WoofTrax: Dog walk for charity Reviews

by Chaz/Chaucer

I am a long distance walker and walk 4-6 times a week. I decided since we raise service pups and foster for a rescue group I should put the miles to good use. Hence, selecting Woof Trax .
It has been nothing but frustrating since day one. 90% of the time the distance is incorrect, it consistently turns itself off, the time is accurate about 60% of the time. Super frustrating when your goal is to raise money for a charity.
It’s a shame as the concept is great it’s just not a useful tool and certainly not worth making sure I have my phone while walking.
On my way to deleting WoofTrax and will try to find one that works consistently and has accurate data.
Take away: find an app that works as described. Of interest I entered 6 nicknames and everyone has been taken, coincidence with a 1 star review😏. Maybe not!

by 25 Year Memebr

I have used WoofTrax for over two years with no problems but the last few months it has gotten really bad. It will randomly stop tracking and if you stop to take a picture that will stop WoofTrax now for some reason as well. I just watched it chew up 12% of my battery in about 2 minutes after it hit the perpetual loading screen when you push the button to stop the walk.
I have 75 miles to go until 2,000 miles. When I hit that mark I’m screen shoting it and deleting WoofTrax . It’s a shame that 2 years and 2,000 miles of dog walking is going away but it time to move on to something reliable.

by Hungryana

Update: after deleting and reinstalling WoofTrax still crashes constantly and the developers never got back to me.

I like tracking the walks I do with the pups and WoofTrax was very helpful. I recommended it to many people. I received one or two notifications of donations made to my shelter of choosing on my behalf. I downloaded WoofTrax two years ago and have logged more than 1000 miles in walks.

The new app, this app (it was called “Walk for a Dog” before) has better maps than before and you can pause the walks if needed, which I liked. But the new app also has some sort of glitch and crashes in the middle of my walks. In the last few weeks I noticed many times that WoofTrax crashes without me even touching my phone and as a result it’s logging shorter walks than we are doing. At first I thought it may be something with me using other apps simultaneously but that doesn’t make any sense and many times WoofTrax crashes while the phone is in my pocket. I contacted the developers two weeks ago and did not hear from them. I deleted WoofTrax and reinstalled it. It recovered my information and I will report if that helped. I don’t recommend WoofTrax anymore.

by Jagrnut

I don’t like the new configuration. The old way was irritating at times, but this new one is just frustrating. When you click to start walking it’s hard to tell if it’s actually working. I’ve gotten a mile or so in and realized it’s not on. Today we walked about 2 miles, I checked several times if it was working and then when I hit the square stop button all info vanished. It’s not the first time this has happened.
Also as other reviews have mentioned, is my chosen shelter actually benefitting in any way at all from this? Or are you just suggesting that we make a donation ourselves? If so, what do I need WoofTrax for? My phone tracks my walking.

by Pegleg1966

I’m regularly walking with my newly adopted dog and loved the idea of being able to track our distance while giving back. So far one walk shut off seconds after we started (phone was in my pocket so I had no idea til we got home) and didn’t track at all, and one walk isn’t showing up on my dashboard....and both of those walks are showing the same route, even though we took different routes. I’ve been using WoofTrax for only 3 days and already issues. I can’t recommend an app that doesn’t work.

by JHP1105

I started using WoofTrax in 2017, when I adopted an adult dog who has a LOT of energy. We would walk 5-7 miles a day over the span of three walks. Every so often it would crash and not record a walk, which was a bummer, but most all was recorded. Flash forward to end of 2021 and WoofTrax started crashing every other walk. Now I can only get a walk to record every 3-4 walks. I understand that a shelter needs a particular number of walkers in order to get the donations, but no where does it say how many walkers are needed. But apparently, my small rural no-kill shelter doesn’t have enough walkers to receive donations. So with thousands of miles and five years of walking, nothing has been donated to my local shelter. My and my pup will keep up with our 5-7 miles a day, but I won’t be using WoofTrax any more.

by ONMYMAC

The tracking mechanism does not seem to be properly calibrated. I have 2 other trackers that I use when I walk and this one constantly falls behind those when measuring the distance. To get 3 miles of distance to register on this one, my other trackers will measure about 4 miles. They all seem to be using the same info to track my walk, so there shouldn’t be that much difference.

WoofTrax sometimes seems to put itself into “pause” mode, so I find I have to check it often to be sure it is still tracking.

This version awards the walker with ‘points”, but there is no information about how they are being accumulated or what I am supposed to do with them. That’s pretty frustrating. Worse is that I have emailed the Woof Trax folks but never get a response.

