and accuracy are impeccable with SpotOn’s collar, but there are a couple of places they can improve.

SpotOn Virtual Fence isn’t the only option available, and competitors have made a sure-fire effort to impact the market and become the best. Other brands have their own features and benefits that you might prefer, and you might choose because of price.

There are plenty of options on the virtual fence market, but we’ll look at a handful of the top picks to give you an idea of what they offer and how they might be the better choice for you, depending on what you’re looking for.

Halo 2+ is SpotOn’s biggest competitor, which dog trainer Cesar Millan developed. It also has virtual fence-building features and GPS location that functions with an app. You can set up 20 different fences and personalize warning and correction feedback for when your dog reaches the boundary.

The GPS features are also impressive, but they still don’t compare to the GPS quality of SpotOn. The boundaries you set up cannot overlap. The battery life only lasts 20 hours against SpotOn’s 18 hours, and the price tag is around $1000, but you’ll need to pay monthly for all services.

Wagz Freedom has a smart dog collar that doesn’t administer shock technology, but you can still use vibrations. The collar can also track your pup’s overall health and activity. You can set up a GEO fence and live-track your dog wherever they go.

The Wagz Freedom also offers a logging system to keep track of walks. The collar doesn’t have the same battery life as SpotOn, but the collar comes with two batteries you can change, so you’ll always have a backup when the one runs out.

Tractive is a lightweight GPS that you can attach to your dog’s collar and has 95% accuracy in telling you where they are at all times. The battery also lasts up to five days which is an impressive feature! You can even track your pup if you’re in another country.

The Tractive GPS device also has a virtual fence feature where you set up safe zones and no-go zones. The Tractive device is budget friendly and allows you to save up to five locations on their app. It also tracks calories and shows a heat map of your dog’s favorite hang-out spots.

Fi Smart Dog Collar offers GPS tracking, virtual GEO-fencing, and activity tracking and looks like a designer collar! It uses both wi-fi and GPS to track your pup. Its search is accurate overall and cheaper than SpotOn at only $149.

Fi Smart Fence also uses an app and interacts with other Fi users. You can also track your pup’s sleep cycle if you wish. The virtual fence isn’t Fi’s main priority and focuses more on monitoring whereabouts, but it still works well. The battery life is reviewed to be impeccable too.

SpotOn Virtual Fence may be the most expensive option on the market, but compared to the competitors, its benefits, features, and battery life make it stand out among the rest. The only real competitor in its bracket is Halo 2, as the others focus on other features.

The main reason you would opt for Halo 2 instead is that it can cater to owners who want a smaller surface area fenced in than the SpotOn’s minimum, but beyond that, you’ll need to pay for Halo’s services where you can get by just fine without SpotOn’s paid tracking.

I chose SpotOn because it has been on the market the longest, and its GPS and fencing features are top-notch. It is normal for any high-tech goodie to run into problems here and there, but for the most part, SpotOn adheres to what the product says it will do.