Doggy shock collars

[EastTexFrank]

Lots of good advice. The only problem with them that I've had was having 3 dogs and a 2 dog system. I had to make a 200 mile round trip to get a dummy collar so they could all have one. It stopped all the jostling and pushing every morning to see who would get to wear the 2 collars before going outside. Now they all sit patiently and wait their turn. They love wearing them but I can attest that they do know whether they have them on or not. With one of our dogs, all you have to do is take the controller out of your pocket and whoosh, she is sitting by your side. We have another that when her head is down, on the trail of a rabbit .... well that's another story. She's usually the one with the dummy. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif I think I've actually had to use it maybe once in the last 6 months, at the most.

One thing is that different dogs have a different threashold or sensitivity to the shock so be careful. If used correctly as a reinforcement rather than as a punishment, you'll be surprised how fast they will learn.

 

[Freds]

Don't know, Mike. Some collars have different size prongs you can interchange or it could also be the collar's tightness around the neck or maybe if the dog gets wet a lot or maybe sensitivity like you suggest... Lots of variables.
I see a lot of dogs that wear invisible fencing collars 24-7 and some have marks on their neck, some don't. It doesn't appear to be breed or coat related, but some of those collars are TIGHT.

Like a lot of folks have mentioned, just wearing the collar can make the dog give you the desired behavior, but the object is to get the dog to respect you without the collar. It can't associate the collar with getting reprimanded and there is only one wat to achieve that. There's a fine line between using an E-collar as a training device or just as a tool. As long as the dog listens to you and you always have fresh batteries, there's nothing wrong with the latter.

 

[PitbullMidwest]

Lots of good advise. I have two dogs, a full blood GSD and a lab/chinese pug mix (but that's a different story). Any way when the GSD was young I walked her on our road and when a car approached I put her in a sit/stay and waited for her to "launch" after the car. 3 shocks later she had little interest in the chasing cars, very quick learner. The lab on the other hand has never quite understood the program on most things.

My BIL has a pup from our dogs and uses his collar inconsistantly and the results show. The dog typically ignores his commands and accepts the correction until he can get out of range or my BIL gets frustrated and quits.

The collar is a tool, and used incorrectly can ruin an otherwise good dog. If you decide to buy one, be sure the shock level is adjustable from the transmitter and that it has a time limiter to prevent overshocking.

 

[DocHeb]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( and accepts the correction until he can get out of range )</font>

I had a colleague that had an untrained Wolfhound (~160 lbs) that had a custom collar made with two shock units installed. That darn dog usually didn't go through the invisible fence, but occasionally he would blast through to chase something. Then he would refuse to come back in - I guess the thrill of the chase was worth the shock, but not coming back home. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[getut]

Distractions are one of the last things you train for. Once they learn the concepts, you have to very accurately train for each and every common distraction to your area.

Passing cars? Train not to chase them but they'll still chase small animals that run past the perimeter of the fence.. so you train for that specific distraction. A small child playing will stoke them to want to play and they'll run through for that, so you train for that distraction.

Eventually they get it if you take the time to train them. The collar just forces their undivided attention.

 

[PBMAX]

<font color="blue"> Does anyone know a surefire way to add weight to a dog? </font>
Table Scraps is rounding my JR...

 

[PBMAX]

I have used them on several Jr's and one Husky and the only problem I have had is they (the JR's) learned that if they sit next to the line and let the thing just beep for hrs. It will stop beeping and off they go. So I had to learn to vary the distance of the fence. Basically adjusting the signal strength once a week to keep them guessing. I use the Inotech sytem, I believe, with 2 collors called Contain and Train.
The collors are not water proof though.

 

[jwnge]

Cat meat????? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[jwnge]

just kidding!!! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[PineRidge]

<font color="blue"> The collar is a tool, and used incorrectly can ruin an otherwise good dog. If you decide to buy one, be sure the shock level is adjustable from the transmitter and that it has a time limiter to prevent overshocking.
</font>

The good ones like the unit that we have not only has different probes (resistors) for varying shock levels but can also be set to just give the dog a short pulse or for as long as you hold the transmitter button down depending on how you have the transmitter dip switches set.

 

[Ken_CT]

Irish wolfhounds are sighthounds. When one sees moving prey they lock in and go. If he's on a leash he can take you "grass surfing". They are also very big dogs. This is an old pic of my first one & me from about 20 years ago. I am 5' 10". Although they can be hunters, they are very gentle, easy going couch potatos.

