Electric collar advice needed

[edsr]

I have never used an electric collar for training a dog. Here's what I would like to acomplish - 1. keep the dog away from certain areas but not leave my property - 2. control barking when I am at home or away - 3. control the dog at a distance of a few hundred yards. Is there one collar that can do all of those things?

edsr

[Hawk]

I had not used one up until about 2 weeks ago. I bought the Tri-Tronics Pro 500 mainly because it has 18 different levels of stimulation on momentary and 18 levels of continuous stimulation; I felt that allowed us to "fine tune" the shock, which it does. A 2-Low tickles her, 2-Medium gets her attention, and 2-High stops her in her tracks. A 3-Anything causes her to yelp, and that's too high.

When she's (black 7-month old female Lab) into something or someplace she isn't supposed to be, it's a 2-High shock with a loud, resounding "NO!" at the same time. She doesn't do it again (yet, at least). It has also helped immensely in getting her to mind the wife and kids.

As for controlling her at a distance, it's been a God-send. Now, if she's not paying attention while out in the field, I "nick" her with a 2-Medium on Momentary and I have her undivided attention. Before the collar, she did pretty much whatever she dang well pleased when beyond check cord distance.

Katie isn't a barker, but they do have bark collars that shock based on sound input. I hear they are effective for that as well. I suppose you could stand there and zap your pup when it barks and accomplish the same thing, although that probably would not work if you're gone.

Someone I spoke to the other day did one of those electronc fences for their dog and they said it worked great for keeping their dog in their yard, although it didn't keep other dogs out.

[Yeti]

Please, before you buy a collar and use it on the dog, read about collar conditioning a dog. The TriTronics Retreiver Training book is a good one. There is a very logical learning sequence that you should follow. If you follow the sequence properly you will be helping your dog to learn with the collar. A collar is not used to punish a dog, only to re-enforce known commands. I would recommend hiring a profesional to train you to use it.

If you use the collar in a situation that confuses the dog you could run into very big problems. For example, using the collar before the dog knows how to turn off the pressure can result in a very confused dog. The field example given above can eventually result in a dog that won't go into a field if it was not properly collar conditioned. Puting a collar on a dog and burning him, then taking the collar off will lead to a "collar wise" dog. This can result in a dog that will mind when the collar is on and blow you off when it is not on.

Barking is controlled with a bark collar. You still need to collar condition the dog but it is far simpler. The dog wears the collar for two weeks before you turn it on. A good bark collar like the Tri Tronics model has variable levels. It will also tell you how many corrections the dog received.

E-collars are a good thing when used properly and a very bad thing when used improperly.

Good luck.

Yeti

[elkhuntr28]

Check out http://www.dobbsdogs.com/library/index.html

This page has many good articles on dog training and intro to e-collars. I don't think this link will get deleted by a mod as it does not compete with any sponsors.

[Hawk]

I agree with Yeti about becoming knowledgeable in the use of the e-collar.

I read the Tri-Tronics book, but felt it focused too much on use of the collar. I used the 10-Minute Retriever book to instill the basic commands, then use the e-collar to reinforce the commands she already knows when she is being obstinate. (Too bad they don't make one of those collars for teenagers; I could use one of those too!)

[taggbro]

I have never used an electric collar for training a dog. Here's what I would like to acomplish - 1. keep the dog away from certain areas but not leave my property - 2. control barking when I am at home or away - 3. control the dog at a distance of a few hundred yards. Is there one collar that can do all of those things?

edsr

Before you even attempt to e-condition your dog, make darn sure you have taught it voice commands first. The e-collar is only a tool but is useless if the dog doesn't know what it is doing wrong in the first place. Meaning the e-collar won't teach the dog the command. It will only reinforce the command.

1. The e-collar is not likely to help you keep your dog from leaving the property. Hidden fences don't work all that well either. You are best off to fence your property, or kennel your dog and supervise it when it is out of the kennel. If, when under supervision the dog wants to leave the property, give the "come" or "here" command to keep it from leaving the property. Once the dog knows the command, you can reinforce the command with the e-collar - i.e. "here" nick "here". On the Tritronics 500 model, there are two settings - continuous or momentary. I use the word "nick" for momentary and "burn" for continous. Most dogs don't need the "burn" setting.

2. Control barking. This command should start when about 4 months old. This is about the time they discover their little voice. I use the command "Quiet". They catch on quick. Once the understand what "Quiet" means, the e-collar can be used to reinforce the command - "Quiet" nick "Quiet"

3. Keep the dog in control. Once again, this is taught in obedience and the e-collar only reinforces what the dog has been taught. When the dog is out of control, use the command "here" nick "here".

All said and done, your dog should understand perfectly what is expected when a command is given before any e-collar should be used. Also don't start with the e-collar until the dog is at least 6 months old and don't shock the living crap out of it. Start slow. Your dog should not yelp like it just got the tar beat of it. I start my dogs out on level 3 high momentary and work up until I see them with a bit of discomfort usually at a number 4 low nick. I'm using the Tritronics pro 500 model. You can really screw a dog up with e-collar conditioning. I strongly suggest the DVD and training manual E-collar conditioning by Mike Lardy along with Mike Lardy's Retriever training manual Volume 1. You can find these at Totalretriever.com

Good luck with your training.

[The_Duck_Master]

Yes, there is a collar that includes both training and bark functions all in one. For the life of me I can't remember who makes it though. (Great help huh?) Cabelas has a great collar comparison chart that lists the specs of many of them in a table. Very handy.

I'll see if I can find which one does both.

[The_Duck_Master]

Ah, there it is... The D.T. Systems 7000, 7400 and 7800 model collars offer a no-bark function.

TDM

[edsr]

Thanks for all of the good info, all warnings noted. The question is can one collar handle the three problems, i.e., barking, keeping the dog away from certain areas, and limiting the dog's range? What I am trying to avoid is having to buy three different collars, one to correct each thing.

This is a very bright dog and he is sneaky, a difficult kind to train, but he has some real potential in him if I can correct his bad habits.

edsr

[The_Duck_Master]

I have never seen one that does all three. The D.T. Systems ones are the first I've seen that do both bark and training.

[Hawk]

I ended up with the Tritronics Proo 500 because some of the DT and other systems said only the receiver was waterproof, or the transmitter was waterproof, and I wanted to both to be waterproof.

Not to push TT, but they make a Bark Limiter that could go in the same collar as your training receiver. It's an extra $100, but you'd have bark control and command control. You could probably use some other manufacturer's bark receiver on the same collar as your control receiver.