Looking to add a small camera to your pet’s collar? Want to see the world from the view of your cat or dog? In this article, we review the best pet camera collars and harnesses for your dog or cat.
Fair warning – there aren’t a ton of good pet collar cameras. Most of the decent stuff that’s out there is more of a dog or cat harness.
Still, we cover what’s available from medium to bottom. We even include a few good nanny cams that are small enough to attach to any collar.
Sadly, there are no “top” collar cameras available right now. Please intrepid entrepreneurs take note! We need you to unleash (pun intended) something much better!
Note: If you click some of the links in this article we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Table of Contents
- In A Hurry? Here Are Our Top Choices
- Best for Budget (and Light Enough for Cats) – Puhul Digital Collar Cam
- Best for Medium-Sized and Large Pets (Includes Night Vision and High Definition)
- Best DIY (Small, Low Budget, You Attach to Any Collar)
- Best for Medium to Large Dogs – GoPro Pet Video Cameras – GoPro Fetch Dog Harness (All GoPro Cameras)
- What About GoPro dog collars?
- Video – Cat Takes GoPro for a walk
- Best for Large Dogs – Sony Camera with Harness
In A Hurry? Here Are Our Top Choices
Table could not be displayed.Best for Budget (and Light Enough for Cats) – Puhul Digital Collar Cam
So where does your cat go during the day? Do you have an escape artist dog that keeps getting out and you have no idea why?
This is the tool that can give you the intel you need. Find the weakness in your fence or kennel. See the secret life of cats.
This handy unit is easy to install as is or you can clip the camera on your pet’s current collar.
Instructions are a bit hard to follow but you can figure it out. Actually, to save you some trouble here are some simple instructions to follow:
- Charge the unit – plug it in and wait till the light stops changing colors. Changing colors means charging.
- Press the upper left button till the display powers up.
- The lower right button changes the time interval. The lower left button starts it. Sadly it just goes. You have to manually turn it on or off.
- To record video – press the lower right button to choose a time interval. “03” means a 2-minute video will record every 3 minutes. “06” means a video every 6 minutes. Once you like the interval press the lower-left button to start it.
- To take pictures – press the upper right button. The number “10” will appear in the lower right corner. This means it will take a picture every 10 seconds. Press the lower left button to start.
A little heads up – this clearly is the easy model for quick start businesses to find, order from the factory, and slap on Amazon. You’ll see that many different “brands” sell a very similar model. If you find a better price and it looks the same, likely you’re getting it from the same manufacturer (or one of a few) in Shenzhen China.
Either way, have fun!
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What We Like
- Decent price
- Takes pictures or video
- A fun way to see the world from your pet’s eye
- Takeoff the camera and hang it on any collar
- Nice way to figure out how your escape artist dog gets out and where they go
What We Don’t Like
- Doesn’t include a Micro SD
- Not intuitive to setup (but easy once you figure it out)
- Not motion activated – it will keep taking video or pictures on the time interval you suggest till the battery or SD card runs out
Best for Medium-Sized and Large Pets (Includes Night Vision and High Definition)
This unit is one of the better-rated and better-selling models out there. Beware of the pictures. It appears small but it’s actually a medium-sized camera unit. Put this on a 20 lb dog and up or just keep it on for short periods of time.
What’s nice about it? It comes with a free app that gives you control over it. It’s motion-activated and can ping your phone when your pet is on the move. Then you can activate it to take pictures, video, or audio from your phone.
It even has a decent night vision capability.
Be warned though, the app is glitchy. It freezes when your pet wanders too far from WiFi. No, it’s not your WiFi, it’s likely the incredibly small antennae it uses to connect (unconfirmed – just a guess).
Still, this little unit is a lot of fun. After a while, you may get tired of using it on your pet. You may just end up using its decent night vision for nanny cam and household protection functions.
Keep in mind this wasn’t meant for pets. It’s just one of the few models we could find that more or less easily attaches to pet collars.
