My 22 mo GSD is a companion animal. He is trained in basic obedience some rudimentary drive, grip and focus work. In my home area, he has excellent recall such that I can recall him from off-lead walks in a very large park, or from foods left on the ground, other dogs, etc. But, I have not trained him well enough, as he showed one night this past week when he ran off in the woods after deer at my mothers house in the country. I was right there, had his ball in my hand, which usually distracts him from anything. It took over an hour to find him, at some distance from the house. I drove to the nearest road on the other side of the woods, and fortunately he heard me calling as I moved slowly up the road, and aside from being extremely thirsty and excited, he is fine.

All the time I was looking for him, I was cussing myself out for not training him well enough, and also wishing I had an e-collar. So.. the question is, what type of collar is best for a gentle, medium soft dog for use in basic obedience. I have read a number of posts on this topic here, but they mostly relate to professional working dogs. Thanks in advance.

Polly - My Remi is a companion animal and he is 14 months old. I got him an eCollar a few months ago, and bought the DVD at the same time. Remi is a pretty soft dog, if I yell "BOO" at him he'll flaten his ears and come running. But, I live in a semi-rural area with a not great fenced yard. I have to say that the video and eCollar helped to solidify the recall for him. As well as other off leash obedience. As for the TYPE of eCollar, it doesn't really matter. Get one that's good quality and will give an even stim (or stem as Ed calls it) every time you press the button. And I would get one with a "nick" button and not just a continuous button. I have one with no nick button, and I regret that and will probably be buying a new collar here soon.

Remi has great prey-drive, and the eCollar has solidified his recall even when he's on a cat or other animal that is running.

In fact, we just got some goats for our back pasture last week, and I am using the eCollar on EXTREMELY low settings to help him learn how to move the goats. Yesterday I had him moving them into a small pen on a 1.5 acre pasture with the help/reinforcement of the eCollar. It was his first time, and he was quickly doing downs and when I saw him getting too excited came back immediately when called. I only had to stem him once during the entire time.

I'd say get one - but be sure to order the DVD. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> It really helps.

Just because your dog is a companion doesn't mean it needs a lesser collar or anything like that. A good collar will work well on any dog if used properly, and are more consistent in their stim levels than a cheap collar.

I like the dogtra's that have a smaller remote (my boss always allowed the remote to be visible and the dog become collar wise) and i can throw it in my pocket easier to avoid this. Plus it always is less of a hassle if i'm running w/ my dog with it on. I think this years models show how much battery is left, which is a something I wish mine had.

If your going to use an E-collar and are unsure of yourself, order the DVD first. I thought I had a pretty good understanding of what to do before watching it, but was glad I had watched the movie anyways. Ed goes over the collars he recommends on the DVD.

sorry for being redudant, jennifer beat me to it <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

At least we both provided the same message... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />