There was a time when the choices available to keep your pet safe and secure were not only few and far between but also not very effective. Some decades ago, the only dog tracking devices offered were leashes, ID tags, and collars. However, these worked more as a means of identification if your pet went missing rather than a way of tracking and locating him. From fixed ID tags to microchips, pet owners have tried it all. Microchipping involves the actual insertion of a chip into the body of the dog. It is recommend that this is to be done by a practicing veterinarian. It is a swift, painless procedure. Once the chip has been inserted, if your pet goes missing and is picked up by a shelter or clinic, your personal information stored on the chip can be retrieved using a special scanner. The problem that arises then is if the particular clinic or shelter does not possess such a scanner. The point of the microchip is then pretty much lost. This form of pet tracking also demands that your lost pet actually gets taken to a place with such an identification device. If this does not happen, then the whole point of the microchip as a pet-tracking device does not work.
 
Another way of trying to keep your pet safe was to restrict his movements. This often involved the use of electric collars or even fences around the home. As technology progressed, pet owners started investing in electric fences over normal physical ones. These are developed from wired systems that required a time consuming and labor intensive set up to the newer breeds of wireless fences. Wireless fences are also portable and can create an electric boundary wherever you require. If you dog moves out of this boundary, the receiver emits a high pitched sound that serves to instruct your pet that he has to return within acceptable boundaries immediately. Of course, this implies a fair deal of training of your pet to achieve optimum results.

Recently, there has been much progress in the field of pet safety. Canine GPS is the latest development in the market and GPS pet trackers such as the SpotLight and its value priced counterpart SpotLite has been developed to reduce the number of missing dogs. The SpotLight is a GPS dog locator that allows you to create virtual safe zones for your pet. If your pet leaves these safe areas or zones, you will be alerted by text or email. Once you receive this information you can take the necessary steps to retrieve your pet. Using Google Map technology, you will also receive step-by-step directions on how to locate your missing pet. Dogs can now be tracked down by phone, the Internet or even by calling 1888-DOG-LOC8 for updates of their pet’s location around the clock.

The SpotLight comes with an LED beacon that makes it easier to find your pet in the dark and is water-resistant, sturdy and lightweight. In addition to all this, the SpotLight comes with a lifetime enrollment to the AKC CAR Recovery Service and access to their 24/7 helpline as well.