Hey guys, if you have a question for me please don't hesitate to send a PM or better yet an email. I may not check the board every day but I usually check email every day.

The problem with the 200 is a technical-electrical one that affects 1-2% of the dogs. It has nothing to do with their "softness" or "hardness." It has to do with how sensitive they are to Estim (not to life in general) and there's no way to know that before the dogs feels a stim. It shows up as a dog overreacting to a very low level stim, usually about a 10 or a 15 on the dial.

Basically there's a "charging pulse" that occurs before the stim. Most of the time it's too low for dogs to feel but a dog that's highly sensitive to very low levels of stim may find that it's more aversive than the stim itself. It only occurs with the 200 model.

If this dog is affected by this low level of a stim in a way that make him jump and yell (as a pain response rather than a startle) then there are three fixes. 1. Upgrade to an 1100 or a 1200. 2. Send the collar back to Dogtra with a note marked "Attention Mark" and ask for the "Lou Castle Fix." No charge for this, except for the postage. It's done internally and you can't tell that there's any difference between a standard 200 and one with the fix, except by direct comparison of the stim levels. 3. There's a do it yourself fix that I can send via email if you'll send your email address to my email address, uncllou@aol.com. It involves buying some parts at Radio Shack (less than $15) and is quite easy. The directions are very specific, easy to follow and even include two photos so you know what it look like. It was developed by Al Ruf who posted it to the Ecollar Training Plus email list and gave permission for me to forward it as well. It blocks the charging pulse and lowers the stim level across the board by about 1/3. The advantage to the last fix is that it's easily removed if you ever want to. It doesn't do any damage to the Ecollar.

When you get a two dog unit they come with two different collar straps, one black one orange. There's a toggle switch on the transmitter that is marked "black" and "orange."

I'll suggest that you NOT use the pager mode in place of the stim. Many dogs find it even more uncomfortable than the stim and it's not adjustable so you can't raise the level for when the dog is distracted.

Kristen, for the dog that "screamed bloody murder" it sounds as if you needed the "fix."

BTW there's a new article on my website that talks about "How to Select an Ecollar."

Okay Lou. I am going to email you. Thanks.