The other day I received a Facebook message regarding remote collar training from a colleague in Ontario. My friend, Karen Laws, from Ontario Dog Trainer, had a post on her wall from a recent client that she wanted to share. I asked her if I could also share here on The Truth About Shock Collars.
The story speaks for itself, proper use of an e-collar can help transform highly reactive dogs into calm, thinking pets that are a joy to live with.
I couldn’t have imagined telling this story 4 weeks ago.
It’s 5am and Tara and I are having our usual walk, though now off leash, along the waterfront park near our home. It’s still dark out as the sun has yet to rise. In the distance we can hear the barking of a couple dogs in a thicket ahead, Tara is curious but stays close by my side. As we approach, a red blinking light down on the beach tells me that someone is there with their own dogs and I’m hoping that they have them under control. We pass unnoticed. However, upon our return some 10 minutes later, as Tara and I approach the same beachhead, this time two medium sized dogs come flying out of the thicket barking up a storm as they charge us. Tara quickly steps forward on alert, still off leash, then amazingly looks back at me. I tap the e-collar transmitter and surprisingly with calm say, “Come!” And doesn’t my wonderful girl circle around my back and come to sit at my side!!!!! I hollar at the racing intruders and then hear their owner calling out to them to return. The dogs retreat and Tara and I are left standing on the pathway without incident. This can’t be my dog???
Tara was a rescue last year and came to us with a whole basket of control issues. Not that long ago, she would have launched herself without regard for anything at any excited animal approaching us, or passing by. This time she listened to me and thought better of her choices. I’m very proud of my Tara and very happy with the early results of her training with Karen. Who would have thought?
Steven Mitchell
Congratulations to Steve and Tara. The work you put in learning to use the e-collar as part of your training is paying off!
Great story! Do you have recommendations for a good mid-range e-collar?
Hi Alex, I’m not certain what you mean by mid-range. If you’re referring to price, there are a fair amount of ecollars in the 200-250 price range that are good quality and work for most needs. Garmin makes the Sport Pro model and Dogtra has the 280C, the ARC & the Just Right Collar (the Just Right is only available through Gun Dog Supply)
If you’re asking about range in terms of distance the ecollar will reach, I suggest you go with a minimum of a 1/2 mile range in any collar you look at. Range is affected by what is in the line of sight, so terrain (hills) and vegetation will shorten your range. 1/2 mile means you have enough for the average pet dog to have good room to run. If you’re running a sport dog/hunting…go with 3/4 to 1 mile range collars.
What a great story! Wouldn’t it be incredible if all owners cared enough to train their dogs to be so reliable? I bet more places would welcome dogs on their properties if all dogs behaved so well.
Someone forgot to tell Tara that an e-collar is supposed to make reactivity worse in dogs, not better.
Glad the owner was opening to training with a great tool that is so misunderstood and he had a great trainer to guide him. So many dogs including those that are reactive or aggressive can be helped with a remote training system collar when it is taught properly. When that is done, it’s a great communication system with the dog and not a punisher.