E-collars - which one? Reliability, sensitive dogs, etc.

[JenC]

I have this one....Tri-Tronics Sport Combo G3 5331100

[Woofie]

I got the Einstein ET-300TS Mini E-Collar. Now I wish I had gotten a two dog system. Other than that I am very pleased with it.

Do you have sensitive dogs? I've heard the vibration is more intense then in other collars?

[Georgie]

You know I've never considered an e-collar but I think I might...like you Woofie, it's the recall when in places that there are unknown dangerous or poisonous items or even dog baiting which does happen. My dog is excellent at "leave it" and "come" commands but lately on walks scents have thrown out her excellent recall. It's frustrating because I am very vigilant in checking the surrounds for potentially harmful items....for me it's also I don't want her to run into long grasses and overly vegetated areas because of the huge tick problem.


How does an E collar exactly work.....is it used simultaneously when you say "come"??? After a period of time do you phase out the electronic buzz and they still come?

On today's walk she ran after a small marsupial into thick vegetation and when we got back home I found 2 ticks on her!

[Aerodogs]

I generally encourage people to make a list of what they are looking for in terms of abilities and preferences (i.e. range, vibration/beep/stimulation, transmitter/received size, ease of use etc) to help them decide. I use a Tri-tronics pro, three dog system for my field labs, that's just my preference for hunt training. If not Tri-tronics I would probably buy Dogtra, though one of my friends uses an Educator, two dog system. She wanted the ability to provide a vibration, beep and stimulation which a lot of other collars don't offer. The vibration for her deaf dog, the beep for her rescued, ex-hunting hound and the ability to use stimulation if they ignored the first correction of course. The hound has actually brought down a deer before and suffered a kick to the head, so she needed something more reliable than the one she initially bought online. You can find new Educator brand e-collars decently priced right now because they are coming out with a new transmitter soon too.

[Woofie]

Just bought the Educator. For a beginner user (me), I didn't want to make a 2-dog system complicated, so I bought 2 separate systems one for each dog. I can exchange within 60 days if I decide I don't like the set-up or if I want the 2-dog system instead.

Georgie - I've been doing some online learning, watching video's of actual trainers that are using the Educator.

I have to say I really like what I'm hearing about the Educator; it's supposed to be a different kind of stimulation, a wider stimulation less likely to cause head jerking, etc and is more like the tenz machine affects of human medical devices, geared for the muscles rather then neurons, etc.

It's also designed to maintain smooth training, rather then over-stimulate the dog.

From my reading, Tri-tonics and Dogtra products are both superb; the Dogtra products are known for being *hotter* for each setting versus the Tri-tonics. However both use a sharp stimulation, not sure I was comfortable with that over reading the reviews actual bird hunters have left on hunting forums regarding their switch to Educator from the 2 above mentioned training devices, stating their dogs seemed more vibrant with the transition.

[ckfalz]

Do you have sensitive dogs? I've heard the vibration is more intense then in other collars?

Sam is sensitive to sound. When I first used the ecollar he reacted a lot. I realized it was the sound he was reacting more to (he reacted to the sound of the vibration when it was not even on him) but he got used to it and responds well to it now. I did the process of having him wear the collar for a long time before ever using it. When I realized how much he reacted, I would turn it on when he was not wearing it to get him used to it (he even noticed the slight sound when I pressed a button). He was also very reactive to an ultrasonic device I had previously used but got used to it so that he no longer reacted at all. I use the vibration on the e-collar, it gets his attention.

[BaconsMom]

I would actually recommend going to a store like Cabelas and talking to one of the ecollar experts. You can explain what you would like, your price range, and they can give a recommendation.

On the sensitive dog aspect, Our collar (sportdog 825) has 21 levels, and Bacons working level is a 3 (very low). Bacon is extremely responsive to the page function, which is usually all we need. However, if he is on a bird, he needs the stim, but we have rarely gone higher than the 3. Like ckfalz said, we trained him first with just wearing the collar, not using any functions first. Also, our collar came with a training DVD, plus we consulted with our hunting trainer, and several people at our lab club.

[Jimbo B]

I had thought about Garmin - most reviews were either superb or horrible.

Do you remember what the bad reviews where about. Just curious.
I have one for about 3 weeks now ..I called their CS three times
They have an excellent CS Team
But I don't think mine is working right
If I put my fingers over that part that zap sometimes I do not feel anything
Like wise I do not think it works all the time with Moses
They said they would send me another one
Had it charging all day. But I not totally satisfied