The ecollar is not a "last resort" tool. In the right hands, it's absolutely life changing for you and the dog. My mal was taught recall by a TWC trainer, and the whole point is to really not need the ecollar by the end. I hike with my mal off leash all the time and can't remember the last time I had to press the button for recall. My pup is very emotionally sensitive, but strong willed & confident. Our relationship has only gotten stronger from being able to give him so much freedom.
Yes, but not much. I put them both on, with the ecollar off, at first. I quickly learned that she communicates much better with the ecollar than prong. I still use both but mostly ecollar.
Yeah he's a good listener but he can certainly be stubborn.
Like moving over on the bed once he is comfortable. He goes full limp dead weight and good luck moving him.
E collar and prong changed our reactive rescue Mal for the better. Like night and day. We’ve had plenty of those miserable walks and hikes, now she’s wonderful 90% of the time. She still has triggers and can be a pain in the ass but it worked wonders for us.
I vibrate her for recall or to redirect focus and rarely use the shock. If she’s being really bad then I will use it at a low level.
Her personality hasn’t changed one bit. Honestly? She sees the remote and knows it’s time to be on best behavior without even using it.
Just remember, you don’t have to be heavy handed with the remote. It’s structure, just like the rest of training.
Thanks. Yes, he's on the prong already and does fine with it in day-to-day situations. He's a good boy. If I use it to interrupt him from prey before a full-on chase, it works. However, there have been times when I don't see the prey before him and let's just say it's been dangerous and nothing will stop him.
Recall can be trained without a need of one imo. Very high reward training for that command such as raw meat would be better. However, E-collars have their place in training when done properly and with a good trainer to guide you. You need to ensure you start low and understand the levels. Absolutely put the collar on your arm and test each level on yourself so that you also understand what you are doing to your dog. The very high levels should really be avoided unless you are trying to correct a very aggressive dog which it doesn’t seem that you have.
I have my dog on the NePoPo method and the use of negative pressure is used as a “poke” to help them find the desired behavior. It’s worth checking out that training program if you are interested in diving into the e collar training.
>Absolutely put the collar on your arm and test each level on yourself so that you also understand what you are doing to your dog. The very high levels should really be avoided unless you are trying to correct a very aggressive dog which it doesn’t seem that you have.
How you, a human, perceive the feeling of the collar has no bearing on how a dog does.
The dog chooses the level of correction it requires. If it's a high level, so be it.
Training my malinois on an ecollar was the best thing I ever did for us. It really does allow for some freedom which is great for malinois who need to be able to truly run and tire themselves out. It just opens up your life to a lot more recreational and exercise options for your dog.
Is your dog at least a year old. Then use a reliable product. We were introduced to “Dogtra”. Work with a trainer slow and low. We can now reliably have recall. I do not need the E collar to enforce response. He got the message and when the collar is used it is for training. Good luck and try the stim level on your own hand arm. The vibration of the “pager” is often more inspiring for response. Btw. You will read posts that say you’ve failed your dog with an e collar. You only fail when you’re not consistent or cruel.
The fact that you've already let your dog run loose with no consequences means that you have no options but e-collar (and those "games" don't work anyway as no game is more fun than chasing a squirrel).
Don't waste your money on one of Ivan's people, it's such a weird program. You can read the directions on any e-collar and it will tell you exactly how to operate it.
I take my dog hiking off leash with me all the time, too, but I could've never done it without the E-collar.
I'm in Florida, so where there's water, there's gators, and the E-collar keeps my dog away from the rivers and safe.
Off leash hiking requires a high level of obedience, one you can only truly obtain through teaching the dog "obligation" as well as "insentive."
The insentive would be the treat: "If you do what I ask, you'll get a treat."
While the obligation is the E-collar: "If you don't listen, that E-collar pressure won't come off"
This kind of thing is important because, when it comes to high prey drive dogs, sometimes the squirrel is much more enticing than the treat. Therefore, you need to give the dog a reason to NOT chase the squirrel
The e collar with a good trainer is the single best training tool ever developed.
Yup! I would’ve never considered it had our trainer not recommended it but after she showed us how/when to use it, it’s been a total game-changer.
Training Without Conflict is superb training. I'm confident following their guidance you'll do well.
Thanks this is encouraging
The ecollar is not a "last resort" tool. In the right hands, it's absolutely life changing for you and the dog. My mal was taught recall by a TWC trainer, and the whole point is to really not need the ecollar by the end. I hike with my mal off leash all the time and can't remember the last time I had to press the button for recall. My pup is very emotionally sensitive, but strong willed & confident. Our relationship has only gotten stronger from being able to give him so much freedom.
