Hello. We've been using the e-collar now for a couple of weeks, just got the dogtra3500 and love it! I've watched Ed's DVD about it, and took notes on all the great information. My questions that the DVD didn't seem to cover was: when training the common commands, like sit, down, etc, do you use the e-collar like he demonstrates in the video (if the dog doesn't follow the command, say "no" and wait 1 sec, give STIM) instead of a regular correction (with a prong collar, say?) Is that the appropriate way to use it?

Does the dog adjust to the stim over time so you have to turn it up? Is it possible the dog will learn to ignore the stim all together?

Why I ask is we had been using an older Innotek, only 5 levels, loaned to us. We had started at a 1/2 and only had to go up to 1 or 2max with distraction. By the end he didn't even seem to flinch with the level 5 (that was a very highly distracting situation, but he just seemed to ignore the stim and do what he wanted, which was go excitedly toward another dog.) It's made me wonder if the e-collar is only "good" for so long, or if anyone else has experienced this.

Thanks.

I hope you get some reply's to this. I am considering buying an e-collar, so I am looking forward to hearing about using one and possibly differences in brands.

I got the Dogtra 200 Gold and it has plenty of levels. I do not use the "no"command that is shown on the DVD on the advice of 3 different E collar instructors. I stimm the dog with the first command and if it doesn't respond, I give the command again and stim it rapidly a couple of times in a row. If it still doesn't respond, I increase the level slightly and command-multiple- stim again. It may be that the collar you have isn't snug enough, or doesn't have a high enough level of stim. You should not be able to move the collar around the dog's neck without seeing it's fur moving. I have talked to 4 different E Collar instructors and they all recommended Dogtra. If you have a dog that is not too hard, the 200 Gold is a good one.

They have pretty good customer support at Dogtra, so you can call them and ask them what they recommend using.
http://www.dogtra.com/

I have only been using the e-collar for a few months with my pet rott so still have a lot to learn my self. I did my groundwork per Ed’s OB Training Methods and have not had to use my e-collar for those basic commands. I got mine to enforce the off leash recall command, he always responded when the line was on but would test the limit when the lead was off. I use Ed’s method per his E-Collar DVD, of giving the command followed by the “no” if he doesn’t respond.

I have found that over time I have been able to lower the stim level to get the correct response. Starting out I did have to raise the stim depending on my dog’s excitement level, for example for Buddy the highest level of distraction is someone coming to our home. He loves people and would jump all over them and I had to bump up that level pretty high to get through that excitement, but once I did that a couple of times I haven’t had to do it again. Now when someone comes over he is still pretty excited but doesn’t jump on them and will mind me when I call him away, the last couple of times we have had people over I did not have to stim him at all.

I am not that experienced but I would think that there are very few dogs that can ignore the proper use of an e-collar, it may be that the collar you are using either isn’t tight enough or is faulty. Or maybe the dog is confused and not sure what you are asking of him?

Good Luck

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Hello. We've been using the e-collar now for a couple of weeks, just got the dogtra3500 and love it! I've watched Ed's DVD about it, and took notes on all the great information. My questions that the DVD didn't seem to cover was: when training the common commands, like sit, down, etc, do you use the e-collar like he demonstrates in the video (if the dog doesn't follow the command, say "no" and wait 1 sec, give STIM) instead of a regular correction (with a prong collar, say?) Is that the appropriate way to use it?

I think it is, I think its a regular correction.But I taught my dog all the commands I use before I ever bought my collar.

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Does the dog adjust to the stim over time so you have to turn it up? Is it possible the dog will learn to ignore the stim all together?

Some of the other people here could probably answer this better then me but I think that if you rush the distractions before the dog is reliable enough on the commands they can.

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Why I ask is we had been using an older Innotek, only 5 levels, loaned to us. We had started at a 1/2 and only had to go up to 1 or 2max with distraction. By the end he didn't even seem to flinch with the level 5 (that was a very highly distracting situation, but he just seemed to ignore the stim and do what he wanted, which was go excitedly toward another dog.) It's made me wonder if the e-collar is only "good" for so long, or if anyone else has experienced this.

I agree that the first thing I would think is that it lost contact.I dont want to steer away from Stephanie's thread here but I'm curious about Bob's way of using the collar. Is that first stim Continuous? and then the following stims nicks? Are you teaching the commands this way? Anything you can expand on I'd appreciate. Maybe even start another thread. Thanks.

I was taught to nick the dog once when the initial command is given. Then if the dog disregards the command, to give it several rapid nics with the 2nd command. ( This would be like tapping the dogs shoulder, the dog ignores the command, and then tapping the dog's shoulder several times in a row) If the dog still ignores, the 3rd commmand should either get a repeated rapid continous push of the button, and or increase in stim level.