London, Dec.25: Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a sat-nav dog collar to keep a track of his pet labrador, Connie.

The BBC quoted Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying that Putin had informed him of his plans for his pet, while he was presenting plans for launching three new navigation satellites.

He said the collars would be in the shops in Russia from July 2008.

The Proton-K, a Russian rocket, is due to launch three new satellites into orbit today to facilitate Russia's Glonass navigation system.

They will bring to 18 the total number of satellites mapping Russian territory. Ultimately it is planned to have 24 satellites in orbit from 2009.

The Russian army developed the Glonass system in the 1980s, in competition with the US GPS network and the European Galileo system. (ANI)