Garmin collars (christmas time!)

[hotel4dogs]

Does anyone have any experience or comments on the Garmin Astro 320/DC40 collar bundle, or the Garmin Alpha?
Thanks in advance!

[Royalist]

I prefer the Astro 320 over the 220 but the Alpha rules all.

[hotel4dogs]

thanks! I might just have to come up with an Alpha for Christmas

[Howard N]

As long as we're talking GPS collars, could someone tell me what the advantage is for training retrievers?

I'm thinking they're fine for hounds and big running pointers, but I don't see the reason for them with retrievers.

Anyone see things that I don't?

[hotel4dogs]

The reason I am especially attracted to the Garmin Alpha is that it's a full featured Tritronics training collar, that happens to have a GPS tracking system on it.
It has some pretty neat features. One I particularly like is that you can set a boundary on it, and if your dog goes outside of that boundary, it will give you a warning tone. Perfect for visiting people with property but no fences, you can relax and only keep "half an eye" on your dog without worrying about him ending up in the next county.
The other is, of course, the GPS tracking. The cover (pheasant) in this area is extremely tall and dense, and when he is more than 10 feet from me I can't see him at all. That's fine if the bird flushes and isn't missed. But if the bird is missed, he tends to do the "golden retriever 100 yard dash" and I have no idea where he is since I can't see him.
Does he come back? Yes, so far. But a little added security would be very nice.
I'm too new at this to know if it has many applications in training, but I do like that you can track his progress when you can't see him, so you know if he's still heading in the right direction, still working, etc.
Gun Dog Supply has a very nice write-up on it. http://www.gundogsupply.com/garmin-alpha-review.html

[tbadams]

As long as we're talking GPS collars, could someone tell me what the advantage is for training retrievers?

I'm thinking they're fine for hounds and big running pointers, but I don't see the reason for them with retrievers.

Anyone see things that I don't?

Howard the only thing I can see is monitoring exercise via tracking at the end of the day or tracking the dog if they get separated from you.