[adamdude04]

Seen a shock collar at petsmart. Has a remote to buzz (vibrate) or shock (electric). Has a 1-10 dial to control the power from mild to extreme.

What y'all think? Good training tool? Only needed for bad dogs? Horrible thought?

 

[onyx'girl]

If you get an e-collar don't go cheap! And you need to be trained on how to use it. Lou Castles site is good for info...have you researched them at all? LOU CASTLE - SELECTING A COLLAR
Many times the cheaper ones aren't consistant on the amount of zip they give, stay with a good one.

 

[Syaoransbear]

Shock collars are like any other tool, they work great when used properly.

But those shock collars at petsmart are terrible and expensive. It'll be like you can't feel setting 3 at all, and then setting 4 will shock the pants off of you. And it's inconsistent. Plus the batteries aren't rechargeable and they aren't normal batteries, so every time the batteries die you have to go back to petsmart and fork over $10 for only TWO batteries that barely last.

 

[adamdude04]

I wouldn't buy from petsmart. And if I did get one, I would get a recharge one.

I know not to go cheap. I may look into it more..

 

[AbbyK9]

They are correctly called e-collars, or electronic collars, not shock collars, and they can be very useful for training off-leash behaviors, IF you know how to use them correctly. A good place to start would be with an experienced e-collar trainer who can show you how to use it correctly since you can really screw up your training, your dog, and your relationship with your dog if you attempt to do-it-yourself without proper instruction.

If you were to get a quality e-collar, I would recommend looking at Tritronics or Dogtra brands. Dogtra has a nice lower-end model that starts around $200 and is a good little e-collar to get started with. I believe it's called the NCP200 (or 200NCP?). I would have to go look to make sure. It's an entry-level basic e-collar with about 100 settings, and I've been very happy with it for proofing off-lead behaviors but have not used it in about two years.

 

[doggiedad]

why do you want to use an E-Collar????

 

[ChancetheGSD]

I use a shock collar as of the last couple months because Chance, who is 3.5 and been 110% reliable off leash with an awesome recall since he was 6 months old...Randomly decided he wanted to run up to any person he saw, ESPECIALLY if they had a fun new friend to play with!!!!

I really regret not getting a rechargeable one. Though I did find a "nice" offer where for $26 a year you get a new pair (2) batteries mailed to you (free shipping) every month. (About as long as a pair last when kept on for several hours a day) So it averages out to a little over $2 a month for a set of batteries, MUCH cheaper than the $7 ones they have at Petsmart!!! O_O

I do love the collar though (Sportdog brand), it only has 8 levels but Chance works on a 2-3. I've tried all the settings on myself (And discovered a spot on my hand where if I put it and keep pushing the button the vibrations make my thumb move! LOL!!) and NONE of them are painful. #8 is a little "shocking" (no pun intended) but it doesn't -hurt-. Which makes me feel a lot better since I don't want to -hurt- him, I just need an extra hand in saying "Hey, don't forget I'm here and you have to listen".

I will say, if you are looking at an e-collar to train your dog, forget it. Everything must be manually trained and understood what is being asked of your dog before you can even think of bringing in the collar. If you ask the dog to come to you and the dog doesn't know what "come" (Or whatever word you use to get your dog back to you) means, you can't shock him for not doing what you ask. That's unfair and VERY cruel. Chance has been trained with NILIF since day 1 and again, it wasn't until 3 years of positive treat training that I brought in a collar. It is used for a reminder, NOT training. Shocking the **** out of your dog will do nothing but confuse and scare it.

 

[Hunther's Dad]

They are correctly called e-collars, or electronic collars, not shock collars...

In my opinion, the term "shock collar" (or, as the PETA crowd usually writes it, SHOCK collar) is a cleverly crafted piece of propaganda, designed to evoke the image of a dog being plugged into a wall socket.

And yes, stick with TriTronics or DogTra. I own a Dogtra 1100, and when the charger quit they replaced it free of charge (pardon the pun). :rofl:

 

[adamdude04]

Great info all!! I'm not going to get one until I move to tx, if I need one down there as he will go to work with me often and I don't want to hold a leash all day.

He has great recall and not so worried about him. But around bosses an workers never know.

I just wanted to know what everyone though I'll deff research the topic tho for a couple months

 

[selzer]

I do not like to attach something to my dog that administers corrections.

If you want to go this route, check out Lou Castle as someone has mentioned. If I remember correctly, he has had success with thousands of dogs. I do not think it is something you just want to put on the dog and expect results. There is training involved with it like anything else.

 

[adamdude04]

I do not like to attach something to my dog that administers corrections.

If you want to go this route, check out Lou Castle as someone has mentioned. If I remember correctly, he has had success with thousands of dogs. I do not think it is something you just want to put on the dog and expect results. There is training involved with it like anything else.

It took me two hours to teach "high five" and "asss up!". I have no problem training. I never expect much, but am excited when they deliver!!

 

[Jax08]

Try using a clicker and lure...they learn much faster that way.

And what exactly is "asss up!?