Being an advocate for education regarding the e-collar is not always an easy path. Disparaging remarks and harsh judgment come frequently to those of us who choose to be outspoken about a toolwe believe is unfairly labeled as inhumane.
Some days it is down right disheartening when constantly subjected to the personal attacks
BUT
a good sense of humor and the continual outpouring of stories like Cathy & Teila’s keep us going. This is why we press forward. Because the voices that matter are of the dogs and owners who have found a new lease on life by learning how to use an e-collar properly.
Kudos to you Cathy for not giving up and being open to possibility.
The best decision I made was to start e-collar training 2 weeks ago. After 2 years of frustration and 18 straight weeks of traditional positive-based classes, where my dog was always most improved, but still no where near being the calm, balanced dog I wanted, I worked with Victoria Warfel and an e-collar. Today my dog and I took a calm, fun, relaxing walk through Petco.
I chose to use an e-collar on my most difficult dog because positive training, daily exercise routines, and round after round of training sessions for over two years didn’t work. I had the rope burns, bite marks and bruises to prove it and the life my dog was leading in her crate, and on lock down, was not the life I wanted for her. Most people told me she was a lost cause, and I should just learn to deal with it. But I knew different.
She’d already been abandon once in her short life, and I wasn’t going to let it happen again. In her best moments, she was the sweetest and most loving dog –she has no people aggression—but I never knew when that sweet moment would end, and I’d end up back in the emergency vet after having broken up a dog fight in my own back yard. After every incident, I’d reflect on what I could have done to prevent it. So away went all the toys, all the treats, anything that might start a fight, and all her freedom. I couldn’t trust her with the other dogs in my home. I love my dogs and I would do anything to get her into a calmer state of mind so that she was no longer a danger to herself or the other dogs. I was committed to continuing her training.
Frustration and complete failure doesn’t begin to describe how I felt. My other dogs responded to positive methods, and a few sessions with a trainer, but not Tei. And I felt for her; she lived on edge, she was not happy, I was not happy, and the other pets in my house were not safe. Yes, I considered re-homing her.
Maybe someone else would have better results. But then I thought, who’s going to want a dog, who needs to be an only pet, is high spirited, escapes from crates, sees a 6 foot fence as an inconvenience, has no boundaries, needs continuous private training sessions, daily work and would likely kill the neighbor cat/dog if given the opportunity. And given her bite history, she’d go straight to the euthanasia list if surrendered.
Until you walked a day in my shoes you will not know how much I agonized over how to improve my beloved pet’s quality of life. I love her and I want her to have the best possible life. I was open to any method that might make that happen. After extensive research of my own, I weighed both sides of the debate and decided for me, with this dog, e-collar training was right. Before putting the e-collar on her, I put it on my own arm, and felt what she would feel, and it’s not pain, it’s not inhumane. It’s an electrical stimulation, not unlike a person would feel using a rehabilitative TENS unit (which many people use for back
pain).
I took the Freedom class with Victoria at Dream Dogz, and now Teila has just that—freedom. She is now a calmer, more attentive dog, with an instant recall, and for the first time since she made her way into my home, I can say I trust her. My life is no longer about managing her behavior. We have finally begun the work to improve it, I feel safer and that makes her feel safer.
It was so nice to see a positive comment about e-collars and how they can truly improve the relationship with your dog (or dogs). I believe the collars are a great safety device and that is why we sell them. Training the dog for e-collar use is essential; the dog needs to know what is expected when either hearing the stop command or feeling the mild shock. After all, even people work better when they understand what is expected of them. Thanks again for a positive outlook.