Well after a month of putting on/taking off the e-collar, we gave it a shot today. I had told my wife, I would try it on me before on my dog and I got up to 50 (on forearm) . Well I started at 5 with no response.. 10-15 she started sniffing the ground. At 20, she jumped about 3ft in the air, but did not yelp. That's as far as I went. She seemed really scared, but it did not shut her down. She didn't really want to play with her orbee anymore, but she still took food. After about 20 mins she was playing with her ball like normal. I only used the nick. I felt kind of bad while testing, but I really only plan to use it for recall.

What have other members experienced while testing/tuning? and did you have any troubles on the next training session? I have read some members using as high as 100, which seems insane. I guess she is just a really soft dog. She has taken some pretty good pops on a prong that hasn't stumped her like today. That is why it seems recall would be the only reason to use an e-collar...

Alex, a "soft" dog is one who shuts down after a correction. Your dog did not! If I were you, I would be very happy with her reaction.

You are probably right. I am happy she took that correction and moved on. It was actually at 30 when she jumped. 20 is where I found a fair correction level. I guess I just thought she was a softer dog because of other members using a higher limit. This is my first e-collar experience 1st hand, so I didn't know what to expect (even though I have Ed's dvd). Thanks.

I think I'd call her sensitive, not soft. If she is still taking food, it wasn't too much for her.

I've got a sensitive dog, corrections for her are a gruff "hey" or "ah-ah" most of the time. She understands a fair correction, though, and does not shut down. She would, however, if I used corrections that were too hard for her.

My other dog is not as sensitive, and I've used a prong on him for some things. I've given him a couple of pretty decent corrections with the prong. At first he was a bit rattled, but I knew I hadn't overdone it because a lesser correction didn't faze him. And he still took a food reward when I repeated the command and he followed it. Once he got the program figured out he became alot more attentive to me. I also worked to make it a very good thing when he responded to me after the correction. So it became very much in his interest to listen and respond.

When I first started using the prong, he would not of played with me right afterward either. But now he would. He's got it figured out that it's a bad thing if you don't listen, but a good thing if you do!

I know I wasn't using an e-collar, but I think it's alot the same principle.

My deaf dog is very sensitive to the E collar - because she is deaf there really isn't an option for anything else.

When testing her sensitivity I'm wondering if you missed a sign from when she first senses the stimulation - for my dog it is a blink. We went this way with the e-collar not to "shock" her out of a bad behavior but to train her to come to me and look at me for a command when she feels it.

So here is what we have done so far -
stim = treat
stim + momentary look = treat
stim + held look for 5 seconds = treats
now we are at a recall when she feels the stim.

I only have had to go up to 20 (dogtra 1500 NCP) for really hard distractions (her food bowl locked in her crate).

Maybe you could try it again and look for that slight movement that shows that she is feeling it and start pairing that with a treat so she doesn't feel the stim as a negative thing.

Sorry if I explained something you already knew! I just know different people use e-collar different ways. It has really made such an improvement in her training ... good luck! Kelly

I guess what I meant to say shortened is that when using the stim as a "marker" or "stimulus" you can do lower levels than when you use it for "corrections" and more proactive. So that I can recall her to "be ready" when I think we are in a situation where she may be thinking about behaving incorrectly.

I do still do corrections - but not with the e-collar. Not that I would hesitate if she became agressive to a person or animal. Anyhow I hope this has made sense . ..

Hi Kelly, yes I started at zero (dogtra 1100 nc) and got nothing..at about 10ish...she blinked, 15..blinked then started sniffing the ground for the "land mines". If I recall correctly, Ed says to go a bit past the blink. I gradually increased til I got to 30 which is when I got the response I didn't want. Finally, I think at 20, she is getting a similar correction to a solid prong pop. This is my first time using an e-collar so any experiences is appreciated. Thanks!

And also....yes, I think "sensitive" is the exact word I was looking for..

Make sure the collar is really snug ( one finger only under the collar) , you can mark the position with a white or silver Sharpie once you are sure it is correct, so you can set it every time. If it is not snug, the stim level is erratic, and that was the mistake I was making before getting an instructor.

My instructor told me that I might find that I can reduce the stim level, as I go on in training. On a Dogtra 200 Gold, I started at around 40 and now am down to around 20-25.

At the beginning, finding the right stim level can be a little tricky. As Bob and Ed's DVD says, make sure the collar is snug, or you will be getting mixed/confusing results. When I started working on my dog's proper stim level, I wasn't tightening his collar enough.

As a result, I didn't see any blinking from the dog until we got a little bit past 40. After that, I adjusted his collar to a snug fit, and I was getting results at around 20-ish. Took me about a week to figure out and confirm the proper stim level for him. I use a Dogtra 1500.

He responds at 25-30, and I have to turn it up a bit when he's both highly distracted and in drive (quite a knucklehead, probably because he's a hard dog). They do freak out a bit when you stim them for the very first time.