Ed's e collar is award winning. Extremely infomative and easy to understand.

My biggest difficulty is with finding the proper stim level.

Carolyn,

I have the Dogtra 1700NCP. The stim level goes from 0 to 128. I tried this experiment with several people. I had them hold the collar with the contacts in their hand. Then had them start at 5 and stim themselves. If they couldn't feel it they turned the stim up, 5 at a time (5, 10, 15 etc.) until they could.

What I discovered is that some people can feel it at a very low level and others had to go higher. I don't recall exactly, but I think one person had to go to 25 before he felt the stim.

Of course, what you are interested in is what the dog feels. For normal around the home stuff we set the collar at 30 or 35 and Hans reacts to it. But if he goes into drive we often have to turn it up to 60 or 65 before he responds to the stim. You'll need to work with your dog to determine what works with him.

Ed explains how to determine the right stim in the video. I recommend you order the video and watch it before you buy an e-collar. I think you will be in a better position to make an informed decision about the collar after you watch the video.

I offered to Stim everyone when I first got my Dogtra 1700NCP. I went up to about 80 on my arm, only about 50 on my neck.

I also think it is a little unfair to Stim the dog without knowing what it feels like. I KNOW that 40 or 50 should get her attention without any real pain and 80 is about equivelent to a bee sting.

I've also put her Prong Colar on my neck.

I wonder how many "honey, bring the e-collar up with you tonight" 's this thread is responsible for :-P

 Quote: mike j schoonbrood

I wonder how many "honey, bring the e-collar up with you tonight" 's this thread is responsible for :-P

You dirty dog!

 Quote: kurt smith

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.

I agree with you and I try the E collar as a test, prior to placing it on my dog. There is always a chance that the collar could malfunction and give a much stronger stim than is called for, and testing it first, to me is just a good safety practice.