I know I will need an e collar eventually with my new dog Hogan in order to be off leash. He is going to be 4 in June. I have had him a couple months.
Is there a certain length of time to bond with him before I can introduce the collar? Can I introduce it too soon? I understand he should wear it for a length of time before using it, and I would buy the training dvd before ever using it also.

Sue,

For a sound dog of good health and mind......If you get the training video you will be good to go. I have it and there is a ton of info in there. There is no amount of time that the dog needs to be with you before you start on the e-collar conditioning. Get the DVD and get the collar. Your dog will be 4 in June, so NO it's not too soon to start using it.

Now based on all I said, there are some exceptions. How is the dog, nervy wise?? Is the dog sound or do you see alot of fear based behaviors?? Does the dog display alot of behaviors that you would deem strange or uncalled for?

Post up with that info and you will get lots of help.

I am just starting with my second dog on the ecollar. My first one was an adult (2) when trained and a professional trainer did the initial ground work using the collar for off leash heal and recall only.

My pup is 7 months old and I have been letting her acclimate to the collar for a long time (over a month). I just started training in the past week, following some guidance that Roni has shared.

Roni - per previous threads, I have started with her on very,very light stim and using the nick button in conjunction with her basic commands i.e. "sit"/nick at same time. What I have noticed is that she gotten a spring to her response. She has always been good with training and eager to please (and be rewarded). But with the light stim it seems like her drive to perform has jumped up about tenfold. I am hoping this is the point and benefit to your method and not just a coincidence. From what I gather, she is learning to associate the stim with compliance and then reward, right?

Should I work at this level for a few weeks - i.e. always using th light stim nick with the command? At what point do I progress to using the nick as a correction as in the training in Ed's DVD which I have? I am in no hurry and willing to put in as much time as necessary. I can tell already that by using a long break in period where she wore the collar without it being used that she has no clue that the collar means anything. To her its just a collar. So Sue, I would really recommend starting here.

Thanks in advance for any guidance Roni and others.

Jon

Jon,

I am not Roni, but it sounds to me like you are doing an awesome job. The key is knowing when to wean off of the treats and when to occasionally treat to keep up the response you are getting now and then knowing when to completly be done with treats all together. (There should be a book on this) And YES the key to good training is not in setting it on high and demanding a response but working on low and TRAINING a response. So... keep up the good training. You are right on track. I would start weaning off of treats if I was you, but only you can know what your dog is ready for.

Chris
The dog is very sound, and is not nervy, in my opinion. I have not seen any fear issues of anything at this point, he is an awesome dog, other than keeping his attention, but it keeps getting better. I don't see anything strange for behaviors that would draw any flags to me.
My main concern is recall. He blew me off the other day, and it scared the heck out of me. I have been working ob with him at home, and thought I was in a secured fence area to play fetch, and he got distracted and found a way out, and blew me off.

Sue,

Well that's normal. There is always going to be something that is more enticing to dogs. And yes, the collar will help the dog understand that there is no option but to listen to the leader. And that is.... only if everything is done properly and fairly. You can force a dog to do anything you want it to do. But if you want your dog to be a dog, then you need to train it, to do what you want it do. I know it sounds stupid. But if you read alot of forums and just relax on the whole thing then you can't go wrong. Dogs can read frustration, confusion, fear etc. So it's a waste of time to hide those things from your dog. It knows your feelings about the same time you are experiencing them. So just relax and train your dog.

I understand how exciting everything must be to a dog that didn't get to experience much. I have backed way off in training, even though I am marker training, I think I was pushing too hard, wanting him to understand. So we backed up a bit and tonight it started sinking in better. Had a little more focus and I can see it starting to click for him.
I'm sure he had been picking up on my frustration even though I was trying really hard not to feel frustrated, and I know better. He's a puppy in a 90# body that had no training. My pup, that will be 3 this summer,( time really flies by, still want to call him a pup) took to the marker training almost instantly and is just so eager to train, it's a giant play session for him.
I read this forum a lot, started before I got the pup, it is a great place to learn, and it helped me raise a great dog. Hogan is just a bit more of a challenge, a little stubborn, but he does like to be a good boy.

Jon;
Congrats! You are getting a typical response that I see using this method of training. Isn't it a blast? I do repeat the word 3 times, nick 3 times. Remember, dogs learn thru repetition.
Once you see the understanding in the dog of a command, start on
a variable reward schedule for the treats, but use a release command as a reward also. Lots of joy and play and then back into the position and your primary reinforcer. You get to judge on the understanding, and then remember positions are also a duration exercise so you'll need to work on that also. Let us know how things are going, Happy Training!

Jon;
On corrections, imo, they don't belong in the teaching phase,
so just keep up the good work. The result of a great foundation
is very little corrections!

Jon-
Curious, is the method you are using different than the method used in Ed's dvd?

Sue