The PetPace Smart Collar 2.0 is unlike any other pet tracker. While most GPS collars focus on location, PetPace focuses on health — tracking your dog’s heart rate, respiration, temperature, activity, posture, calories, and even pain and anxiety levels using AI-powered analysis.
Dogster gave it 4.8/5 stars. PCMag called it “far more advanced than the original.” But at $379+ with a mandatory subscription, is it right for your dog? Here’s our full review.
What the PetPace 2.0 Tracks
This isn’t a simple step counter. The PetPace 2.0 packs medical-grade sensors into a collar:
- Heart rate & HRV (heart rate variability) — continuous monitoring
- Respiration rate — breaths per minute
- Temperature — body temperature trends
- Activity & calories — daily movement and energy expenditure
- Posture — lying, sitting, standing, walking
- Pain level — AI-estimated pain score based on vital sign patterns
- Anxiety & stress — behavioral pattern detection
- Sleep quality — duration and restfulness
- GPS location — near real-time tracking (with subscription)
The collar establishes a baseline for your specific dog over the first 7-10 days, then alerts you when something deviates from normal. This is genuinely useful — a subtle drop in activity or slight temperature elevation could signal illness days before visible symptoms appear.
The App & Vet Dashboard
The PetPace app is surprisingly polished. You get:
- Daily health score — an at-a-glance number summarizing your dog’s wellness
- Trend graphs — heart rate, temperature, and activity over time
- Alert notifications — push alerts for anomalies
- Shareable vet reports — exportable health data your vet can actually use
- 24/7 vet access — included with premium plans
The vet dashboard is what sets PetPace apart from fitness trackers like Fi or Whistle. Your veterinarian can access your dog’s data remotely, which is particularly valuable for:
- Post-surgery recovery monitoring
- Chronic condition management (heart disease, arthritis, Cushing’s)
- Medication effectiveness tracking
- Senior dog wellness checks
Pricing & Subscription
| Plan | Collar Cost | Monthly Cost | Includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| PetPace 2.0 (1-year) | ~$379 USD | $15/month (billed yearly) | Health monitoring, GPS, alerts |
| PetPace 2.0 (2-year) | ~$379 USD | ~$12.50/month (billed yearly) | Same + discount |
| PetPace 3.0 (newest) | ~$200 USD | $25/month (year 1), $16.70/month (year 2) | All 2.0 features + upgrades |
The subscription is mandatory — the collar won’t function without it. This is our biggest gripe. At $15/month on top of the hardware cost, you’re looking at $559+ for the first year. That’s a significant investment.
Available sizes: Small (dogs 8-25 lbs), Medium (25-60 lbs), Large (60+ lbs) — Small on Amazon.ca | Large on Amazon.ca
What We Like
Genuinely Useful Health Data
Most pet wearables give you step counts and call it health monitoring. PetPace gives you the kind of data that can actually catch illness early. Multiple owners report their PetPace flagged health issues — elevated heart rate, temperature spikes, reduced activity — that led to early vet visits and caught conditions like infections, heart problems, and Cushing’s disease before they became emergencies.
For senior dogs or dogs with chronic conditions, this is potentially life-saving.
AI-Powered Analysis That Learns
The AI doesn’t just set generic thresholds. It learns your dog’s normal patterns and alerts on deviations. A Labrador’s resting heart rate is different from a Chihuahua’s, and PetPace accounts for breed, size, age, and individual variation.
Vet Integration
Being able to share objective health data with your vet is a game-changer. Instead of “he seems kind of off lately,” you can show trending vitals over weeks. Several veterinary clinics now recommend PetPace for post-operative monitoring.
What Could Be Better
Mandatory Subscription
$15/month is steep, especially when you’ve already paid $379 for the hardware. Some competitors like Fi Series 3 offer lower subscription costs ($99/year), though they don’t match PetPace’s health monitoring depth.
GPS Is Secondary
If your primary need is location tracking, PetPace’s GPS works but isn’t as refined as dedicated GPS trackers. The Fi Series 3 and Tractive GPS have better real-time tracking accuracy and faster update intervals. PetPace is a health monitor that happens to have GPS, not the other way around.
Collar Form Factor
Unlike clip-on trackers (Fi, Whistle), PetPace is the collar. You can’t use your dog’s favorite collar — they wear PetPace’s collar with the integrated sensor pod. Some dogs and owners prefer the flexibility of a clip-on device.
North America & EU Only
PetPace GPS and cellular features only work in North America and the EU. If you’re outside those regions, the collar has limited functionality.
PetPace 2.0 vs Other Pet Trackers
| Feature | PetPace 2.0 | Fi Series 3 | Whistle Switch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | Health monitoring | GPS tracking | GPS + basic health |
| Heart Rate | ✅ Continuous | ❌ | ❌ |
| Temperature | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Respiration | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Pain/Anxiety AI | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| GPS | ✅ (adequate) | ✅ (excellent) | ✅ (good) |
| Subscription | $15/month | $99/year | $8.25/month |
| Collar Cost | ~$379 | ~$150 | ~$150-200 |
| Battery | 8-10 days | 3+ months | Swappable |
| Vet Reports | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Who Should Buy the PetPace 2.0?
Absolutely get it if you have:
- A senior dog (8+ years) where early illness detection matters most
- A dog with a chronic condition (heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, Cushing’s)
- A post-surgery dog needing recovery monitoring
- Multiple dogs and want to share data with your vet proactively
- The budget to justify $559+ for year one
Skip it if you:
- Primarily need GPS escape tracking (get a Fi Series 3 instead)
- Have a healthy young dog with no risk factors
- Can’t justify the ongoing subscription cost
- Want a clip-on tracker for an existing collar
The Bottom Line
The PetPace Smart Collar 2.0 is the most medically serious pet wearable on the market. It’s not a toy, it’s not a step counter, and it’s not primarily a GPS tracker — it’s a genuine health monitoring system that can catch problems early.
For senior dogs and dogs with chronic conditions, the PetPace 2.0 could pay for itself many times over with a single early diagnosis. For healthy young dogs, it’s overkill.
Our Rating: 4.5/5 — Best-in-class health monitoring, held back by mandatory subscription costs and collar-only form factor.