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  1. #1
    Best Friend Retriever emma_Dad's Avatar
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    E-Collar make headline in Washington Post?

    Link Here
    I have zero experience with E-collars, so I have nothing to compare. but what said seems to make sense. since I would imagine its not fun getting shocked.

    Discuss?

  2. #2
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    I agree and disagree. depends on what you are training. Honestly I don't see why you would need it for basics like sit/down and all that (this is just my personal though, not saying that's "wrong"). but when it comes to distance and high distractions (ex: off leash, squirrle comes by) you may need an extra tool (by no means do I mean slap it on and buz til the dog comes back). For some dogs it may allow for some extra freedom where as the opposite would be never letting them off leash. I think for some dogs, when done right to not stress them the trade off on slight stress to get the freedom may be worth it. Depends on teh dog and requries training.

    Personal issue I have always had with recall reflected in the above. I am working HARD with Penny, taken a full class on just that, did the homework and am now doing an intense program and STILL having issues with her chasing things. We will keep working on training but we may one day need to look at the e-collar so that she can be allowed off leash in other places safely. Rocky's recall is crap and he eats poop so this has ment greatly greatly limited off leash tiem for him. Even fenced dog parks are horrible as they are full of poop.

  3. #3
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    I have only had to train with an e-collar once. Last year Maxx decided he had to chase the Amish horse and buggies, it was a tragedy in the making. I tried every other methody to break this scary behavior without success. The e-collar worked and I am thankful. I do highly recommend professional assistance and training for using the e-collar. I don't think it caused Maxx any undue stress, it got his attention when nothing else would. Even if it did cause him a little stress it quite possibly saved his life and I am ok with that.
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  4. #4
    Senior Dog shellbell's Avatar
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    I like the part where it says "Your local Walmart sells an array of dog shock collars"....I don't think I'd be heading to Walmart to get a shock collar for my dog.

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  6. #5
    Real Retriever 3ChocMom's Avatar
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    In general, e-collars are not appropriate for training pet dogs IMO. Brandy was trained on one when she was younger (not by me), but not for basic obedience, she was hunt trained. And to this day, if she sees one, she actually gets excited because she thinks it means she gets to go retrieve something. She already has a pretty solid recall and never chases things, but occasionally she will ignore me when I call her in, because she's just not done sniffing. If she's wearing an e-collar, her hearing suddenly becomes perfect. LOL But I never use one anymore.

    I did have to train Luke on it and he was just a pet, not a hunting dog. But it was my last resort, after all other recall training attempts failed. It was a safety issue, he was nuts about birds and squirrels and would chase them across a street or wherever. He even went through a barbed wire fence once. I always had him on a long training lead, but he was quick and super strong, he'd just yank it out of my hand and take off. I was very apprehensive at first, I thought they were barbaric, but my then-boyfriend finally convinced me. And it worked. Luke was able to enjoy being off leash while he was wearing it. And yes, I did try it on myself before I put it on him. It's startling, but it doesn't hurt. I'm sure it does on the highest setting, but I never used that on Luke. If done properly, they can be very effective training tools. They can also completely ruin a dog if you don't know what you're doing, so IMO, they aren't for the average Joe to run with all by themselves. Anyone considering using one should get guidance from a professional trainer.

    And as shellbell stated, the ones they sell at WalMart or Petsmart are the cheap ones that often malfunction, I would never use one of those.

  7. #6
    Senior Dog Jeff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by shellbell View Post
    I like the part where it says "Your local Walmart sells an array of dog shock collars"....I don't think I'd be heading to Walmart to get a shock collar for my dog.
    Uggg, really.... as if we need people that buy old roy for their dogs to eat easy access to Shock Collars. Then again they may be putting them on their kids, they already make leashes for kids. Goldbug - 2-in-1 Monkey Child Safety Harness: ARCHIVE SHELF/CAT : Walmart.com

    Nothing against normal people going in saving a few bucks. I have bought a crock pot from there and a toaster. My mom does buy groceries there. But you have to admit they sell a lot of stuff that shouldn't be in the hands of people you see on the people of wall-mart website.

    -0b1fc181d30799b35bb3464300e17a4f-jpg
    Last edited by Jeff; 09-09-2014 at 02:45 PM.

  8. #7
    Best Friend Retriever emma_Dad's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by shellbell View Post
    I like the part where it says "Your local Walmart sells an array of dog shock collars"....I don't think I'd be heading to Walmart to get a shock collar for my dog.
    haha I'm pretty sure you can buy almost anything at Walmart these days. I avoid that store like its the plague!

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  10. #8
    Senior Dog sparky's Avatar
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    From what our trainer told us, dogs live in the moment. That being said we have the E Collar. We have used it for off leash training only. Most of the time we used the beep function just to regain Mocha's full attention and it usually works. We have used the shock function but only once or twice. I would never suggest it be used for basic sit, stay, down training.
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  11. #9
    Senior Dog BaconsMom's Avatar
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    When used by an experienced trainer (hunting or otherwise) an ecollar is an effective training tool, expecially in Hunting applications. We use ours as a long distance communication tool while hunting. However, in the wrong hands, ecollars can be abused.
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  13. #10
    Senior Dog doubledip1's Avatar
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    We have one for Luna and she's responded wonderfully to it. She gets really excited when it comes off the charger because it means fun off-leash time.

    However, I have a "friend" who wants to get one and never should. In the wrong hands and with the wrong expectations, it can totally ruin a dog.
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    Carlos (09-11-2014)

 



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