Originally Posted by
bmathers
I am sure this will be a post that elicits strong opinions, but I would like to know what people think about e collars? I am starting to train Diggity to be off leash and am taking him to places where we are way off the road and have a low likelihood of meeting up with other people and dogs. He is doing well for about the first 5 - 10 minutes, then seems to recognize he has freedom and gets farther and farther away. Sometimes he just takes off down a side trail and goes out of sight. So far, I have been able to call him back (a few times waiting about 15 seconds, which seemed like an eternity, before he comes back.) I am doing the thing where I hide behind a tree to worry him when he comes back because he can’t find me. However, Diggity is a very bold little man and honestly has no fear. My previous dog Sprocket was a totally different dog and I could let her off leash with no issues of her staying nearby. Diggity's breeder is a very well-known trainer and she uses e collars with her dogs to "set boundaries." Now she has me thinking about doing that as well. I have always been against e collars because I felt they hurt the dog, but maybe it is a good training method. My own trainer said to carry a whistle and get him used to coming back to that, so maybe it it a matter of doing both and then slowly fading away from the e collar.
I have not made any decisions yet, but wanted to ask you all what you thought.