September 02, 2014
My dog is dog aggressive after being attacked. Would using an electric collar help with his situation?
Full Question:
I have a 130lb Great Dane who is dog aggressive after being attacked. It is not with every dog, but everyday he does do it. I have tried every option but he is intent on getting to the other side. He doesn't listen and it is very quick before he's in red zone. It's a battle to restrain him, nothing will snap him out of it. Could an electric collar work? If so, which one do you suggest? Also, have you ever known a dog not to respond to an electric collar? I am worried if this does not work that there is no hope left for him. 
Ed's Answer:
I have known dogs whose handlers used the remote collar incorrectly that learned to ignore stimulation from remote collars.
I tell people like yourself that remote collars are the greatest dog training tools ever invented but they are also the most abused dog training tools ever invented.
I have produced three DVDs that teach people how to introduce their dog to remote collars, they explain how to determine what level of stimulation to use and then how to employ them in day to day training.
We use the Educator ET300 Mini Remote Trainer on our dogs.
The biggest mistake new trainers make is to simply slap a new remote on a dog and take it out and start pushing the button to stop behavior the handler doesn't like. They start by putting the dog in a highly distracting environment and then start stimulating the dog when it does something they don't like. That's not how to use a remote collar.
The problem you face is more difficult because of the size and strength of your dog combined with the environment you putting him in. We prefer to train with low level stimulation. But there are times when that is not the most effective way to solve a problem. You are in a serious PROBLEM SOLVING situation.
What we would do with a dog like yours is to make sure the dogs obedience is 110% in a distraction free environment. We would do what we needed to do to walk the dog in areas where there are no other dogs. When the obedience was finished we would introduce the dog to the remote exactly like we teach in our DVDs.
Once that was done we would slowly introduce distractions with the end goal being to expose him to other dogs from a distance. At that point we would adjust the stimulation level to a point that produced a behavior change. This is the most important concept for you to master. A correction is not meant to punish a dog - it is meant to get a behavior change. New trainers totally miss this. You have trainers who OVER CORRECT and UNDER CORRECT rather than focus on behavior change. My 12 year old Shit-Zu only needs a raised voice to get a behavior change putting a remote on her would be animal abuse.
In the short term, this dog needs to have a muzzle - we sell wire muzzles that dogs can drink in and accept quicker. This is a MUST.
In the end you may need to do all the preliminary work about and then get a local expert. The problem is anyone can hang a shingle on their door and call themselves a dog trainer. Finding people that really understand dog aggression is difficult to impossible because EVERYONE HAS AN OPINION and few have the experience.
Regards,
Ed Frawley
I tell people like yourself that remote collars are the greatest dog training tools ever invented but they are also the most abused dog training tools ever invented.
I have produced three DVDs that teach people how to introduce their dog to remote collars, they explain how to determine what level of stimulation to use and then how to employ them in day to day training.
We use the Educator ET300 Mini Remote Trainer on our dogs.
The biggest mistake new trainers make is to simply slap a new remote on a dog and take it out and start pushing the button to stop behavior the handler doesn't like. They start by putting the dog in a highly distracting environment and then start stimulating the dog when it does something they don't like. That's not how to use a remote collar.
The problem you face is more difficult because of the size and strength of your dog combined with the environment you putting him in. We prefer to train with low level stimulation. But there are times when that is not the most effective way to solve a problem. You are in a serious PROBLEM SOLVING situation.
What we would do with a dog like yours is to make sure the dogs obedience is 110% in a distraction free environment. We would do what we needed to do to walk the dog in areas where there are no other dogs. When the obedience was finished we would introduce the dog to the remote exactly like we teach in our DVDs.
Once that was done we would slowly introduce distractions with the end goal being to expose him to other dogs from a distance. At that point we would adjust the stimulation level to a point that produced a behavior change. This is the most important concept for you to master. A correction is not meant to punish a dog - it is meant to get a behavior change. New trainers totally miss this. You have trainers who OVER CORRECT and UNDER CORRECT rather than focus on behavior change. My 12 year old Shit-Zu only needs a raised voice to get a behavior change putting a remote on her would be animal abuse.
In the short term, this dog needs to have a muzzle - we sell wire muzzles that dogs can drink in and accept quicker. This is a MUST.
In the end you may need to do all the preliminary work about and then get a local expert. The problem is anyone can hang a shingle on their door and call themselves a dog trainer. Finding people that really understand dog aggression is difficult to impossible because EVERYONE HAS AN OPINION and few have the experience.
Regards,
Ed Frawley
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