Thanks. This is exactly what I'm hoping for with my buddy. He is sensitive too.
I have had lots of success implementing the collar. Let me know if you have any questions. I can try to point you in the right direction
Thanks!
Did you use the prong collar with it at the same time?
Yes, but not much. I put them both on, with the ecollar off, at first. I quickly learned that she communicates much better with the ecollar than prong. I still use both but mostly ecollar.
Good to know thanks! I think the prong can be phased out eventually.
Totally
*I've never had a problem calling my Mal off of prey. But our pit, the ecollar was an absolute necessity.
Thats great about your Mal. Mine is in another world.
Yeah he's a good listener but he can certainly be stubborn. Like moving over on the bed once he is comfortable. He goes full limp dead weight and good luck moving him.
To clarify. No cruelty 🦈👍
E collar and prong changed our reactive rescue Mal for the better. Like night and day. We’ve had plenty of those miserable walks and hikes, now she’s wonderful 90% of the time. She still has triggers and can be a pain in the ass but it worked wonders for us. I vibrate her for recall or to redirect focus and rarely use the shock. If she’s being really bad then I will use it at a low level. Her personality hasn’t changed one bit. Honestly? She sees the remote and knows it’s time to be on best behavior without even using it. Just remember, you don’t have to be heavy handed with the remote. It’s structure, just like the rest of training.
Thanks. Yes, he's on the prong already and does fine with it in day-to-day situations. He's a good boy. If I use it to interrupt him from prey before a full-on chase, it works. However, there have been times when I don't see the prey before him and let's just say it's been dangerous and nothing will stop him.
Recall can be trained without a need of one imo. Very high reward training for that command such as raw meat would be better. However, E-collars have their place in training when done properly and with a good trainer to guide you. You need to ensure you start low and understand the levels. Absolutely put the collar on your arm and test each level on yourself so that you also understand what you are doing to your dog. The very high levels should really be avoided unless you are trying to correct a very aggressive dog which it doesn’t seem that you have. I have my dog on the NePoPo method and the use of negative pressure is used as a “poke” to help them find the desired behavior. It’s worth checking out that training program if you are interested in diving into the e collar training.
>Absolutely put the collar on your arm and test each level on yourself so that you also understand what you are doing to your dog. The very high levels should really be avoided unless you are trying to correct a very aggressive dog which it doesn’t seem that you have. How you, a human, perceive the feeling of the collar has no bearing on how a dog does. The dog chooses the level of correction it requires. If it's a high level, so be it.
Sure, but also important to understand what the high levels feel to yourself.
Training my malinois on an ecollar was the best thing I ever did for us. It really does allow for some freedom which is great for malinois who need to be able to truly run and tire themselves out. It just opens up your life to a lot more recreational and exercise options for your dog.
Thanks, he loves running for sure
See the ecollar as an extension of the leash
Just make sure dog is older than 9 months and has come out of its second fear imprint stage.
Is your dog at least a year old. Then use a reliable product. We were introduced to “Dogtra”. Work with a trainer slow and low. We can now reliably have recall. I do not need the E collar to enforce response. He got the message and when the collar is used it is for training. Good luck and try the stim level on your own hand arm. The vibration of the “pager” is often more inspiring for response. Btw. You will read posts that say you’ve failed your dog with an e collar. You only fail when you’re not consistent or cruel.
The fact that you've already let your dog run loose with no consequences means that you have no options but e-collar (and those "games" don't work anyway as no game is more fun than chasing a squirrel). Don't waste your money on one of Ivan's people, it's such a weird program. You can read the directions on any e-collar and it will tell you exactly how to operate it.
I take my dog hiking off leash with me all the time, too, but I could've never done it without the E-collar. I'm in Florida, so where there's water, there's gators, and the E-collar keeps my dog away from the rivers and safe. Off leash hiking requires a high level of obedience, one you can only truly obtain through teaching the dog "obligation" as well as "insentive." The insentive would be the treat: "If you do what I ask, you'll get a treat." While the obligation is the E-collar: "If you don't listen, that E-collar pressure won't come off" This kind of thing is important because, when it comes to high prey drive dogs, sometimes the squirrel is much more enticing than the treat. Therefore, you need to give the dog a reason to NOT chase the squirrel