Month: February 2023

Review Summary

What Is the Wagz Freedom Smart Dog Collar? How Does It Work?

The Wagz Freedom Smart Dog Collar is a GPS-invisible fence for your canine. You attach a small GPS device to your dog’s collar and designate where you want your dog to be allowed (or not allowed) on the mobile app. This process is all accomplished very quickly on their app. Simply put, you draw the boundary with your finger and designate “keep out” spots similarly.

Then, the device detects when the dog gets too close to the boundary. Unlike other invisible fences, there is no electricity involved. Instead, the collar can correct your pet in several ways: ultrasonic frequencies, vibrations, and audible tones. You can adjust the corrections through the app with a press of a button.

You can also give corrections or stop them manually. Therefore, you could potentially use the collar for other training purposes. (For instance, you could teach your dog to “come” to you when the collar vibrates.)

This collar also allows you to track walks and keep track of your pet’s health. For instance, it’ll let you know how much your pet has moved and how long they’ve traveled. You can even see a GPS track where your pet went during a certain time span. If your pet gets lost, you can use the GPS locator to find them.

Therefore, while this is primarily an invisible fence device, it does use the GPS signal to provide other data.

Most customers (including me) love that you don’t have to install wires or dig up the yard. The setup was straightforward and didn’t involve complicated installations or purchasing yards of wire.

Wagz Freedom Smart Dog Collar – A Quick Look

Wagz Pricing

When considering the Wagz Freedom Smart Dog Collar, there are several prices you need to consider. Firstly, there is the device itself. Wagz works on practically every collar (I tried it successfully on several), so you won’t have to purchase a new collar. The device itself costs $200 at the time of this publication. This is a one-time purchase.

You will need a monthly subscription for the GPS to work, however. This subscription is $10 a month. You can get the subscription for cheaper by paying annually.

There are several other devices, too. For instance, you can purchase a bundle of training flags and an extra-large battery. These items aren’t necessary but can increase the system’s price if you purchase them.

What to Expect from Wagz

The Wagz system comes packaged neatly in a box. The GPS device isn’t charged when it arrives at your home, so you’ll need to charge it before you continue. According to the instructions, this takes about 2 hours, though I found that my battery charged up a bit faster than that.

Of course, you’ll also find the charger within the box. This charger comes in multiple pieces, which was a bit confusing initially. There are charging directions in the box but only in pictures. It took me a little bit to figure out how to connect the battery, charging port, and cord. However, once I figured it out, the process was pretty straightforward.

Next, you’ll have to set up the device. You’ll need an account on the Wagz website and the app on your phone. Once your account is set up, you’ll have to add the device. This task is accomplished by typing in a small code on the bottom of the GPS tracker. There is also a QR code, but I couldn’t get this to work. Luckily, the code was pretty short and easy to type in.

The rest of the process is done on the app. It guides you through adding your pet, assigning the device to your dog, and setting up the geofence. It also explains how the GPS indicators work, which lets you know how well the device is currently connected.

Wagz does have a setup guide on its website with plenty of pictures. Therefore, the process is easy to follow, even if it does have many steps.

Wagz Freedom Smart Dog Collar Contents

I received the starter kit, which I highly recommend for anyone using Wagz. Therefore, I received quite a few extra items besides just the GPS tracker. Here’s what I got:

Accuracy

This device relies completely on GPS accuracy. It’s how it determines where your pet is. Sadly, this is where I ran into the biggest problems with the device. As far as I could tell, it wasn’t accurate.

The app displays three different GPS “accuracies.” The lowest level is no signal at all. The middle level is accurate enough for location services but not for the invisible fence. No corrections are given if the device is currently only receiving this level of connectivity. At the top level, the device works as advertised.

I appreciate that the device doesn’t give corrections when it is inaccurate and can tell when it isn’t well connected. However, I found that the device hung much around the middling range. In other words, it was connected enough to tell me where my dog was but not connected enough to work as an invisible fence.

I tried a lot to get the device to connect as it was supposed to. However, it didn’t stay in the green for more than a couple of hours. (And GPS signals typically work great in my area.)

Battery Life

I didn’t have any issues with the battery, however. After I charged it, it stayed charged throughout the whole testing period. Therefore, users shouldn’t have a problem leaving this device on their pets all day.

With that said, I was using the upgraded battery. Therefore, the standard battery likely won’t last as long. In any case, I would recommend charging the battery every night, especially if you’re relying on the invisible fence alone.

App

The best part of the Wagz experience was the app. It functions very well and is easy to use. The interface was user-friendly, and I had no problem navigating it. You can easily add new geofences with your finger using the app. These fences automatically work with the animals you set them to. In this way, I found it much easier to use than the traditional invisible fence.

