Whistle 3 GPS Pet Tracker Review

I wish the Whistle 3 GPS Pet Tracker was around when I was kid. This device uses the latest technology on the market to keep track of your dog, or cat, and it’s WATERPROOF!

I remember when I was a kid, my dad was huge on Black Labs. They are great dogs with a friendly temperament, love of outdoors (we did a lot of hunting) and sense of adventure, i.e. love to roam the neighborhood. Our last lab was named Black Jack and it was my responsibility to go find him whenever he escaped from the backyard (dog prison). If I remember correctly, it seemed like he escaped prison at least once a week.

So, I would get on my Schwinn Stingray and cruise all the streets in our subdivision listening for groups of kids playing in the front yard, because he was a sucker for children’s attention. Here I am at 8-12 years old on my bike, whistling and yelling “Black Jack” as loud as possible, looking for our “jail break dog”. Usually, I would come back home after 2-3 hours with nothing but a huge appetite. Black Jack would show up either that night or the next day, also with a huge appetite, looking for food, until he didn’t…

GPS pet trackers are gaining in popularity throughout the online pet community. They all offer a different twist of technology to do the same thing – locate your pet when it is not near you. Some pet tracking devices only use Bluetooth offering limited range <400 feet. Others use cellular only tracking which is fine for the suburbs. Whistle 3 GPS Pet Tracker uses all available technology – GPS (global positioning satellite signals), cellular connectivity to access their mobile app with location details, and Wi-Fi to help extend battery life and better transmit tracking device information.

Probably the best feature of the Whistle 3 GPS Pet Tracker, in my opinion, is it is WATERPROOF and durable (rated IPX7). It’s designed to go anywhere with your pet. The most adventurous pets can take Whistle 3 pet tracker with them through water, mud, rain and snow. They do recommend wiping the device down before charging if it does take a swim!

Whistle 3 is easy to attach to your pet’s collar which comes with an attachment piece to secure the device directly onto your pet’s existing collar or harness (up to 1’’ wide). The device can easily be removed from the attachment when it needs to be charged. The small size makes it perfect for dogs or cats as small as 8 pounds!

Battery life has a good rating compared to other pet tracking devices on the market. On average, you can get up to 7 days on a single charge depending on the strength of Wi-Fi and cellular coverage. The Whistle 3 app will tell you when it’s time to charge. The more time your pet spends out of Wi-Fi range, the quicker the battery will drain. We recommend charging every 2-3 days to ensure they are always covered. We will send you a notification when your battery needs to be charged, and a full recharge only takes 2 hours! You can find more battery information for Whistle 3 here.

Whistle 3 comes with a USB charging cable in the box. You will need to insert the USB end of this cable into any USB port. The tracker attaches to the charger, be sure to turn Whistle 3 until it clicks into place. The LED light will turn orange indicating it is charging. The light turns green when it is fully charged (which takes around 2 hours for an empty battery). The Whistle 3 device sends a notification when the device is fully charged which takes waiting around by the power supply out of play. Pretty cool feature in my book.

As I stated above, the Whistle 3 pet tracker uses cellular communication to transmit location data when not connected to a recognized Wi-Fi network. Which means, it requires a subscription plan, just like your cell phone. They guys at Whistle were smart and teamed up with the largest cellular coverage provider in the United State, AT&T. Plans are as follows: 2 years $166.80 ($6.95 mo.), 1 year $95.40 ($7.95 mo.) and $9.95 monthly billed monthly. Please keep in mind this is for the Whistle 3 tracker and not your mobile phone. As long as you have cellular data & reception on your iOS or Android phone, you'll be able to communicate with the Whistle app.

One downside the Whistle 3 GPS Pet Tracker is it only works on AT&T’s United States network. If you plan to take your pet out of the United States for extended period and want a pet tracker while out the country, this is not your solution. We have other pet trackers that do work worldwide.

If you are the adventurous type who likes to get “off grid”, the Whistle 3 will not be able to transmit location data to your mobile app. Think of it this way, if your iPhone or Android doesn’t have signal, neither does the Whistle 3.

Another cool feature of this device is activity monitoring of your pet. Track your pet’s activity using the free Whistle 3 app on your smartphone. Whistle 3 has an accelerometer that is used to calculate intensity and minutes of activity for your pet. You can also customize activity goals based on your pet’s breed, weight and age.

The Whistle guys have partnered up with Banfield Pet Hospital spearheading a petcare initiative called Pet Insight Project. The project collects 1,000’s of data points from Whistle 3 device users to help better understand your pet’s health and offer insight how to improve it.  It’s like a Fitbit for pets!

The Whistle guys stand behind their product offering a 90 day (3 month) FULL money back refund if you or your furry companion aren’t completely happy with your purchase. That’s a lot of time to try out a gadget that could get some serious bang-up-time on the collar of an outdoorsy adventurer like my old Black Jack.

The Whistle 3 Pet Tracker has a lot features packed into such a small shell offering a lot of benefits to you, the pet owner – real time tracking, long battery life, pet fitness monitoring – at a reasonable $79.95 purchase price in addition to a subscription plan ($9.95 mo., $95.40 1 yr., or $166.80 2 yr.)

EquipTrac gives a STRONG recommendation for the Whistle 3 GPS Pet Tracker. To buy, click our affiliate link and you will be taken to Whistle’s secure buy online website  BUY NOW