Garmin Guide

The handheld device can track up to 20 dogs with tracking collars. When you add tracking collars to your kit, you can pair them to the handheld device by following these steps:

In the case of emergency, tracking collars can be added to additional handheld devices using the tracking collar's track and control codes. Track codes only connect if the original handheld device is nearby, whereas control codes can gain full access to the collar. (Control codes are necessary if the original handheld device is dead or broken, or if the additional device is beginning to track from another location.)

Best Practices for Garmin's Astro 430 and T5 Mini

1. In your car, before you or any of the dogs have left the vehicle, turn on your handheld device and tracking collars. Double check the battery level of the handheld device.
   
   
2. Inspect the handheld device and the tracking collars for damage to the antenna. A damaged or missing antenna will limit the ability for the tracking collars and the handheld device to stay connected.
   
   
3. Confirm that all of the tracking collars are successfully connected to the handheld device. This can take a couple of minutes. In the event that a tracking collar is not connecting to the handheld device, restart both the handheld device and the tracking collar, and follow the above steps to re-pair the devices.
   
   
4.  Once you have confirmed that the tracking collars are successfully connected to the handheld device, reset mileage tracking for every dog. 
   
   
5. Once your handheld device is connected to every collar, make sure that the distance it is reporting between the collar and the handheld device is accurate. If your handheld device is telling you that a collar is miles away, then the collar is either off or it needs a reset.
   
   
6. Put a tracking collar on every dog while they are still tethered to the interior of the car. Confirm that every dog has identification attached to at least two different pieces of gear. Safety redundancy is key. Consider adding more ways to track dogs in your care, including bear bells, Apple AirTags in waterproof cases, and additional ID tags with your cell phone on them.
   
   
7. Once your collars and handheld device are properly connected, you're good to go! Have a great adventure!
   
   

After Your Adventure

1. Make sure to charge your collars and handheld device! A dead collar is a useless collar.
   
   
2. Before charging, make sure to wipe away any sand or water from the charging port to prevent rust and port damage.
    

Tips And Tricks

1. If each of your trackers has a different color collar, you can name the trackers in your handheld device by their color, making it easy to see at a quick glance who is with you, and who isn’t. ("Where’s Orange?! Has anyone seen Orange?!")
   
   
2. Set up a Garmin charging station close to the front door of your home, with visual and/or digital reminders to charge and then bring all equipment when leaving for an adventure. Consider setting up a charging station in your car to ensure that collars are always with you and fully charged. If you go this route, all equipment must be impeccably hidden so as to not invite a car break-in.
   
   
3. Did you know your handheld device has two different menus where you can find options to work with your trackers, including the setting to turn off pesky "point/tree" alert beeps and the setting to remove the visual representation of previous trips on the map? You can access one menu by pressing MENU while in DOG mode, and you can access the other by pressing MENU while in MAP mode.