Garmin Alpha Dog Collars

Any Garmin Alpha handheld can track any Alpha-generation collar on the same 9 MHz band, so the real question is what the collar does, not whether it pairs. The split is simple: a collar with two T letters trains, a collar with one T only tracks.

The current TT 25 is the track-and-train collar Garmin bundles with the 300, 300i and 200 series. The T 20 is the cheaper tracking-only option with a beacon light and no stimulation. The older TT 15 shipped with the Alpha 100 and still works on every newer handheld, which is why it stays in demand secondhand.

Most collar faults are the strap, not the electronics. The flex band on the TT 25 is user-replaceable, so a chewed or cracked band is a cheap fix rather than a new collar. If you run more dogs than you have collars, a collar-only unit (no handheld) adds a dog to a system you already own.

The one tracker here that breaks the pattern is the Alpha LTE: it is a cellular collar that reports through your phone instead of a VHF handheld, so it belongs to a different system even though Garmin sells it under the Alpha name.

The current handhelds track up to 20 dogs at once, so a single 300 or 200 can grow with your pack as you add collars. Our buyer's guide covers how many collars most hunters actually need before the cost outruns the benefit.

Current Garmin Alpha collars and multi-collar bundles on Amazon:

• Garmin Alpha® TT 25
• Garmin Alpha® T 20
• Garmin Alpha® LTE
• Garmin Alpha TT25 GPS Dog Tracking & Training Collar 2-Collar Bundle
• Garmin Alpha® TT 25 Dog Collar with Tracking Beeper