OT - dog training collars

[spike]

Any one here had experience using these collars ? I'm not looking to use one for field training but in general obedience training. I'm hitting a brick wall with my 8 mth old pup depsite having done the dog obedience training. I need something to get her attention without intiminating her. I've looked at the cabelas models and the reviews seem favourable. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Spike

[wheelie]

They are good, I use them once and a while, but if I were you I would try a whistle first. My whistle does more than the shock collar does. Blowing the whistle kinda shocks the dogs, and they know who's name I call what it is about. You can very easily ruin your dog for good with a wrong move with a shock collar. Save your self 3 or 4 hundred dollars on a collar, and cheap one's last a couple weeks.

8 month's old is your dog's start of teenage years where they don't want to listen. Frustrating I know till about a year and a half old and everything they have learned will come back to them. Think about how you were in your teenage years. Dog is no different. My eight month old bloodhound suddenly turned very aggressive and protective of us and the suroundings. Got a professional hound dog trainer coming to house tomorrow to help me figure it out because I am at whits end what to do. Nope not Ceaser Malone!

Good luck with your problem. Been there and they grow out of it

[CDN Taxman]

I'd have to look at what one I have, but it has a warning beep and then the shocking levels.

Never used the shocking yet....the beep gets immediate reaction.

(long story, but she had on an automatic shocking collar aimed at stopping barking. It beeped first but then started shocking in increasing increments until the barking stopped. I found her in the backyard once, tail between her legs yelping away. Figured it was defective and got the one mentioned above. The warning beep is all that's required!).

Mike

[CDN Taxman]

Here's the one I have:



Available at Petsmart but I think I paid $ 180 for it!

Mike

[roly]

For the thirteen years we had our old lab , she never forgot that beeping sound

She got shocked once when she was young and that was by accident, any time she heard a beeping sound she was on the floor trembling, I would think twice about using one.

When I got my moon phaze wrist watch I had to turn the beeper off, she couldn't
handle it.

[OkXbowHunter]

Depending on how much you'll use one, you can get them pretty cheap off of ebay. I just bought one new for $30. I have a 10 yr old part Beagle part Blue Heeler who found out last year that she likes to dig up my yard. I can scold her and she'll walk away with her head low, but let me go into the house and she's back to digging to China, where these collars are made.

My dad used some on his dogs and said that for no more than what he used them, they were fine.

Be warned, the instructions are translated from Chinese (and not very good at that) and may be somewhat humorous. For example, it gives two ways to test the collar. One is with the included test light, the other is to "hold finger agross terminals and activate shock button on remote. You feel shock". Yeah...

This little unit I have has a "whistle" on the remote. You can use that before administering a shock and should work as well as a beep.

[Crispy]

i have a german short hair pointer "Harley" and is very HIGH strung! I got a dogtra 200ncp shock coller for him and it worked great! Instead of a beeeep it has a built in vibrater. I used it to help set our boundries around the house. It has a dail 0-100 for the amount of zap you give hime, so you can dail it down. It also has a nick feature "1000ths of a second" or constant feature. It has a 1 mile range and is water proof! I zapped him once "set on 10" after I called his name and he ignored the vibration, the second time i called his name and vibrated him he was back in the yard with no shock. After a week he no longer needs the coller at all........... Hope this helps.

[GaryM]

I got my collar from Lion Country. It cost a bunch! It has a button that makes a beep on the collar. I used that more than the shock. I hit the beep and got my dog to come back to me and gave her a piece of liver. She soon figured out that the beep meant food and I'm able to keep her real close now. As far as the shock, each dog is different as to how much they can tolerate. You can make 'em squeal or you can make 'em pee. Don't overdo it on a timid dog. Gary

[LondonDave]

What kind of dog and what kind of training issues and what are you training the dog for (hunting, obedience, etc)? E-Collars should be used as a tool in conjuction with other training methods and not relied on solely for correcting "problems".

Tritronics makes a really good product as does Dogtra. What you're trying/wanting to do with the dog will dicate what model you will need.

Dave

[spike]

thanks to all who responded. As is usual with this forum, good advice and offers to help. My dog is an 8 mth old female rottweiller. I've done the puppy obedience at which she was pretty good. The problem is her stubborness. Half the time she responds well and immediately. The other half of the time she considers her options, gives me the dog equivalent of the middle finger, and carries on her way. I am principally concerned with the 'come when called'. I may just be expecting too much too soon. She is my third rottweiller - the other two were males. The males were far easier to train.

Spike

[LondonDave]

thanks to all who responded. As is usual with this forum, good advice and offers to help. My dog is an 8 mth old female rottweiller. I've done the puppy obedience at which she was pretty good. The problem is her stubborness. Half the time she responds well and immediately. The other half of the time she considers her options, gives me the dog equivalent of the middle finger, and carries on her way. I am principally concerned with the 'come when called'. I may just be expecting too much too soon. She is my third rottweiller - the other two were males. The males were far easier to train.

Spike

Well they don't call female dogs B*tches for no reason.

I would try positive reinforcement first. Use treats, put her on a long line and "reel" her in when you call her. Give her a treat when she comes. If she is not on the leash and you call her and she doesn't come go and get her and bring her to where you were. Reinforce by saying come and don't let her leave until you release her. Whatever you do if you call her to come and she doesn't right away but does eventually, don't discipline her. It can be very frustrating and hard to resist but the last thing you want to do is discipline a dog for doing something that you asked it to do...it just might have taken a little longer then you wanted it to but the dog won't know that.

You have to be the leader. She has to know what you say goes no ifs ands or buts. This starts with things that you can control like sits, downs and stays. If you say it, the dog has to do it. If the dog does it when you ask then lots of praise and treats.

I've owned dogs for a lot of years and trained dogs in a lot of different settings (classes etc) and there is nothing worse then listening to a person say..sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit and then finally just putting their hands in the air or walking away saying...this dog is stupid it doesn't know what to do. The dog will quickly learn that it doesnt' have to do what is asked because if it ignores the command long enough the person will just walk away. Before long the owner has a dog that walks all over it. I'm not saying this is what you're doing with your dog. I'm also not saying that you need to beat your dog but if you ask/tell the dog to do something it needs to do it. If it doesn't go it there needs to be some consequences.

E-collars are great tools but I wouldn't resort to one right away. At 8 months old she is right at that stage where she is going to test your limits and her limits. This is where it will seem like she has forgotten everthing you have ever taughter and give you the impression that her ears are just painted on. Don't let her get away with it. Go back to basics if you have to. She will quickly realize that she can't get away with it with you and will come back around.

Good luck,

Dave