February 25, 2020

When training the recall, why do we stop the remote collar immediately after the dog starts to turn in our direction? Won't the dog want to stop midway the recall and go elsewhere?

Full Question:
My question is about Michael's explanation in the video Training the Recall with Michael Ellis when working with the e-collar at the 39:36 mark.

Michael explains what needs to be done.
  1. Turn on the collar.
  2. Call the dog.
  3. Guide the dog with the leash
  4. After the dog turns into our direction, we will turn off the collar.
So my question is: Why do we stop the collar immediately after the dog starts to turn to our direction, and not just after the dog standing near us?

Couldn't it be that the dog will stopped midway and went somewhere else? After all, the dog has already stopped feeling unpleasant, so why carry on to us?
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
The reason we don't continue to stimulate the dog all the way back to us is because it compounds stress. Basically, the dog is in the act of complying but we continue the discomfort. If the distance is too great, the dog is more likely to freeze under continuous stimulation. If we release pressure and the dog peels off instead of continuing back to us, we simply turn the pressure back on and repeat the command.

If we determine that stimulation all the way back to us is necessary (inadequate motivation for reward, repeated disobedience), then we pulse/nick the dog repeatedly all the way back, instead of holding the button down. Remember that we have typically done a lot of reward-based foundation, so the need to stimulate the dog all the way back to the handler is rarely necessary.

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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