This app is available on both Android and iPhones. I found that the GPS on the app worked just fine (perhaps because it relies on your phone’s connection). It could find my position so that I could add geofences in only a few seconds.

Health Tracking

This device also tracks the health of your dog. You can see how many steps your dog has taken and several other metrics from the homepage. You can also click on each dog to see a more in-depth view of how your dog is doing.

Of course, I’m not entirely sure how well this tracker worked. It seemed to work perfectly fine, but I wasn’t following my dog and counting his steps to ensure.

Is Wagz Good Value?

Sadly, I didn’t find Wagz worth the price. You’re paying a couple of hundred dollars for the collar and then a monthly GPS tracking fee. However, the GPS didn’t work well in my experience. Plus, when it did work, I found that it could be off by as many as 15 feet. Therefore, I couldn’t trust it with my dog.

Other collars on the market may work a bit better. However, Wagz does still have some perks, like added health tracking. I wouldn’t purchase it to use it primarily for the invisible fence, though.

FAQ

How Does Wagz Work?

Wagz allows you to drop pins on a particular area, creating an invisible fence for your dog. Then, the smart collar recognizes these boundaries using GPS positioning. If the tracker notices that it is outside of the boundary, it delivers corrections. If your pet stays outside of the boundary, you are alerted.

What Cell Service Does Wagz Use?

The Wagz collar utilizes a “nationwide cellular provider” for cellular service, allowing the collar to use GPS positioning. However, the company doesn’t specify which provider it uses.

Our Experience with Wagz

I was very excited to use the Wagz smart collar. I do not have a fence, but I do have a very active husky. Usually, all his exercise is done on a long leash. I was excited to let him run free and play without worrying about the leash clotheslining the children!

I found the setup very easy and straightforward. The company provides a startup guide, and I followed it step-by-step. This process did take some time, but none of the steps were confusing. However, I ran into issues once I was told to connect the tracker to cellular service. For most of my testing time, the signal remained at the “weak” level.

Sadly, this meant the fence wouldn’t work much of the time. I trained my dog to respect the boundary anyway, manually giving corrections when he strayed past it. However, I couldn’t trust the fence to give these corrections automatically, as the signal would fade in and out.

For this reason, I cannot trust my dog unsupervised with this collar on—even though he is well-trained on the boundary now. The signal isn’t accurate enough.

Conclusion

The Wagz system offers the promise of freedom for your dog. However, I found the GPS tracking signal very weak and unreliable. I wouldn’t let my dog free without supervision with this collar on, as I’d be worried about the signal dropping out at any moment.

However, the setup process was straightforward, and the app was easy to use. It would be the perfect invisible fence system if the company fixed the tracking issues.

The post Wagz Freedom Smart Dog Collar Review 2023: Our Expert’s Opinion appeared first on Pet Keen.

As a lifelong dog owner, I watch my dogs age and start to suffer from arthritis and other forms of joint pain and stiffness. Over the years I’ve tried different things including prescription medications and supplements to help them feel better. One of the best options I’ve found so far is CBD oil. In this article I’ll be reviewing 4CornerCanine’s Oil.

4CornersCanine is based out of Durango, Colorado. As one of the first CBD-specific companies, they specialize in plant-to-bottle CBD products, meaning they grow their own hemp, make their own extract, and package their own products. This lets them ensure the consistency and quality of their products.

They offer a few varieties of pet CBD products: Unflavored extract, Peanut Butter flavored extract, and THC-free extract. I was sent the first two to review. I like the commitment of the company to quality and had few difficulties getting the product to work with my dogs. Read on to discover more!

At a Glance: What We Reviewed

	Image	Product	Details
Our Favorite		4CornersCannabis Pet Tincture	Calms anxiety Reduces inflammation Relieves arthritis	Click to Check Price
		4CornersCannabis Peanut Butter Pet Tincture	Rich in Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids Does not contain limonene Easy to administer	Click to Check Price

4CornersCannabis Pet Tincture Reviewed

Who makes 4CornersCannabis Pet Tinctures and where are they produced?

4CornersCannabis is based in Colorado, where they clone, grow, harvest, extract, prepare, and bottle their own products. This farm-to-bottle approach lets them have tight control over the contents of their hemp extract and ensure quality at every step of the process. They use ethanol extraction, which is one of the oldest and most-established forms of extracting chemicals from plants. Their extraction method is fine-tuned by in-house scientists and performed in their own labs.

Which Types of Pets are 4CornersCannabis Pet Tinctures Best Suited For?

