Debbie,

"Like all training it takes time and conditioning. "

And a trainer who isn't clueless. Thank you for the advice. I'll think about how I can incorporate it into the training.

Rich,
I am a newbie to using the e-collars as well, here is something to keep in mind between nick and continous modes.
Nick happens in the blink of an eye and really even shorter time frames.
Continous happens over a longer time period no matter how fast you are on the button.

So the stim seems a bit different but in truth is the same, only like anything else that happen if it happens very quickly you will not notice it as much it it happens over a longer period of time. No matter how fast you push the continous it will always be a longer time frame than using the nick button, that is covered in Ed's E-Collar for Pets DVD.
Thx,
Jay

Jay,

I think you are right.

I discovered something else today. For whatever reason, the amount of fur under the contacts, or the tightness of the collar, or maybe just my dogs emotional drive "state", every time I put the collar on I need to go through the exercise of starting at 0 and working my way up until I find the level where my dog reacts to the nick. Saturday I had to set it to 60 to get him to react to the nick. Today he was reacting to it at 40.

keep us posted rich. for those of us who haven't yet needed the e-collar, it's great to hear about someone's methodical, pretty detailed experiences in learning how to uses one.

i, for one, appreciate your input!!

Rich - you should also be aware of the fact that after some training the dog may work at a lower level. Especially if the training has been correct.

 Quote: rich pallechio

I discovered something else today. For whatever reason, the amount of fur under the contacts, or the tightness of the collar, or maybe just my dogs emotional drive "state", every time I put the collar on I need to go through the exercise of starting at 0 and working my way up until I find the level where my dog reacts to the nick. Saturday I had to set it to 60 to get him to react to the nick. Today he was reacting to it at 40.

I have the Dogtra 1602NCP, and I've found that the required stim level is a moving target too. I've also discovered that I have to crank it up more on colder days. For example, on a warm day, my dog might respond to a 40. However, in the same emotional state, my dog would require a 60 or 70 if it's real cold outside. I guess it makes sense since cold weather seems to numb our senses too.

I'm a new dog owner (just a shade over two months now) and I've practically lived and breathed the Leerburg training DVDs. I particularly loved the E-Collar Training DVD. Just be patient and be consistent. On the occasion that my dog blows off my initial command now, he *definitely* minds me immediately after I say "no". Ed mentions in his DVDs to never underestimate the power of your own voice. I'm a believer. I rarely have to nick my dog anymore. Just a calm "no" usually gets it done.

My e-collar experience has been great thus far. I truly believe that I have trained my dog in a more humane manner than if I used a collar and a lead to administer corrections. My dog was much more "vocal" when I corrected him with the prong collar and yet the correction/proofing stage of training seemed to move at a much slower pace with the prong. Still, people who frown on the prong collar feel even more opinionated against the e-collar, but I don't care. If my dog is about to run on to a busy street, I know I can put him in a down-stay and save his life thanks to the e-collar training.

Good luck,
Joe

My experience with the ecollar has been very posative as well. I went through the progression of collars, choke, prong and finally the e-collar. Once my dog was conditioned to the collar I found that the nick button (dogtra 1200) did pretty much nothing. But my female Am Staff consistently responded to a setting of 25. I never used the pager. Now I don't use the e-collar (but for situations that could be very dynamic). I can now get her to do my bidding with a flat collar and a voice command. She transitioned off the e-collar very quickly. She never really changed her training behavior as she came off the collar. I have to say in conjunction with the e-collar training I re-trained her as though she were a puppy for her to recognize me as a pack leader. Her issues were associated with dog aggression, but I had also unknowingly surrendered pack leader to her as well. All I know is the e-collar made her training much easier and my corrections were severe enough and consistant enough for her to pay attention.

I have a question for those of you with remote collar experience.

I've watched Ed's DVD on remote collar training, along with several of his other training DVDs. One of the things they all have in common is that they are recorded on nice days, shirt sleeve weather. Out here where I live we have already set a record for rainfall in November. The day I first tried the collar on my dog was the one and only dry day we had. My experience with electricity is that it and water are a bad combination. But I've seen these collars recommended for hunting dogs, retrievers. Hunters hunt in all kinds of weather.

Common sense tells me don't use the collar in wet conditions... but they are used on hunting dogs ... can someone experienced give me some guidance here?


EDS COMMENT EDITED IN:

These collars are meant to be used in water (at least the Dogtra and Tritronic collars are) Hunting dog people have used them for years

Rich,
Yes you can use the e-collar in the rain and wet conditions. You must keep in mind the only time the collar is active is when you push the button, other wise it is in an off/un-plugged state so no worries there. You may find that if your dog neck get wet you may need to drop down the stim level but you should be fine other wise.
Jay

Rich,
Just as an FYI kind of thing, I have an electronics back ground so I have a small clue when it comes to electronics. That is why I was able to explain the difference between continious and the nick button before.
Jay