Can anybody share with me their experience using a training collar on their dog? Also what is a good brand.?
i am trying to end a new puppys digging. tried moth balls,his own area and even the poop in the hole. So I have tried other methods He does not stay outside for any lenth of time so its not boredom.
Schnoodle_Mom88
28 Feb, 2010
By training collar i assume you mean e-collar? Or do you mean Prong/Pinch collars, slip collars….?
I use an e-collar on my dog. Now before i get thumbs down and loads of ignorant ramblings about how bad they are and how bad of an owner i am for using one…
It was recommended by my trainer for some of her more annoying (and dangerous) behaviors. We tried all methods of positive re-enforcement training (praise for good behavior, time-outs, ignoring her, etc), we tried other negative re-enforcement training (removing her from the room, noise distraction, water squirts, etc) and finally we went with an e-collar.
I was instructed in how to introduce it, how to use it, and when to change levels. She is on level two, which is next to nothing. I tried it on myself and it feels very strange, but it does not hurt. I would never have put it on her if it hurt at all, as pain is not how you teach. It is no more uncomfortable than a leash correction or a squirt of water in the face.
She wears the collar on and off during the day, sometimes with days in between, so she cannot associate the collar with any type of correction. She does not see us with the remote and she does not notice us watching her when she is corrected.
We back up good behavior with a treat and praise, and only correct if she doesn’t immediately listen to a command or if the behavior is dangerous.
For example: if she hops on our end table she gets an "eheheh" – if she hops off she gets praise, but if she doesn’t we wait a second then i push the buzzer… as soon as she is off, i give a reward for listening. However if she goes for something dropped on the floor i immediately push the buzzer – that something dropped could easily be a pill or something sharp, and i would rather her have a few seconds of discomfort than an emergency trip to the vet.
Within a week we noticed a change. Small, but it’s there. She no longer tries to climb on our end table (it’s right next to the couch and we place food and stuff on there.) She no longer tries to bolt out our doors. We added more exercise, some different treats, and more outings to the local park and that calmed her down enough to take care of the rest.
So for us, it worked. We still do backup training and she wears it from time to time, but i rarely have to do anything with it. We used it mainly because my parents asked about it as a solution to the bolting and eating dropped items (she’s gotten loose several times and we had a few vet scares.)
This is what we use:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753828
amandahope_1981
28 Feb, 2010
What kind of training do you want to do? Basic obediance or walking by your side (heeling)? I use a head collar for my dogs called The Gentle Leader. It’s not harmful like choke or prong collars and it puts the pressure at the back of their head versus the neck which stops the pulling about 90%! I love this thing. It’s a miracle for dog walking and it’s an instant stop to pulling (or it has been for my dogs and I have a Wheaten Terrier and a Weimeraner). It also comes with a dvd so you can use it to obediance train as well and the dvd teaches you how. It’s between $15-$20 at any pet supermarket (wal-mart probably won’t have ‘em). The only drawback is that my dogs try to stop to take them off their face with their paw. It takes some getting used to on the dog’s side but pawing at it doesn’t make it any less effective. Hope this helps!
T J
28 Feb, 2010
The only reason to use one is when the training is being done at long distances. I train dogs to work as much as a 1/4 mile away from my side. It is important to understand that the collar can’t do anything that that isn’t done with a normal collar and lead. It just dose it by pushing a button instead of popping a lead.
tri-Tronics is the brand that I use.
If I wasn’t training field trial/hunt test dogs, I doubt that I would use one at all.
AUSSIEMOM
28 Feb, 2010
only ever used one (as a last resort) on a hunting dog, who was being trained in the field about 100 yards out.
no reason for a pet owner to use one ever.
♥shelter puppies rule♥
28 Feb, 2010
those collars will not have positive results for all dogs. some dogs, especially in the herding and terrier group, react bad to that kind of punishment.
you’ll have much better luck with positive reinforcement training. the time is worth it. there’s no quick easy fix that even training collars can do.
here i’ll share many experiences: Shock collar on dog. Dog sees another dog or child as he’s being shocked for not coming back in time or for whatever reason. but he doesnt know why he feels pain except what he SEES while he is feeling pain. Dog then becomes child and interdog aggressive.
add: digging is usually a sign he’s not stimulated enough mentally. teach him commands or play games with him..you can do alot of harm shocking that puppy and create a very expensive and problematic dog with a shock collar. at least get the help of a behaviorist if you go ahead with it for the sake of the dog..
BYB's: Same as Puppy Mills
28 Feb, 2010
Are we talking shock collars? I have no reason to use one. With proper training that’s constantly kept up at home, they simply arent necessary.
For the average pet owner, 99% of the time they are a lazy owner’s way out. An owner who didn’t start training with a puppy and isn’t committing enough time to training now.
If we are talking choke chains and prong collars, then get a good trainer and ask them to teach you how to use it and to help you select one for your dog.
azh25
28 Feb, 2010
Digging is normal and fun for dogs. Select a shaded area of your backyard, get some 2×4′s and build him his own sand box filed with sand. Bury toys, bones in there for pup to bury and unbury. As far as clollars go, easy walk harnesses are good and so are snoot loops.