Get Healthy: Wearable devices come to rescue when your pet goes missing

For any pet owner, these split seconds trigger panic. And it’s not uncommon. The Animal Humane Society estimates that approximately 10 million dogs and cats go missing or are stolen in the U.S. each year, meaning roughly one in three pets will get lost in their lifetime.

This prospect frightened Miranda Anderson, of Valparaiso, so she was determined to find a way to safeguard her active Rottweiler, Arya, and waded through the various options.

“Using wearables gives me comfort,” says Anderson. “I know that if something happens and my dog gets away, I can find her early.”

Besides the traditional photos and phone numbers tacked on trees and bulletin boards, there's a brisk increase in digital safety technology for pets.  Wearable pet trackers have evolved from high-tech novelties to essential care tools using GPS. Some pinpoint locations; others also monitor vital signs including pulse, respiration, body temperature and heart rate variability. Like smartwatches, they can keep track of calories burned, with advanced technology measuring anxiety rates and slow declines in health. 

According to Grand View Research, pet wearables were a $3.36 billion market in 2025 that is forecast to grow to $11.04 billion by 2033. It includes hundreds of products that range from collars to tags.

After researching the market, Anderson put two trackers on her 3-year-old Rottweiler at the same time to see which one was more accurate. She also tried Apple AirTags.

She chose Tractive Smart Pet Tracker collar, which uses GPS to pinpoint real time location and provides pet health feedback, because she found it easy to use and dependable. 

“It tells when I’m getting closer to her, and it lets you set up boundaries and alerts you when your pet moves beyond them,” says Anderson. “Both Fi and Tractive also let you monitor general health things like heart rate.”

Wearables have a cellular SIM card in the collar that can communicate a pet's location and activity data directly to a smartphone app. 

“More and more people are getting these types of GPS trackers since they are able to locate a pet if it was missing instead of waiting for someone to find their pet, have a veterinarian or shelter scan the implanted microchip and be contacted,” Stephanie Perrine, assistant manager at Arbor View Animal Hospital in Valparaiso, says, mentioning the microchips commonly implanted in pets to identify them when lost. “It gives peace of mind when you are panicking to locate your pet and are able to get on your phone and find their location.”

Microchipping remains important.

“I strongly recommend universal microchips over any wearable device,” says Jessica Greer, senior director of Clinic and Shelter Operations at Humane Indiana. “The microchip is implanted under the skin between the shoulder blades, so the pet still has identification in the event a collar slips off or breaks off. I also recommend pet owners keep their microchips up to date and registered.”

Perrine sees the utility of both.

“We would recommend these on top of an implanted microchip,” says Perrine. “AirTags/GPS devices can come off of collars, locations might not update if not in the general area, or the battery could die. GPS tracker can be removed by someone, whereas an implanted microchip can not be. A microchip is a form of identification especially if there is a medical record of your pet receiving the microchip.”