Quote: Keith Kaplan

Although, different situations require different stimulation levels. My softer dog goes crazy at these little dogs behind a fence, and the stimulation needs to be turned up in that situation.

Same thing here. Two little dogs behind a fence get my dog going, the stimulation level has to go way up.

Will, you certainly know that on the video Ed himself makes the same mistake and corrects himself about the use of the term "shock collar" Furthermore there is a segment on the video where he presses the button and his hand jumps and the collar drops to the ground.
My trainer, as I posted elsewhere, insisted that I try the collar on myself. When placed on my palm at the stimulation level I generally use on my dog I can barely feel a tickle. At that level the term shock would truly be inaccurate and the term stimulation certainly would be closer to the slight feeling. I have not, however ramped the Dogtra collar up to 127, the highest level my low to medium level collar will go, either on my dog or myself.
In medical treatment there is a unit called a TENS unit which electrically stimulates an injured area of the body to promote healing.

"Tens Units can help back and neck pain that may be caused by trauma or continual strain. The body responds to such pain with muscle guarding, an attempt to immobilize the painful area by tightening the muscles. Muscle guarding impairs circulation in the affected area. The decrease in blood supply leads to a decrease in metabolism with an accumulation of waste products. TENS therapy (transcutaneous electric nerve stimulator) can help break this pain cycle and aid in the normal healing process. " From a website on TENS units.

There is NOTHING wrong per se about using electrical stimulation. Maybe when "activists" object to the use of an e collar, it might be well to point out the unit is not the electric chair and that electrical stimulation can heal and is not painful.

What I learned from my trainer is that you do not, absolutely do not use stimulation unless you absolutely know one hundred percent that the dog understands the command and that the dog refuses to obey the command. Secondly, you use the lowest level of stimulation to which the dog responds (this level can vary depending on the strength of distraction).

Finally, I read a study on "Choke collars" and prong collars which showed that "choke collars" have a high rate of causing fractures in the neck and even prong collars will sometime cause a fracture. E collars won't and neither will clickers or the word "Yes" used in marker training. Ed makes a point in his video that the e collar is humane -- and although I'm a novice and reading and learning -- thanks in large part to Ed's fine videos -- I know he's right. And the Dogtra collar allows a vibrate function which can redirect the dog's attention to me.

I hope I can get out to Michael Ellis courses, because he does have a course on the proper use of the e collar. In the meantime I stick with what I learned from my trainer and Ed's video.

 Quote: george yingling

.... on the video Ed himself makes the same mistake and corrects himself about the use of the term "shock collar"

"He corrects himself."

Kind of like correcting a poster on the board ....