… or how NOT to adopt a new puppy
Several months ago I went through the process of adopting a new young dog from a Rescue organization that saves dogs from the “kill shelter” system. They even use some of their adoption fees to run spay & neuter clinics in the areas where they rescue dogs to try to reduce the problem of unwanted pets.
The pup I adopted was about 6 months old and just the size (smaller side of medium) and characteristics (short hair!) I was looking for. She had a sweet disposition, if a little skittish.
So I brought her home and started settling her in with my older dog. Everything was going great. That first afternoon I decided to take her for a walk to get used to our routine and to get her puppy business done. I snapped a leash onto the harness that she was wearing that was provided by the rescue organization and we headed out for our walk. I live in an area with a couple nice parks with waterways, but there is one busy street that you have to walk on for a couple of blocks to get there and back. We were walking along that street and a big rumbly truck drove by us. The new pup was so startled, that she jumped up and BACKWARDS, and that, combined with the stiff new harness caused the clasp on my leash to fail. Somehow she managed to cross the busy street without immediately getting run over. I started running after her calling her name, but since I had just adopted her that morning, she really didn’t know me yet. Long story short, she was gone.
The next three and a half days were a nightmare. I barely slept. I got involved in the Social Media fueled lost pet finding community that I didn’t even know existed. I got phone calls in the middle of the night from creeps that said they had my dog and wanted a ransom, even though it was clear they had no evidence to support their claims. Finally, we got an early morning sighting that came in and we were able to coax the young dog in, using the specialized techniques the the lost pet retrieval folks use.
I Swore that I Would Never Go Through that Nightmare Again
So. We finally get to the Apple AirTags. If my puppy had an AirTag on her harness, we could have tracked her location. She was hard to spot because she was following a network of parks and natural spaces connected by waterways (remember that park system I mentioned earlier in the article?). Narrowing down her location to a much smaller area would have hugely simplified our task of retrieving her.
If you order a single Apple AirTag, it looks like this in the original packaging. To activate it, pull the protective plastic packaging off the surface, then look for a small tab of plastic sticking out from the edge – pull that tab out to engage the battery.
I ordered a package of four Apple AirTags. The first two are attached to my dogs. My older dog wears a collar, so her tag is contained in a nice water tight case that is designed to be easily connected to a collar, and I will link that item below. My younger dog wears a Ruffwear harness (which could be the subject of it’s own review – it’s great) that has a little pocket built into the harness right between the shoulder blades. That AirTag is in a waterproof case – then is fastened inside of the pocket. Now, if either of my dogs is separated from me or my home, I get a notification on my phone. I can use the “Find My” app to locate those Apple AirTags.
This is the same four pack of Apple AirTags that I bought: two for my pets and two for my car keys. If you have an Apple Phone, they are super easy to set up - just remove the little protection tab from the battery, then hold the AirTag close to your phone. You get prompts to complete the rest of the steps, such as adding a name to each tag.
I love the durability of all Ruffwear products that I've used with my dogs, and this harness is no exception! It fits well because all four straps are easily adjustable. The harness material is edged with a reflective material - helping with safety and making her more visible at the dog park if we go later in the day. It has lots of great features, but one that I really like is that there is a small pocket built into the harness right between the dog's shoulder blades. It is the perfect size for an Apple AirTag.
The dog collar case that appears in my picture no longer seems to be available. I have another case (without the cute dog paw) that attaches to a collar in the same way without dangling. My dogs are pretty active, so dangling is not my preference.
Sturdy case protects an Apple AirTag - it is water resistant and helps protect the tag from the types of activities active dogs can engage in. Comes with cute little tools to install the tag onto your dog's collar (even though the listing doesn't show them).
Here is my dog Jazz sporting her Ruffwear collar with the waterproof case for Apple AirTags.
How About the Other Two Apple AirTags?
Those other two Apple AirTags got attached to my keychains. I got some nice waterproof cases that are made to slip onto your set of keys. They are really sturdy, yet lightweight and small. I haven’t ‘lost’ my keys in a while, but just knowing that the AirTags are attached gives me a sense of security.
This is a set of two water resistant cases to hold an Apple AirTag and connect easily to a keychain. I got one translucent white case and one translucent black/gray case, but if you follow this link, you'll see that there are a number of other colors to choose from and smaller or larger packages, depending on your needs.
Other Uses for Apple AirTags
I’ve considered getting an Apple AirTag for my car. That way, if I went to the airport and my “usual spot” was full and had to park somewhere else, I’d be able to find that spot when returning from a long trip. Even sometimes at a big shopping area, it could save a panic attack in an enormous parking lot someday. Having an extra “floater” AirTag would be good to have to toss in a backpack, a beach bag or other container that I only use occasionally and might have a tendency to leave behind.
I’ve also thought about slipping an AirTag into my wallet. The wallet occasionally will slip out of the back pocket of some of the jeans I wear, so this would be a good usage case.
I decided I liked the Apple AirTag holders that are sized to fit in a wallet credit card slot. Here it is before inserting the AirTag.
Those of you that carry purses could benefit from always being able to know where they are.
An Apple AirTag is 8mm thick – or about 5/16 inch. I barely even notice it in my wallet (a small 3 fold style).
I also like how you can just reuse an AirTag easily. If you don’t want to buy a whole bunch of tags, you could have a ‘roving AirTag’ that you rename each time you attach it to a new item. You just go into the ‘Find My’ application on your phone and update the name of the Apple AirTag when you move it to a new assignment.
Thin and sturdy, you get two holders in this package. Your AirTag (not included) snaps easily into the hole in the center. These holders are designed to be exactly the size of a typical credit card, so the holder will slip into a credit card slot in your wallet or bag.
![[Ultra Thin] for Airtag Wallet Holder 2 Pack, Airtag Holder, 0.1 inch Thickness, Airtag Wallet Case Slim Thin Card Case for Purse, Handbag, Backpack Wallet, Clutch (Black)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51CfXNh82SL._SL500_.jpg)
One Thing I Don’t Like
Maybe I am just missing a setting or setup step, but the AirTags notification for when the battery is running low is pretty passive for my liking. It sends a notification to your phone, but it can easily get lost in the notification list if you get a lot of push notifications like I do. You only get one notification, from what I can tell.
In fact, when writing this article, I looked at my “Find My” app, and realized that it had lost connection to one of my sets of keys a couple weeks ago. I just now ordered some batteries – Apple AirTags need a CR2032 lozenge-style lithium battery to power their capabilities. Save yourself a hassle later and just get a package of backup batteries now:
A package of 9 batteries that are compatible with Apple AirTags: CR2032.
I just set a reminder to look at the Find My app every couple of weeks.
When a battery is low, you can see a little battery icon next to the entry for the AirTag item in the Find My application on your iPhone.
Great Dog Rescue Organizations
By the way, if you found this article while searching for excellent organizations for rescuing dogs, here are two that I’ve personally worked with and can recommend on the Colorado Front Range:
These groups are foster based, volunteer, and run by people who are highly dedicated to saving pets from unfortunate circumstances.
We travel to rural communities on Native American reservations, where spaying and neutering will only happen if it is nearly free or very convenient.
Check out some of my other problem solving articles on this site – Vaping is Bad … for the Environment examines the subject of how and why to recycle a used up Vape. My review of a cage bird feeder avoids the problem of squirrels eating up all your bird seed.
