GPS, Geofences, & Corrections

How do I create a geofence?

• The geofence itself is created through the Wagz App using drag and drop pins that act as virtual fence posts. There’s no need to walk the perimeter of your property to create a geofence. Instructions on how to set up a geofence are outlined below and detailed in our Owner’s Guide HERE.
• Once it is created it uses Wi-Fi and service from your local cell towers to contain your pet. See how easy it is HERE.
• After you have downloaded the Wagz App, set up your dog(s), and have selected your cellular network subscription plan, you can pair your collar and set up multiple customized geofences to store in your App.
  • To get started, tap “Geofences” from the Wagz App home screen.
  • Tap “New Geofence”; it will pull up a map (in satellite or map view).
  • Tap “Next” and expand the area where you want to set up the geofence.
  • Continue to tap the map where you want to create your geofence area; you will see pins and lines outlining your geofence. Be sure to connect all pinpoints by tapping the first pin you plotted.
  • Hit “Next”.
  • Name, Save and Assign the geofence to your dog. It is at this time that you will designate whether this is a “Safe Zone” or a “Keep Out Zone”. You can save your geofence as a “Safe Zone” to keep your dog IN that area, or you can save it as a “Keep Out Zone” to keep your dog OUT of this area. It’s that simple!

What is a Keep Out Zone?

• A Keep Out Zone is a virtual fenced-in area that you designate as ‘off-limits’ to your dog such as a pool or pond, garden, deck, etc. You can set up a Keep Out Zone within the “Geofences” page on your Wagz App. A Keep Out Zone can be set up inside or outside a Geofence “Safe Zone.”

Why doesn’t the Freedom Collar have shock stimulation, like some of the other pet containment collars do?

• Shock collars can cause dogs physical pain, injury (ranging from burns to cardiac fibrillation), and psychological stress, including severe anxiety and displaced aggression. Individual animals vary in their temperaments and pain thresholds; a shock that seems mild to one dog might be severe to another.  As long as you spend time teaching and training your dog to respond to our ultrasonic, audible, and vibration corrections, there is no reason to inflict pain. Wagz is proud to be the only containment collar that offers only humane corrections.

How do the audible, ultrasonic and vibration corrections work on the Freedom Collar?

• It’s important to note that training is required for all corrections to teach dogs proper behavior. Sound and vibration training have proven to be an extremely effective and humane way to communicate with and train dogs.
• The ultrasonic correction emits sound waves with a frequency above the upper limit of human hearing, similar to a dog whistle. The ultrasonic sound will not force a dog to do anything, but much like an unexpected sound, it will capture the dog's attention and distract it from any improper behaviors it may be engaged in.
• The audible tone, a brief beeping sound heard by both dog and pet parent, provides a similar result.
• This is true of the vibration correction as well. The vibration correction creates a buzzing sensation as another way to get your dog’s attention when reaching a boundary. Think of this like your cell phone ringer when it’s on silent mode. As with all corrections, training is required for the dog to understand what to do upon experiencing this correction.
• Corrections will automatically time out after one minute. The reason is that after one minute of corrections the dog will have forgotten what he was being corrected for, so if the dog hasn't returned to the allowed area within that time, he is not going to suddenly figure it out. Therefore, we stop the corrections and preserve battery life for the tracking functions of the collar.
• Click HERE for tips on how to best train your dog to understand these corrections.

How does the Freedom Collar know where my dog is?

• The Freedom Collar uses multiple GPS Satellites to constantly monitor the location of your pet. It reports that location to the Wagz App using Wi-Fi or cellular networks so that you can keep tabs on where your dog is and keep him safe. The location of your pet is updated in the Wagz App automatically.

How frequently will the GPS refresh on my Wagz Freedom Collar?

• When your dog is sleeping or staying still, your collar will go into an idle mode and will not update its location. No need to worry though, the collar will begin tracking again once he begins moving. While your dog is active, the GPS location should update every 1-15 minutes (by default). This update time will vary depending on whether the collar is connected to your phone’s Bluetooth, your home’s Wi-Fi, or its cellular network (which it will automatically switch to when there is no Bluetooth or Wi-Fi available).
• Not every dog is the same, and your needs may be different from your neighbors! For this reason, those default refresh times for your Freedom Collar battery and refresh settings are fully customizable. You can pick what works best for you and your pup, by choosing how often your collar updates your pet’s location. Frequent location updates will shorten battery life.

• You can choose:

• The default refresh rate when on Wi-Fi is approximately every five (5) minutes. When on cellular, the default refresh rate is approximately every fifteen (15) minutes. These refresh rates can be shortened or lengthened to increase responsiveness or preserve battery life.
• Don’t worry! If your pup escapes the geofence, he’ll still be corrected right away, and you’ll be notified right away, regardless of what refresh time you choose.
• When connected to your phone’s Bluetooth, you’ll see updates much more frequently.
• If your dog is sleeping or staying still, the Freedom Collar will go into low power mode and will not update location until the dog moves again. If the dog is active, the Freedom Collar will detect the movement automatically and should report its location to the Wagz App within a minute, whether the Freedom Collar is asleep (low power mode), connected to your phone’s Bluetooth, or on Wi-Fi vs Cellular.

Is there a size limitation for the geofence I can create for my pet?

• This feature is best suited for properties half-acre or larger with strong GPS connectivity. 
• The geofence is customizable and there is no pre-programmed minimum or maximum size. However, we recommend each geofence be at least 40' x 40' to allow room for any potential inaccuracy of the GPS signal, while giving your dog ample room to roam.
• It is recommended that when you create a geofence you add a 15-foot buffer from any house or structure. In addition, you should add a 15-foot buffer from your geofence to any road or hazard when feasible, to ensure the best accuracy possible.

