If the numbers on a walk don't match what you expected, there's usually a simple reason. Here's exactly how each figure is worked out.
Time counts active walking only
Time is the sum of the stretches when the walk was actually recording. Any time you were paused — or the tracker was out of Bluetooth range — is skipped entirely.
So a walk that took an hour of wall-clock time but included a 20-minute stop in a café shows around 40 minutes.
Distance ignores poor GPS readings
Two rules keep the distance honest:
| Rule | What that means |
|---|---|
| Only location readings accurate to 50 metres or better are counted | Under heavy tree cover or between tall buildings, some readings are simply skipped |
| Only movement of more than 8 metres between readings is added | This stops a stationary phone from slowly "drifting" its way to a kilometre |
If your walk was mostly in a spot with poor GPS reception, the recorded distance can come out lower than the distance you actually covered.
Please note: Some readings are accurate enough to be saved to your pet's history but not accurate enough to count toward distance. That's why the map can look right while the distance looks a little short.
Pausing resets the distance anchor
If you pause, travel somewhere, and then resume, 0 km is added for that gap. Distance starts fresh from wherever you are when you tap Resume. This is intentional — it stops a car journey between two walking spots from being recorded as a walk.
Average speed always matches the other two figures
Average speed isn't measured separately. It's always your distance divided by your active time — shown live as you walk, and worked out the same way again when the walk is saved. So if the distance came out low, the average speed will be low to match; the three figures are always consistent with each other.
Your walk's duration can also never come out longer than the real wall-clock length of the walk.
Units
Walks are recorded in kilometres and km/h only. There's no miles setting at the moment.
Very long walks
On a particularly long walk, the trail drawn on the map may be shortened to keep things fast. The Time, Distance and Avg. speed figures are still complete — only the drawn line is simplified.
Still stuck?
If a walk shows figures that are wildly out of line with what you did — for example a distance many times too high, or a time longer than the walk itself — note the date and time of the walk and contact Ask A Vet support [CONFIRM: support contact route to publish here].
Please note: [CONFIRM: any accuracy or margin-of-error statement the team is comfortable publishing for walk distance]
Related articles - How to view, replay and share a past walk - How to start, pause and finish a walk - My walk paused by itself or says "Reconnecting to Tracker" - Do walks count toward my pet's activity goals?