Can AirTag in Kit Puck be used on dog's collar in wet climate?

AFAIK, Apple recommends against this usage.

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AirTag doesn’t have a Wi-Fi or cellular radio or GPS, and it only relays its position when it is within range of other Apple devices. That can require other gear within ranges of 10 to 30 meters, and less, to get a relay. Longer relays are possible, if your dog is perched atop a steel water tower. Out of relay range though, blocked by structures or terrain or distance, no location.

There can be other issues:

• https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/01/31/heres-why-you-dont-put-an-airtag-on-your-dogs-collar

As for whether the AirTag case is water resistant, check with the vendor.

I'm not sure about the waterproofness, but note that AirTags are not GPS trackers. They rely on being detected by nearby Apple devices. So if your dog runs off into countryside where there aren't any people with iPhones then you won't be able to track it. All you'll get is the last location when it pinged a nearby iPhone user.

I would not recommend because 1:if you live in countryside because airtags need a iphone to ping it’s location and if it goes where no iphones are present, you will not be able to find the dog. 2: airtags are not waterproof and are not reccomended to get wet. If you want a reliable dog tracker. PetSmart sells some!

Hope I helped!

baseballfan2048 wrote:

I know this does not make much sense, but out of curiosity, let’s say you had a activated iphone with you dog at all times, would the airtag be pinging to you?

AirTag doesn’t ping you, it beacons its own unique and rolling ID via Bluetooth low-energy BLE signaling.

No Wi-Fi, no cellular, no (GPS, GNSS, cellular tower, Wi-Fi) location info.

Just periodically screaming into the void. Screaming into the void being apropos for 2026 too, but I digress.

If somebody’s iPhone or iPad happens to be within range, it will relay the approximate location of the received beacon to Apple.

Apple won’t know which AirTag, or which relay device is involved, or much of anything else, either. Fancy math.

Apple will then have some data that only the AirTag owner can interpret, and will probably have the hashed data for a week IIRC.

Again, this all assuming there is a relay available within range, too. Which is very short range, and the screaming, err, the beaconing can be further reduced by terrain or objects or interference.

Which means a pet down in terrain may or may not be within BLE range of a relay. That BLE range is roughly 10m to 30m, maybe more, and probably less.

https://codezup.com/apple-find-my-network-offline-airtag-encryption/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvIRFA0C9bg

Find My security - Apple Support

PS: You really don’t want your pet eating a coin-cell battery, either.

AirTags should not be used for tracking people for pets.

Plus, the AirTag will “beep” frequently anytime your dog moves while you and your devices are not present. (AirTags do sense movement)

The beeping can’t be good for ANY dog, and it might make some positively neurotic.

It pings to “everyone” (technically received by any Apple device with “FindMy Network” enabled — which is the default setting)

All iPhones who receive the ping, report it’s position back to Apple … but …

… only the FindMy app on your Trusted Devices can decrypt the location retrieved from Apple’s servers.

Apple doesn’t even know where the AirTag is.

Here’s the Page 2 of the “Fancy Math” to which Mr Hoffman referred. (and linked from the bottom of his “Page 1”)

It doesn’t specifically say “AirTag” — it simply refers to “Missing Device” — but it’s the same ingenious system.

Using Find My to locate missing Apple devices - Apple Support

I know this does not make much sense, but out of curiosity, let’s say you had a activated iphone with you dog at all times, would the airtag be pinging to you?