Quote: Geoff Empey

 Quote: Carolyn Pike

I had the opportunity to borrow an e-collar from a coworker and I admit it, my curiosity got the better of me . I put it on the lowest setting, balanced it on my arm and hit the button.

Try it in your palm of your hand for best effect.

Or on your sleeping husband as a joke.....
(which he did not find that funny )

Maybe this is just a concept I learned from being a leader in the Army, but I would never do anything to my dog that I'm not willing to experience first. That means putting the collar ON YOUR NECK and letting 'er rip. At level 129 on my Dogtra, it feels like someone whips you as hard as they could with a 3/4" wooden dowel. Continuous will make you take a knee, trust me. It's no joke.

As you'll learn in the DVD, the stim level is based on your dog's temperament. My dog's 'working level' on my Dogtra is about 50. I use the nick button for normal corrections and the continuous button (about a half second) for avoidance corrections. BIG DIFFERENCE in my dog's reaction between nick and continuous.

Just my opinion, but if you can't do it to yourself, you have no business doing it to your dog.

 Quote: Carolyn Pike

I'm glad I'm not the first one who tried it .

This is the kind of stuff we do around here for fun! I wish I was kidding. My e-collar has stimmed more people than dogs.

It helps if you drink beer first.

 Quote: kurt smith

At level 129 on my Dogtra, it feels like someone whips you as hard as they could with a 3/4" wooden dowel. Continuous will make you take a knee, trust me. It's no joke.

82 was no joke with my Dogtra, and I am going to take your word for 129 Kurt....

Kurt,
Honestly 129! YIKES! Thanks but no thanks.

If you ask me though, it is only fair to know what you're putting ones dog through.
I didn't use a pinch until I tried it on my baby smooth thigh, and I didn't use the e-collar on my dog until my arm quit twitching.

Nothing to it Carolyn, just do it!
Randy

I realized I didn't address Carolyn's question:

The idea behind rotating the collars is to desensitize your dog to the collar - I think you know this. The DVD spells out a program for doing this, but basically you're going to want to switch different collars on your dog at various intervals so your dog (1) gets used to wearing different collars, and (2) does not associate the electric stimulation with the ecollar. I don't think there's a really right or wrong way to do this. It's just up to your imagination on how you want to accomplish it. Ed says that the dog should wear the ecollar for about 2 weeks before any stimulation is applied.

My dog wears his ecollar for large portions of the day, depending on what we're doing. Sometimes I just forget that it's on him (even though I've got the remote clipped to me all day). I think the video says that the metal leads on the collar may irritate the dog's skin if left on for too long. I haven't personally seen that yet, but it's probably a good idea to vary the wear times.

As for the lowest stim, I can't feel it either. In fact, I have to get up to about level 20 on my Dogtra before I barely feel anything. The sensation on the lower levels is the same as the machine a physical therapist might use to treat muscle spasms. For me, the continuous stimulation tickles until about level 35. After that it transitions into what I'd start to consider pain.

 Quote: randy allen

If you ask me though, it is only fair to know what you're putting ones dog through.

Yup. Agreed. I didn't mean to say that everyone needs to certify themselves on the ecollar by enduring a continuous 129 on the neck. Unless, of course, they plan on doing that to their dog, in which case they should.

I'd keep going just to make sure that e-collar actually works! Oh and yeah I've shocked myself too on the highest power of a tri tronic. Muscle twitches and it HURT. Feels like a really hard pinch/stinging smack combo. Luckily the dog didn't need that high a stim although they had to go higher than I would have liked to get some avoidance of the fence. This dog would scale an 8ft wall so it was pretty important to make a strong impression.

My e-collars. Before I tried them on the dogs, and some years ago...

Strapped one of the collars to my left forearm.

Set the sending unit to tone - stim. Only four intensity settings.

Setting one - a nice little tone.

Setting two - a nice little tone, and a little tingle.

Setting three - a nice little tone, and an attention getting but not a punishingly aggressive shock.

Setting four - a nice little tone, and I got the full idea of what a serious electric stimulation could be. Whew! Got my full attention, and I do mean full attention!

A good lesson in how to use the collar in the context of settings and training objectives. Train to the tone with a long line, rewards, praise.

The lesson: don't be quick to go higher on the stimulation scale. Training technique should trump stimulation, and while tone can certainly help cue the dog, you don't need to stimulate the dog very often A-tall - my two cents.

But if needed... Wow!

Ok Randy- I do not usually succumb to peer pressure, but I really was curious to see if it was actually working.

Got all the way up to 8 (the highest setting) and still didn't feel anything. Either it doesn't work and my coworker's dog was fooling him all this time, the batteries need to be charged, or my hand is dead after one too many bicycle crashes, lol. I'm voting for option number two. I'll try charging it and see what happens-