The drops can be used for any kind of pets that eat food the tincture can be added to (dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, etc). Unlike most CBD oils on the market, these drops should definitely be added to food and not administered under your pet’s tongue.

My dogs would readily consume the drops if they were added to treats or mixed with bacon grease and drizzled over dog food – they did not like them straight under the tongue. This is a bit of a bummer because putting the oil directly under an animal’s tongue ensures they’ll absorb more of the CBD. That said, you can tweak the dose of CBD dripped onto food to overcome the fact that some of it gets lost in the digestion process.

Discussion of the Primary Ingredients (Good and bad)

The CBD extract used in these is listed as one of the highest quality on the market, from the same process as 4CornersCannabis uses for their human products. I found no reason to disbelieve them. Their extract is no more than 0.3% THC, and if there are concerns about that being too much, they also offer products made from THC-free extracts.

The oil used in their tinctures is golden hemp seed oil. 4CornersCannabis states this is to help make sure it’s easy on the dog’s stomach, and it is a viable choice for this type of product.

4CornersCannabis adheres to the basic principles of healthy, quality product formulation: Use few, high-quality ingredients and clearly describe them so your customers understand where they come from and why they’re trustworthy.

Does 4CornersCannabis provide independent Certificates of Analysis?

Yes! 4CornersCannabis has lab reports from Aurum Labs listed right on their website. Their extracts have the chemical constituency they claim per these reports and are free of microbial growth and pesticides.

Given the gray areas in quality requirements for CBD products in different states, it’s critical to buy CBD products only from companies that offer these Certificates of Analysis. 4CornersCannabis shines in this regard.

Is It Easy To Dose?

I found 4CornersCannabis tincture drops to be pretty easy to use. The droppers let you measure the dose, and their website has some good guidelines on how much to use. The doses given are low compared to those in the available research (0.3-0.4mg/kg vs. 1-2mg/kg), which is a smart place to start. The advice to pursue a relationship with a holistic veterinarian to work up on the dosing is also great.

I would have liked to see a clearer dosing chart or dosing recommendations. As a consumer I felt a little abandoned by “feel free to adjust the dose to fit your pet or pets’ needs.” Coming up with an ideal dose for CBD is not a well-known process to most people, much less dosing a specific CBD product.

One last thing that I found hard to understand was the advice to give the CBD oil spaced out 1.5 hours from pharmaceuticals that are processed by the liver. I’m a pharmacist by trade and per the literature available, CBD stays around in the body of some mammals (humans and dogs) for days, not 1.5 hours. Many anti-seizure medications also stay in the body for more than 1.5 hours and are processed by the liver, for example, and some may interact with CBD – they will continue to interact with CBD well after 1.5 hours of giving them to your dog. If your dog is on any medications, consult with a veterinarian before using CBD.

A Quick Look at 4CornersCannabis Tincture

Reviews of the 4CornersCannabis Tinctures We Tried

I preferred the unflavored version of the tincture. My dogs liked neither straight, so I didn’t see a point in the flavored kind. Hemp oil is bitter – I recommend using wet dog food or drizzling a little bacon grease on your dog’s food when adding the drops. It ensures that they’ll love it (what dog doesn’t like bacon grease!).

The packaging of the product is very attractive, easy to read, and easy to understand. The bottle labeling is the same.

Our Experience With 4CornersCannabis

I tried to give the tincture to the dogs directly, but as mentioned they both refused it. The food method went much better.

I noted that this product seemed to give the same stiffness-relief as the CBD products I normally use with my Catahoula, Penny, after I dosed it to be the same number of mg per kg of bodyweight. She’s older now and has arthritis and stiffness in the mornings. CBD seems to help her move around more easily, and this product definitely has the right ingredients to make that happen.

My Australian Shepherd, Luka, took it and I noticed the same reduction in spastic behavior I usually see after using a higher dose of CBD extract.

Given the ease of use and the very apparent quality of the product, I found 4CornersCannabis Pet Tincture to be a winner. Their pricing is mid-to-high compared to competition, but the quality and transparency they offer help offset that cost. I feel confident in recommending them as a first-rate CBD product manufacturer!

Conclusion

4CornersCannabis offers high quality, farm-to-bottle tinctures for pets that are backed by transparent, 3^rd-party lab Certificates of Analysis. I have full confidence in the quality and the contents of their tincture. If you partner with a veterinarian to finalize dosing, you should find success using their tinctures to relieve your pet’s pain or anxiety.

The post 4 Corners Canine CBD Tincture Review 2023: Is It a Good Value? appeared first on Pet Keen.