If you are like me, you know how heart wrenching it is to lose a dog. When I was a child our puppy great Dane, with puppy cataracts, went missing in a thunderstorm after he lost our other dog’s scent. He was never seen again, and let me tell you, to this day it brings tears to my eyes.

Soon the countless nights of lost sleep, and drying the eyes of your 5 year son due to a missing ‘Skip’ will be history. The dog cell phone, yup, you heard it right, the dog cell phone will be available sometime in early 2006. The Petcell, developed by PetsMobility, attaches to your pooches collar and works on any standard cellular network (hmmm a true family plan).

The owner can call the PetCell and punch in a key code to speak to their pet and any close bystanders. The device also has a “call owner� button, and can track the dog via GPS or A-GPS, allowing the dog’s owner to track or map its movements – lost or not – and view it from any web enabled device. The PetCell also has an additional option called GeoFence that will notify owners if the pupp strays beyond a parameter. It can even track dog temperature to indicate if the dog is hot or cold, and supports a small wireless camera.

The PetCell is too large for felines, but PetsMobility parent company, On4 Communications, is currently developing similar devices for children, elderly, and those that frequent the outdoor sports of the extreme nature.

The PetCell should cost somewhere in the $350-400 range.