If you love to go out and explore with your dog but you’re always worried about your furry companion getting overly excited and chasing something deep into the woods until you can no longer see him, then we’ve got some great news for you. The recently released Whistle Go Explore is the most complete GPS Dog Tracker currently available on the market, and it’s overflowing with features.
Whistle Labs Inc. has recently released the Whistle Go Explore, the smartest GPS dog tracker available to date. It’s even capable of monitoring changes in your dog’s health, bringing pet owners a much better option for preventive dog care.
Whistle Labs Inc. is a subsidiary company of Mars Petcare headquartered in San Francisco, California. It produces and markets the Whistle GPS Pet Tracker, a device that’s worn on a pet’s collar that monitors its activity and location. In addition to pet owners, the devices have also been used by veterinary researchers.
The Whistle Go Explore provides pet owners with a ton of different features. It’s capable of offering real-time position tracking, 24/7 daily activity recommendations, comes equipped with many different dog health fitness features, provides weekly health monitoring for your dog, and even customizable alerts and reminders.
Let’s take a deeper and detailed look at the Whistle Go Explore, an all-in-one Pet Gadget.
SPECS
The Whistle Go Explore is a relatively small dog GPS tracker that can be attached to your dog’s collar. It measures 1.8 inches long by 1.4 inches wide and is 0.7 inches tall when resting on top of any flat surface, weighing a mere 0.96 oz.
Since this device is not that small, the company recommends that this GPS dog tracker is only used by dogs that weigh at least 8 lbs or higher. The tracker comes with an included snap collar attachment that easily secures to any collar or harness up to 1 inch wide.
When compared with the other Whistle models (Whistle Go (predecessor) and Whistle 3 (weaker model with less features)), the Whistle Go Explore GPS Dog Tracker is slightly bigger, as well as heavier, and it’s meant for more active dogs that travel long distances with their owners.
The Whistle Go Explore is also shock-resistant and rated IPX8 waterproof, meaning it can be submerged underwater up to 6ft (1.8 meters) for a maximum period of 30 minutes. Its predecessor (the standard Whistle Go) is also shock-resistant, but it’s only IPX7-rated, which translates to only 3 ft. (0.91 meters) of water submersion for 30 minutes.
As said before, the Whistle Go Explore GPS Dog Tracker is slightly bigger than both of its brothers (Whistle Go and Whistle 3), but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In this case, bigger means better, and the Whistle Go Explore comes equipped with a bigger battery, making the device capable of offering up to 20 days of battery life.
That’s 10 days more than its predecessor (the Whistle Go’s 10 days of battery life), but reaching the maximum 20 days of battery life will obviously depend on your dog’s activity level. Still, 20 days of battery life can be directly translated to less charging and more adventuring for both doggy owners and their furry companions.
Lastly, whenever users connect the Whistle Go Explore to a Wi-Fi network (only 2.4 GHz networks are supported) the tracker will go into a power-saving mode, ensuring the device’s lengthy battery life.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
Inside the package users will find: one Whistle Go Explore GPS Tracker, one included Snap Collar Attachment, one included Hook & Loop Collar Attachment (for collars or harnesses larger than 1 inch), a USB Charging Cable (to recharge the GPS Dog Tracker), and the Quickstart Guide.
ATTACHING THE WHISTLE GO EXPLORE TO THE COLLAR
Attaching the Whistle Go Explore tracker to your dog’s collar only takes a few minutes of your time. It’s quick and simple thanks to the included Hook & Loop Collar Attachment.
Keep in mind that the Snap Collar Attachment was designed for a one-time use only. While it can also be removed from the collar, leaving it on the collar full time is assured to greatly increase its longevity.
The following video will show you just how easy it is to attach or detach the Whistle Go Explore tracker to/from your dog’s collar.
Following the video will help you learn how to attach your Whistle GO Tracker to the collar by using a Snap or the Hook & Loop Collar Attachment.
FEATURES
Health Monitoring
The Whistle Go Explore is capable of monitoring your dog’s licking, sleeping and scratching. This means that after some time of having their dog wearing the device, dog owners will be provided with weekly wellness reports, and future health features updates will soon be available.
Keep in mind that dogs need to wear the tracker for at least two weeks before these weekly reports are consistent. But, after that period of time, the data can show dog owners any changes in their dog’s sleep, licking, scratching, and more.
Warning Alerts
The tracker can also alert pet owners at any given moment. Not only does it feature GPS location tracking using AT&T network and Google Maps, but also sends Escape Alerts to dog owners (after configuring the Smartphone App), as well as providing them with Real-Time Location Tracking.
This last one can be a great feature if dogs start “tunnel-visioning” a passing car that they suddenly decide to chase without running out of stamina, allowing dog owners to eventually catch up to their pets and bring them back home without ever losing track of their dogs’ position. The same goes for when any other family member is walking the dog (like a son or a daughter), and the device will track both the dog and the child (more on that in the Smartphone App section).
Stats Tracking
The Whistle Go Explore GPS Dog Tracker also comes equipped with 3-axis accelerometer, allowing the device to track distance traveled, active minutes (track the full duration of your dog’s active periods), and the calories your dog burned.
Super Smart LED
The tracker also comes equipped with a LED Light that can shine and/or blink in 6 different colors, informing users of different types of situations. Knowing the status of the Whistle Go Explore is important, and dog owners can get a lot of information from their device without even accessing the Smartphone App.