Very disturbing to hear from another user that her chosen group is not actually receiving donations. That really deserves a response and explanation.

I like the idea of my walks benefiting a rescue or shelter, but I may look around and see if there’s another app that seems to work better and has more confidence from it’s users.

by Tica Walker

I have walked over 3150 times on two or three different versions, this one is the worst. Recently while hiking, WoofTrax began to stop at random times. I didn’t notice on the way out until I checked at the first mile mark and found that it recorded .06 of a mile. So I held it in my hand for a mile and it stopped 16 times, was restarted, and gave me credit for .84 of a mile. This was on my year old SE, with cellular switched on. The same App on my old 5s has never missed a beat while always on airplane mode. Most of my hikes are in places with scant or “no service”. Why will it work with no service and shut down repeatedly with full service? The previous version was much better and a lot more reliable.

by Moorejh143

Walking my dog everyday. On more than one occasion, we get done with our 3+ mile walk and when I open WoofTrax to close the walk session, it shows the time, but ZERO distance. Absolutely no mileage tracked or mapped.

With trial an error, I found if I open any other app after I start our walk, it stops the tracking of WoofTrax.

I have a garage door opener in HomeKit, use make my walk for me and my music. I need to have all three of these (door closed, music started and MapMyWalk started) before I start WoofTrax.

This past week, three days in a row, I started WoofTrax and it started counting time, but 1/4 mile in, no tracking of distance. I stopped it, closed WoofTrax , reopened and started again - same thing, time but no distance. On Sunday, I tried to start it five times during the walk - all the same. Time, no distance.

Don’t need that kind of aggravation so I deleted WoofTrax .

I have emailed them a few times over this past year and did not receive and support.

I’m using IPhone 12 Pro Max, iOS 14.5

by Der Windhund

Been using WoofTrax for 5 years. Upgraded to iPhone 11 and the last 2 weeks the GPS is way off. Seems to be adding at least 1/2 mile to every mile of walking. Not to mention that it crashes and fails to even complete tracking a full walk. Hopefully this is resolved sooner than later or I’ll have to discontinue using it.

Prior to all this, WoofTrax was pretty cool. Had some sporadic tracking issues but good way to log and track dog walks.

by Qqqqqwwwweeeerrrrtttt

We have used WoofTrax for years and have always loved it. However, two weeks ago WoofTrax (running on an iPhone 7 with iOS 14) suddenly stopped working more than a few minutes at a time. It currently will not work long enough to complete a walk.
At present it is unusable.
Awaiting your update to fix the problem. Thanks

by Earlyshirl

I've been using WoofTrax for years now with little to no issues, have recommended it to numerous people because it has been so trouble free....... Until now...... I have just had to delete WoofTrax from my phone and reinstall, losing all my previous information, and now I can’t even re register as the curser is not appearing to type 😠😭 pauses on sending this for several weeks still not working properly, what is going on with WoofTrax? So many of my friends have also stopped using it because of issues 😫😩🥺

by Scatterbrained Genius

I have an upgrade request and there seems to be no way to request one. I frequently drive to a hiking trail. I remember to turn WoofTrax on, but never remember to turn it off. It would be nice if I could specify my fastest walking speed (way, way below the 30 mph limit) so it would shut off at a more realistic point. Depending on distance from trailhead to main road and speed limits, it sometimes adds as much as a mile!!

Other than that the only problem I’ve had is I frequently seem to lose which dog I’m walking with. Not a big deal, the walk is counted, but I haven’t figured out if it’s user error or a bug.

by YourPalJal

Your website needs some explanation in how the charities are paid. I saw in an older review that charities are only paid if a certain number of team members participate. But how many? Is my team too small? Are we walking for nothing? Give us some information! This needs to be detailed on your website.

In addition, I quote a previous review, “there’s not enough explanation in the ‘Community’ tab. It ranks members by level with no explanation of how to reach a level. There is a yellow bar for each member with no explanation of what it represents. There is nothing to indicate how much money has been raised by an individual or even for the team.”

by SteveDose

** UPDATE**

Crashing seems to be under control as of version 4.6 or ios 13.4 update. Changing rating from 2 stars to 4 stars.

