First off, I have a beeper and I would not take my dog a field without it! Bell does locate the dog...while it is running...but when they go on point the bell goes quiet! Being able to hear where your dog is by the beep every 10 or 5 sec. is invaluable. Further more if your dog goes on point in heavy cover and you don't know for sure where the dog is the beeping every sec. takes you right to the bird. As a side note I have the innotek track and train collar and the sound the beeper makes is a kind of shrieking sound that resembles a hawk scream and I think the sound may help to keep the birds to hold tight on days when they might otherwise flush out of range.

Second, while you may not need more than 1/2 mile range, however, I like to know the dog is not going to run out of range with the 1 mile range that I have. So not needed but nice to have.


As I have said I have an Innotek and I did have one problem when training in heavy cover the beeper speaker got some blades of tall grass wedged between it and the collar and it made for a bad connection. The beeper worked intermittently and I have to get it replaced from Innotek. They replaced it without a problem but I think if it had been after a year of purchase it would have been.