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What We Like
- Easy to attach to collars
- Night Vision – the coolest!
- Motion-activated – You can program it to auto record when in motion or just ping your phone
- Takes pictures, video, and audio
- Only 10 minutes to setup
- Connects to an app on your phone – Control from your phone
What We Don’t Like
- Needs a Micro SD card and it isn’t included
- A little big – not something to leave on your cat all the time
- The app is glitchy and freezes
- Needs a wifi connection to work – If your pet wanders too far it’ll lose connection
Best DIY (Small, Low Budget, You Attach to Any Collar)
This is our favorite low-budget camera. It’s DIY because you have to attach it yourself to a collar.
Why do we love it? For the price, it does way more than you’d expect. It starts filming when it sees motion (your pet moves). It stops recording when they stop. Restless sleepers will get a lot of starts and stop filming but who cares? It’s so easy to set up and start using that it’s worth it.
The night vision is great as well. It doesn’t emit any light during night filming so it’s a great silent partner for your secretive cat, hunting at night for your viewing entertainment.
While it’s annoying that you have to attach it yourself, the other features make it worth it. It wasn’t originally designed for pets anyways.
It’s the lightest model we could find that actually works well and is easy to use. We recommend this for cats and small dogs.
Some units run hot. Be sure to test them and make sure the heat doesn’t stress out your animal.
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What We Like
- Less than an inch long and less than an ounce in weight (great for cats)
- Night vision
- Motion-activated – Starts recording when it sees motion (or your pet moves), stops recording when motion stops
- You can film while you charge
- Long battery life
- 32 GB card takes 45 minutes of video
What We Don’t Like
- Not made for pet collars – you have to DIY attach it
- Needs an SD card (not included)
- Can heat up with extended use
Best for Medium to Large Dogs – GoPro Pet Video Cameras – GoPro Fetch Dog Harness (All GoPro Cameras)
GoPro comes to the rescue with one of our better pet cams out there. Of course, this isn’t a collar. It’s a harness but it pairs great with your GoPro camera. That means it’s quality, easy to use, and takes great video.
Quick warning – when you flip this onto your dog’s back you’ll need a tall and strong J-hook attachment. This should come with your camera. Off-brand versions are also available. You’ll need this otherwise you’ll just have video of the back of your dog’s head.
Other than that if you want hours of great video then this is the unit we recommend.
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What We Like
- Good quality design – what you would expect from GoPro
- Attaches to the back (for small dogs) or the chest (for large dogs and different viewpoints)
- Quick-release – easy to put on or take off
What We Don’t Like
- It’s not a collar
- You need a separate GoPro camera (i.e. this isn’t one of the cheapest setups for your pup or cat)
- Need a J Hook to see over your dog’s head
What About GoPro dog collars?
Technically there are no GoPro dog collars. The one we recommend is a harness built to hold the GoPro on your dog’s back. You could hang any GoPro from your dog’s current collar with some zip ties but the shakiness doesn’t make for great videos. We recommend using the official GoPro dog harness instead.
Video – Cat Takes GoPro for a walk
Best for Large Dogs – Sony Camera with Harness
Got a Sony camera already? Then you’ll be glad Sony released this action harness to go with it. Of course, it doesn’t fit all Sony cameras perfectly. It’s specifically designed for action cameras.
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What We Like
- Great for large dogs 33 lbs and up
- Takes great footage at 50% speed (to handle fast dog movement)
- Made for Sony ProCam and Sony Action Cams
What We Don’t Like
- Camera sold separately
- Instructions are hard to follow but straps are pretty intuitive
Best Overall For Budget and Function…
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My name is Ken and I’m one of the staff writers at Petloverguy.com. I’ve cared for pets most of my life starting with hamsters, turtles, and snakes. Then moving up to parakeets, guinea pigs, and even ducks.
I currently live with two yorkies and a chihuahua mix.