While the LED Light won’t always be lit up on the device, each color and flash pattern corresponds to a particular function.
Here’s what they all mean:
Red
A Flashing Red Light indicates that the tracker’s battery is very low, meaning that it needs to be recharged before any other actions are attempted within the Smartphone App.
Amber/Orange
Whenever users plug the tracker into the charger to start recharging the device, a Solid Amber/Orange Light will appear.
Green
A Solid Green Light will indicate that the device is fully charged, while a Flashing Green Light will come up whenever the tracker is out of WiFi range and is updating its location (or when it’s out of WiFi range and it’s actively locating).
If the Flashing Green Light happens to “glitch” (enter an error state) within the WiFi range after users return from a GPS tracking session, all they have to do is go back outside the WiFi range and the device will stop flashing Green.
Blue
A Flashing Blue Light represents an established Bluetooth connection between the GPS dog tracker and a smartphone.
The LED Light will feature a Slow Flashing Blue Light during the device’s activation, as well as when users pair up their device to a WiFi network. The LED Light will feature a Fast Flashing Blue Light whenever the device is using the established Bluetooth connection with the smartphone to sync their dog’s activity data.
The Whistle Go Explore will also briefly display a Flashing Blue Light every time the Smartphone App requests users to turn on the Nightlight Mode while using Bluetooth in WiFi range (more about the Nightlight Mode at the White Light section).
Purple
While this Light Mode is extremely rare to come up, a Solid Purple Light will inform users that the device’s firmware is not currently running on their Whistle. However, users can easily fix this by performing a hard reset on the device, and then letting the device recharge its battery while within WiFi range.
Users can also let their Whistle device fully drain its battery to 0%. Then, after recharging the tracker, the problem should be fixed, and the Solid Purple Light will be gone.
White
Lastly, the White Light. The tracker’s LED will display a White Light when users activate the Nightlight Mode.
The Whistle Go Explore features a 3-Mode Built-In Night Light, and the LED will display a Solid White Light when users choose the Always On mode, making the device continuously illuminate at the cost of draining its battery faster than the other two modes.
Activating the Fast Flash mode will bring up a Fast Flashing White Light (this is the “medium” level of the Nightlight Mode), while selecting the Slow Flash mode will make the LED work as a Slow Flashing White Light (this mode is the one that consumes the least amount of battery).
THE SMARTPHONE APP
The Whistle Go Explore’s companion App is called the Whistle App (available on both Google Play and Apple Store). The Whistle App is only compatible with Apple devices that are running iOS 11 or later, or Android device that comes with 6.0 or later.
As said before, the App features Location Tracking (by using AT&T network and Google Maps). The App is capable of monitoring multiple pets with the use of a single smartphone. This means that the device is also a great addition to any dog owner’s arsenal that owns more than one dog, but they’ll obviously need to buy multiple trackers.
The Smartphone App also allows dog owners to fully manage their dog’s day. Pet owners can add multiple pet owners and caregivers when setting up the App, and the App will even offer them a chronological view of their pet’s day, including where they were, with whom they were and their activity throughout the day.
The Whistle App allows users to set up customizable alerts for when their dogs wander-off, allowing dog owners to take action and prevent their dogs from getting lost. The companion App also allows users to set up customizable reminders.
Regarding the Stats Tracking feature, the Smartphone App offers doggy owners Daily Fitness Recommendations and Health Monitoring. This means that the device will offer users daily activity recommendations for their dogs, all based on breed, age and weight, as well as weekly activity reports and monthly stats for week-over-week stats comparisons.
Lastly, users can also celebrate each passing day with their dogs by setting up goals and achieving them. Users can share their dog’s stats and collect badges (these work as rewards) within the Whistle App, and obviously reward their dog for the achieved goals with an occasional treat.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Whistle Go Explore is simply the most complete dog tracker currently available on the market. It’s LED Light informs users about every single state of the device, while the device itself can be paired up with the companion App (the Whistle App) to inform dog owners about their dog’s location and alert them whenever their dog(s) get lost.
Not only that, but this all-in-one dog tracker truly shines when used for its weekly health reports and daily activity tracking, as these are the main benefits of owning such a masterpiece. The constantly offered health data allows dog owners to potentially take any preventive action, which ultimately gives them peace of mind when it comes to their dog’s health.
The Whistle Go Explore GPS Dog Tracker is currently available in three different models: Green (Green Tracker & White Collar w/ Green Outline), Pink (Pink Tracker & White Collar w/ Pink Outline), Full Black (Black Tracker & Full Black Collar). All three different models feature a Black Outline around the Tracker.
It’s important to note that while the Whistle App is free, Whistle trackers require a subscription monthly planned that’s connected with AT&T. Whistle trackers use a cellular data connection powered by AT&T to provide GPS location tracking and to communicate with your smartphone when your dog is outside of your WiFi network. Your Whistle subscription plan will be separate and distinct from your existing cellular provider.
If you’re interested in getting the Whistle Go Explore GPS Dog Tracker, each unit is currently going for $130. You can get yours directly from Whistle Labs’ official website, by clicking this link here.
Whistle currently offers three different subscription plans: a Monthly Plan ($10 p/ month), a 1-Year Plan ($8 p/ month), and a 2-Year Plan ($7 p/ month), making it’s most accessible one available.