Can I create multiple geofences in my Wagz App?

• Yes! You can create and store multiple geofences in your Wagz App. It’s totally portable; you can set up a geofence at your home, at your office, at your friend’s house, or at work. The total number of allowable geofences is based on a combination of the total number of “points” designated within a geofence, the size of the geofences, and the number of dogs assigned to each geofence. For example, when traveling you can set up other geofences at your destination while saving the one(s) at home. Geofences can be toggled on and off wherever you go.

Can I have more than one dog on the Wagz App?

• You can manage multiple dogs within the Wagz App. Each dog can have their own unique geofences, they can share the ones that other dogs are using on the same account, or they can have a combination of unique and shared geofences. When you create a geofence, the last step is to assign that geofence to any or all your dogs. Any geofence can be assigned to one, some, or all your dogs. Typically, you might have one or two geofences that all your dog's share, but the system will allow you to mix and match, as needed. Please note, a separate subscription is required for each Freedom Collar and any additional annual subscriptions after the first is offered at half off.

Will my dog receive a correction upon re-entry to the geofenced area?

• If your pet leaves the geofence, the Freedom Collar will correct them while they are leaving, but they will not be corrected with any audible, ultrasonic or vibration correction when they return. We would never want to dissuade them from coming back safely! We will send you a push notification and post an alert within your Wagz App upon your dog’s return, so you know he’s back safely.

Why did my dog not get a correction when he crossed the geofence?

• There are a few reasons this could happen:
  • Geofences may be disabled for your pet. You can confirm that your geofences are enabled by going into the Wagz App and looking at your pet’s dashboard. Check that the Geofences button is solid blue and says “ON”.    

• • The geofence may not be assigned to that pet. You can confirm that the geofence is correctly assigned to your pet by going into the menu, tapping “geofences” and checking that your pet’s name appears below the particular fence in question and that the toggle shows the fence as Active.

• • This could also happen as the result of a poor GPS signal. GPS technology has limitations and signal strength can vary for a number of reasons. If your GPS signal strength is poor, it is unlikely that your geofence will behave as you intended. It may alert/correct when it shouldn’t, causing unnecessary concern - or not alert/correct when you think it should. For this reason, the Freedom Collar automatically disables geofences when the GPS accuracy isn’t strong enough to rely on. This generally happens indoors when GPS signals are obstructed by structures. When the Freedom Collar goes outside, it should quickly get a strong GPS signal and geofences will be enabled again automatically. You can easily tell in the dashboard of the Wagz App if geofences are active or not, at any time.
  • If you have the indoor correction reduction setting “Disable geofences when on Wi-Fi” enabled, your geofences will be disabled automatically when your collar is connected to a Wi-Fi network. If your geofences aren’t working when your dog goes outside, it may be because your Wi-Fi network has a large range and is still available near the edges of your fence or property. To check this, disable that setting and try again. To adjust your pet's settings, go to your pet’s card on the Dashboard and select the Settings icon near the top right of the dashboard card. This is where you can customize your notifications, correction settings, battery settings, and pet dashboard health metrics view.

Why is a wireless geofence containment system better than a physical fence or a buried wire fence?

• Wagz geofences do not require any installation, digging or require any physical labor. They can be created anywhere you go, crossing rivers, streams, and uneven terrain...totally portable. Creating your own adjustable geofence is like having a customizable fenced-in backyard anywhere you go. No need to walk the perimeter of your property to create a geofence; just drop pins onto the satellite image of the location and your virtual fence is created.

How should I train my dog to use the Freedom Collar and its geofences?

• A great place to start when training fido to understand their new boundaries is with the Wagz App Pet Training Mode. You should see a banner at the top of your Wagz App home screen to get started. If you don't see it there, you can always access Training Mode by tapping MORE in the bottom navigation bar, then tapping TRAINING. This Training Mode provides not only training advice, but also leverages custom collar functions to better assist with the training process. In regular operation, the Freedom Collar will automatically issue corrections when your dog passes the geofence boundary. During training, when using the Training Mode, you will be issuing the corrections from your phone, to ensure they are sent at the exact time and location you want, to ensure consistency during training. You can train on each phase as many times as you'd like and can work through these phases at your own pace. We recommend you start with 3 brief training sessions a day, then you can drop down to fewer sessions as training progresses. To keep the training effective and manageable, keep your training sessions to no more than 10-15 minutes per session. It will take multiple, repetitive training sessions a day over the course of a few weeks until your dog understands the set boundaries, where the boundaries are located and what it means when they receive a correction. Additionally, the written training outline HERE is derived from tactics used by many professional trainers. However, if you find that the outlined approach does not work for your specific dog, you can research other methods of corrections training or ask your veterinarian. All pet containment systems require a pet parent to train their dog to stay within set boundaries. Because no two dogs are alike, there is no specific “one size fits all” way to train a dog. Therefore, the pet parent needs to use a “what’s best for my specific dog” approach.

Why does the “Refresh Location” button on my map screen sometimes not work?

• In order for the location to be refreshed, your collar must have both a GPS signal and an active communication method. This can be either Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or Cellular. At times when your dog is away from home, the collar is most likely to rely on a cellular connection for communication. If you live in an area with spotty cell reception, it can be challenging for our collar. When you press the refresh button, the Wagz App will attempt to make a connection to the collar for up to four minutes. If it cannot contact it, the command will be canceled. When the collar comes back online, it will send up its location automatically.