Brandon McMillan Says Some Pet Trackers Do More Than Track Your Furry Friend [Exclusive]
Dog trainer Brandon McMillan seen on CBS‘s Lucky Dog said that pet trackers can be a great way to locate a runaway dog or cat, but some can do so much more.
Pet trackers like Link Smart Pet Wearable offer a multi-dimensional, interactive approach to pet parenting. He told Showbiz Cheat Sheet the tracking aspect alone offers him peace of mind, especially when he’s away from home.
Dog trackers can give pet parents peace of mind
“At any given time I’ve got 15 dogs here and these are either dogs from a shelter or they are clients’ dogs,” he explained. “You know how hard it is going to dinner knowing that I have eight dogs [at home]? I know with these Link Smart Pet Wearables, once I put them on the dog, I can rest easy. I go to sleep at night and everything is smooth sailing at that point.”
The Link device can easily fit onto any standard dog or cat collar. And it transmits data to a handy tracking app. Pet parents can easily locate their animals using the app and even use the lightbulb feature to illuminate the device at night.
Try a dog tracker with training features for a happier pup
The wearable also has a training feature. “So it comes with basically it comes with a tone and a vibration,” McMillan explained. “The tone is like a little beep and the vibration is like how your phone vibrates. Once a dog is trained to it, you can use a tone as a recall. So let’s say your dog’s at the beach or a park and the dog runs a few hundred yards away. It’s very difficult, even if your dog has a good recall, you can’t yell across the whole park because so many elements [get in the way] that the dog might not be able to hear you.”
“The dog is wearing the collar, you simply hit the tone and the dog is trained to come right back to you. So it’s like a recall without you yelling across the park,” he said.
“Now the vibration is cool because your dog could be doing something 300 yards away. And again, you can’t be yelling, ‘Knock it off!’ So once you train this to the dog, the vibration works as a ‘no’ command. So the dog will stop doing what they’re doing right away.” Link Smart Pet Wearable provides support so pet parents can learn how to train their animal to use the tones.
Training is the best way to engage with your dog, Brandon McMillan says
The tracker follows the animal’s activity level and pet parents can set activity goals. Vet records can also be stored on the app for easy access. Plus pet parents can maintain multiple animals on the app.
Overall, the right pet tracker can prompt engagement, which is ultimately what dogs crave. While puzzles and interactive toys are fine, McMillan says engagement is a pathway to a happy pup. “Honestly, I think spending time with your dog, walking them, and training them is easily the best way because training is the way to really kind of expand their mind because they’re learning new things as opposed to just kind of breaking something open.”
“I like puzzles,” he added. “It’s a good way to keep their mind occupied for an hour, but I wouldn’t recommend it because it is not making your dog smarter. Training is the way you make your dogs smarter. Teaching them new things is the way you make the dogs smarter in that because it makes their mind work harder.”
McMillan suggests a few 15 to 20-minute training sessions daily to keep dogs engaged. And pet parents can use the Link Smart Pet Wearable training tools for recognition and reward.