As others are saying, WoofTrax was great and since the update it constantly crashes or pauses with the phone in my pocket and only records a percentage of my walks as I have to resume or restart multiple times during every walk. This is not an issue that happens sometimes, it happens during every walk. Very disappointing.

by Rebretz000

I like getting donations for my locale Humane Society but there are a few updates I’d like to see.
1) Make an Apple Watch version so I can leave my phone at home when walking.
2) Sync WoofTrax to Apple Health. I can’t always go outside for a walk but I walk on my treadmill everyday. I’d like to get credit for those walks also. Especially during the winter. There’s days when it’s impossible to go outside and walk.

by Shazam ✌️

For the most part I am happy with WoofTrax. I use it while I walk & run with my little guy and while I ride. However, I have a little bone to pick with Wood Trax. Apparently they don’t think I should be able to ride faster than 30 MPH on my road bike. WoofTrax cuts you off and stops recording once you hit 30 MPH. Kind of a problem after I’ve climbed a hill to be dropped while descending. Boooo!

by Cisza1950

I love WoofTrax however sometimes it doesn’t record my walk when I basically had the same amount I do everyday. I got a phone call today and had to stop and it quit in the middle of my walk. Otherwise it’s been okay. You just have to make sure it totally loads on your phone before you go. Do not touch your phone while it’s running.

by JerryAnthony

My wife and I have been volunteers at our local animal shelter over the last 8 years and are the proud owners of 3 shelter dogs. We’ve been using the this app app when we walk shelter dogs and our own dogs over the last several years. We love the this app app, especially with all the recent improvements. It’s easy to use, it’s accurate, it’s fun and interesting and it’s great for tracking our dog walks.

by [=cr=]

Since the recent Apple IOS 13x updates it seems like WoofTrax is doubling both the distance and speed of my walks. Not that I’m complaining about the numbers but I’m pretty sure my 16 year old dog isn’t averaging 4+mph over 2.x miles in 20 minutes. Before the IOS updates WoofTrax used to report half of that, which is more realistic.

Other than that, WoofTrax has worked well for me over the last couple of years. I enjoy being able to look back at the maps of the routes the dogs pick, and to look and see if I’m as consistent about walking them as I tell the vet. :-)

by Shuga!

I start the walk on WoofTrax with one of my dogs, lock my phone and stick it in my pocket, walk 1.5 miles, unlock my phone to finish our walk only to be asked if I want to resume the active walk. It isn’t recording more than a few steps. I try again with my other dog, same process, walking another 1.5 miles only to get the same failure to record my walk. I had zero trouble before the update but now I’m getting zero credit for walks. It’s very frustrating. I really like that my walks can benefit one of my local rescues, but where’s the benefit if WoofTrax is failing?

by JennBNY

We recently adopted a canine from Homeward Bound Rescue of NY. As I was going through her paperwork, I came across the paper telling me about WoofTrax. I downloaded it immediately, and the front page to create a log in, I cannot even tap the screen to make my keyboard to appear so I can type. I was so excited to use this as I am about to take my puppers for a walk, so I am bummed! I will edit my review upon developers fixing WoofTrax bugs.

by Ramblingrosemary

WoofTrax could be really good if they A. Made it clearer how the charities benefit. B. Actually ensure that walks taken count.

I have been using this for about a week now, and just less than half my walks (which were recorded, you can see them in my history tab) have actually been recorded in my dashboard. They were all well over the required .2 of a mile long.

Great when it works, but very frustrating because it so often doesn’t.

by Arab Horse Girl

WoofTrax worked well until it was redesigned into a prettier and more updated-looking design. Now I routinely get started walking with my dogs, and sometime during our outing it shuts off recording. Sometimes it’s a half mile away, sometimes it’s before I get out of my driveway. It appears to be completely random. I have a reasonably new iPhone, and I’ve tried updating everything, shutting off other apps, shutting off WiFi and Bluetooth, but nothing helps. It stays working for only about 20 percent of our walks now. Very disappointing. I love the concept and used to love WoofTrax , but it has been terrible for months now.

by Goddesshekate

I used to use “Walk for a dog”... then it was no longer available so I started using WoofTrax. When it works, it’s great! Unfortunately, every other walk or so WoofTrax crashes and stops working so it doesn’t count my miles. For example, this week it’s crashed 3 times and I’ve lost at least 12 miles that weren’t recorded. I wish it was more stable.

by InksHdH

I really like tracking my walks with my dogs but eve since the last update it shuts down unexpectedly, or takes forever to open properly:( sometimes changing is not a good thing and don’t fix what doesn’t need to be fixed! It was fine before! InksHdH

by Luginn

I’ve been using WoofTrax for over a year with no problems but something is wrong with this latest version - seems to stop tracking mid-walk or doesn’t track from the beginning. I’m constantly having to check it while walking to see if it’s tracking.

by Charlie's Wife

A great app. Thank you for providing it. Esse and I try to walk every morning. Sometimes we forget to push the start walking button. Am I right that we only record the times we walk together or can I also record my walking when I walk without Esse? Thank you for making our trips a positive thing for other less fortunate fur babies.