UPDATE: The collars were originally to be delivered March 2016. A year ago, the company pushed back delivery to September 2016. Several more delays have been shared since then.

On January 23, 2017, I received tracking information that the collar has now been shipped. I look forward to updating everyone once I’ve received the Nuzzle collar and had an opportunity to test it.

Updates on the various production and shipping delays can be found at this link.

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Lots of y’all have read my dog-viewpoint thrillers and know how much I enjoy weaving fact among the thrilling fiction, with care, behavior and pet safety at the top of my list. When something I made up in my fiction becomes reality–as with Nuzzle® Smart GPS collar–I get shivers of delight. Read on…

Nuzzle helps keep both dogs and cats safe! Image courtesy of Nuzzle.

This post is sponsored by The Nuzzle Smart GPS Collar and the BlogPaws Professional Pet Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about the Nuzzle Indiegogo Crowd Funding Campaign, but Bling, Bitches & Blood only shares information relevant to our readers. Nuzzle is not responsible for the content of this article.

In my second thriller HIDE AND SEEK, a fictional GPS pet tracking collar is instrumental in nailing the bad guy, with help from my canine hero. The technology was based on then-current kid products that were expensive, complicated to set up, cost a monthly fee, and had a limited two-mile effective range. But let’s face it…if your dog or cat takes off or gets picked up by do-gooders (or nefarious characters as in my fiction), two miles distance is nothing.

The thought of lost pets gives me nightmares, how about you? Magical-Dawg has upon occasion “gone south” on us in pursuit of evil coyotes, teasing bunnies, or who-knows-what. Karma-Kat has perfected a door-dashing escape plan, and we lucked out when Magic managed to track and lure home our AWOL delinquent cat. In her youth, Seren-Kitty disappeared a time or two and gave us heart attacks before we realized she was in the house hiding (and snickering at our frantic antics). In other words, my premise for HIDE AND SEEK arose from real life fears.

Magic loves running…anywhere! and has multiple IDs just in case. Image copr. Amy Shojai, CABC

I’ve got multiple layers of pet ID on all my pets. Magic has an ear tattoo (now faded), and he and the cats have collars with tags and also are microchipped. I’m still a huge fan of these precautions, but for them to work, the pet first has to be found.

Imagine my delight to learn about Nuzzle, a GPS collar tracking system that’s waaaaay better than what my poor characters experienced with my made-up product. If you care about your pets’ safety, you owe it to them (and yourself) to check this out. You can follow them on Facebook here.

The collar is waterproof, and adjusts to pet neck size. Image courtesy of Nuzzle.

Nuzzle uses a cellular network like your cell phone and has NATIONWIDE coverage (at short range it uses bluetooth), that integrates with the Nuzzle GPS Tracker App. You can define a “geo-fence” so the App sends you alerts if your pet moves out of those regions. All you do is put on the lightweight GPS collar, download the app, and then register your pet’s profile. If you prefer, you can also detach the Nuzzle tracker portion from the nylon collar and re-attach to your pet’s own collar or harness.

Even if you have a homebody pet like my 19-year-old Seren-Kitty, you can keep track of activity when you’re away from home to see if she’s napping, or rearranging the furniture. Just imagine, you’ll be able to find your cat’s most secret hiding spot! That’s right, Nuzzle works on cats as well as dogs. The app is another nifty way to keep your pet’s health records in a handy, accessible location.

There are no monthly fees, either. All that’s factored into the one-time price of the collar. In my thriller, the hero worries about battery life in the fictional device. The Nuzzle comes with two batteries so one can always be charging, and each battery lasts up to five days.

Nuzzle offers a great way to find pets that stray.

The pets featured in next SHOW AND TELL book deal with being stolen, surviving tornadoes and flash flood, among other things. They sure could have benefited from a waterproof GPS tracking collar like Nuzzle. In fiction, it’s entertaining to read about heroic people and pets that overcome outrageous odds to survive and bring bad guys to justice.

In real life, though, we want to prevent angst. How better than with the peace of mind of a GPS tracking collar? The Nuzzle collar and Nuzzle GPS Tracker App is currently only available via an Indiegogo campaign here where you can get in on early bird packages. I did–and I can’t wait to get mine!

Has your dog (or cat) ever gone missing? What sort of identification do you have on them? Do you have a plan for recovering your wandering pet? Do tell! And please share this post, with others concerned about wandering pets.

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book giveaways and appearances related to my September Day pet-centric THRILLERS WITH BITE!

Amy Shojai, CABC is a certified cat & dog behavior consultant, a consultant to the pet industry, and the award-winning author of 35+ pet-centric books and Thrillers with Bite! Oh, and she loves bling!