 

[penokee]

I realize the use of shock collars is a personal decision, but would like to list a few reasons why I decided not to use them when training my yellow labs:
1. I talked to 3 different veterinarians about the use of shock collars in training dogs and all, independently, said the same thing: "I'm not against using them, but I personally wouldn't use them on my own dog".
2. I was concerned that I might get upset/angry at the dog/puppy when it wouldn't listen, and OVERUSE the shocking.
3. I trained and use my lab for hunting pheasants in North Dakota and Montana, and am aware of situations where the shock collar trained dogs got out of reach of the shocking and just took off into the prairies. Needless to say, the coyotes usually got them the first night.
4. Our son brought his black lab to a professional trainer who used shock collars, and though the dog obeys, it lost it's spirit.
I strongly recommend Positive Re-inforcement. I use praise, encouragement and a liberal amount of dog cookies to reward them when they do what you are trying to teach them.
My current yellow lab is 6 years old and bonded to me as tight as any dog I've ever owned. Enough rambling, attaching a picture of my faithfull hunting partner(10%) and pet(90%).
penokee /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Maxfli]

My wife breeds Wire Fox Terriers. We have a Tritronics 3 dog system. One of the first things we did was to sample the shock our selves before we used it on the dogs. Yes, my wife's idea, and no I didn't turn it all the way up. Our collars have six settings for intensity. On the lowest setting it feels like the hair on you arm standing up, from my perspective it is barley noticable. Thatcher is probably our most adventurous, and he consistantly responds to the lowest setting. We get out most days, and Thatcher gets a correction maybe once a week. Used properly, they are a great tool to allow your dogs to get properly exercised. If I pull out the Transmitter they all get excited, cause it is time for a run. We spent time with a professional trainer, we were alway told to never use the collars as a correction against aggressive behavior.

 

[goodoleboy]

I see we all have mixed views on the collars. I ordered one today but not sure if i have the heart to use it on my best friend. She is a great dog & listens well and obeys commands.Except for those few times which are life threatning to her (chasing cars) and jumping on people.
Ill take a pic of her one day so you all can see her.

 

[gsxr1100]

I personally would not use them on my three dogs. I think they are a good way to "baby sit" the dogs. Again, this is me. Plus it does not prevent any other dog or animal from coming into your yard. The best part with these collars is when the dog "break through" the fence and needs to get back in. Wait and see how long it takes just to get the dog back on your property.

 

[PitbullMidwest]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ...has different probes (resistors) for varying shock levels )</font>

Maybe our collar is different, but aren't the different probes used for coat thickness not shock level?

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ...can also be set to just give the dog a short pulse or for as long as you hold the transmitter button down )</font>

I really feel that the shock limiter is a very important feature. If the dog isn't responding to the highest level it probably won't respond to an extended shock either.

 

[PineRidge]

The color coded probes on our Tri-Tronics collar are all the same length. The booklet does mention shorter contacts as an optional component however.

To change the intensity of the shock they give you a neat looking little spanner wrench to unscrew and replace one of the two probes.

Since this is DC current one probe is a ground, it is never changed. The other probes that were supplied with the collar are

#1 brown (lowest setting)
#2 red
#3 orange
#4 yellow
#5 green (highest setting) wish I haden't touched this one. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

The dog that I used it on was a long haired Shi-Tzu that had a tendency to run toward traffic in the street. The collar worked very well as a deterrent on the red probe level.

 

[GeekHollow]

I've got an Innotek 300 that I use on Tipper, my half Weimeraner, half Husky. It has been invaluable to me, although I only use it in very limited circumstances.

From what I can tell, the only thing she inherited from her mother was a pretty good tolerance for cold weather. Otherwise she looks like Weimeraner with too much brown and some white patches. And the hyperactive nature as well.

The only time I use it is when she (A) doesn't come when called (which usually means she's racing after something's scent), or (B) she's playing too rough with my other dog - a 15+ year old Collie mix who adopted me after somebody dumped her on my road.

Now this model Innotek has 7 shock levels, plus a tone. It also has two different probes, the only difference being the length to compensate for our friends with longer fur. With the collar on, all I have to do is hit the tone and she immediately stops and comes running. I'm currently working to transfer that behaviour to a dog whistle with a fair amount of success. On the other hand, she must be almost immune to pain. I've found that I have to start at a level 5 pulse just to get her attention. This model does both the quick pulse and a continuous shock. The continous shock self-limits to 10 seconds, and then can't be used for 10 seconds afterwards. Most of the time the pulse is enough to do the job. For cases where additional reinforcement is necessary (such as chasing after visitor's cars when they leave) I've found it necessary to hit level 7 on continuous for a second or two. This enough to make her yelp and then run straight to "daddy" for forgiveness. I also have to make adjustments for water. She loves my creek, but once she's been playing in it, I've found that a level 4 pulse has the same effect of level 7 for a second (gee, whodathunk wet skin would be more sensitive /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif), so I have to make certain that I adjust the level accordingly.

I think the key to one of these is to not overuse it, but at the same time use it consistently. Just like djradz's dog, Tipper actually looks forward to me bringing it out of my pocket, for it usually means she gets to spend the better part of the day outdoors (with decreasing supervision, and she's only 5-1/2 months old!). I may go an entire weekend and only "zap" her two times. She's quite intelligent, and a fast learner.

But I will be so glad when she outgrows the puppy stage (which I hear for Weimies, is somewhere around a day or two before they die /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif). Just this past Tuesday, I thought I was going to have to seek out an opthalmologist. When I went out to her pen to give her her morning rub down before going to work, she jumped up once and caught me by surprise, raking her left paw down my face, ripping off my glasses, and scoring my right eye with a claw. For the first hour, I feared she had at least scratched my cornea, it hurt so much. Fortunately that turned out not to be the case. And I don't fault her at all - there's not a mean bone in her body, she was just so happy and bouncy to see me.

Jerry

 

[PineRidge]

Jerry great picture. Since the dog has your chair where do you sit?