So I have begun ecollar training with Tasha. I have a few questions. I am actually at my dads house typing out this post as my computer is now officially busted, so I will be able to read replies from my phone but not respond.

1. I was suprised to see that her low working level appears to be between 65-70 out of 127 on the dogtra. I have checked several times and this is where itended up. Is this normal?

There was absolutely no reaction until I got to 70, then she sort of jerked her head and yawned.

She maintined good attitude and drive. Immediately after testing for levels we played tug with the orbee untill I was sweaty, and she was eating treats. It just seems kind of high to me.

Does anyone else have a dog whose low working level is this high? She's a tough cookie, but I just wasn't sure if I might have missed a more subtle signal.

2. Since I want to mostly use the collar for preventing innapropriate chasing. When she is in drive to chase something do I increase the stim level or continue to nick untill I have her attention?

(Zap! vs. nick nick nick nick... good dog!)


3. Do you ever fade saying "no" before the stim?

The reason I ask this is that with our basic obedience I took her through saying "no"" before the prong correction, but we hit a wall where everything became "no".

It started to become "Sit, no" because she would beat the correction after I said "no", but would wait untill I said it to comply. She's a tricky little beast!

Anyway, I began to correct after saying "no" no matter what and then eventually faded it out. I don't want to fall into that trap again.

Thanks!


ETA: How waterproof is the collar? The reason I ask ist that when we go hiking there are creeks and ponds that she loves to take a little swim in. Should I be taking the collar off before we get to those sections of the trails?

My dogs go to the beach in theirs & put their heads underwater. If in salt water, I would rinse when you get home. I have had a number of my dogs wearing these collars to the beach & in the rain & snow for 6+ years. Same collars & they still work fine. Basically, they don't leave my property without it on. Just make sure that the little plug is closed tightly.

You dog's hardness & level the of distraction (to your dog) will dictate how high a stem you will need to use to get the results you desire. Each dog is different. The average dog's begining responce is usually around 30. At least with the dogtras that I have seen people use. This is on working dogs, pets in many cases may be different. Again this depends on the dog's temperment. There may even be a difference as to the number based on the individual collar. I have a dogtra 1702NCP.

I usually give a negative marker before stem to give the dog a chance to correct the behavior. If my dog were chasing deer & can get too far away or maybe cross a road..I would not be worring about negative markers or maybe not even the stem level being to low etc or too high..I want to STOP my dog. Not saying turn the stem up to 127, just for those thinking that is what I mean. But I will say that I would rather err on the higher stem side & STOP my dog then to have the dog get run over etc. But you have to know you dog. I don't want my dogs to shut down becasue I have over-corrected them either. My female would care less(Very Very hard dog)but my male is a soft dog.

If the dog startes to beat the corrections & buy extra time with the negative marker, I would go back to work on the command before just steming the dog.

 Quote: lauren jeffery

1. I was suprised to see that her low working level appears to be between 65-70 out of 127 on the dogtra. I have checked several times and this is where itended up. Is this normal?

Hi Lauren:
I can only tell you what works for me, so take this for what it's worth. I have the Dogtra 2302 NCP Advanced. My current competition dog's working level is somewhere around 22-25 for obedience work (without a decoy present). However, this is using the "Continuous" stim vs. the "Nick."

My transmitter has a toggle switch at the top to change the stim from C to N (Continuous to Nick), and once or twice it accidentally was on N when I thought it was on C. Those times, I thought my collar wasn't working at all because the dog wasn't responding at the normal working level. I figured out that the toggle switch was on N and not C and everything was back to normal after switching it back to C. Turns out that I have to use a much higher # on the dial for my dog to respond to the Nick vs. the Continuous.

So, when comparing stim levels, be sure you are comparing apples to apples (same collars, same settings).

You should buy the dvd from this site. And wait until you use it on your dog again.

I'm glad I did.

Konnie's right about the nic & constant. I forgot to mention that. Thanks, Konnie, for adding this after we spoke about this thread last night.

In a normal situation I have mine on nic but I will switch it to constant if I know there is a greater possibility that I will encounter a exterme distraction, just in case.

I will even use the vibrate to key my dogs to a negative behavior as a reminder, rather then stem them. It is often enough, when doing straight low key obedience work, like heeling.

When we first obtained and tried out our e-collar, we were camping with some friends who were just a tad upset about what we were doing. One friend asked to try out the collar against his fingers. He barely felt level one. It wasn't until level three that he even thought it gave any kind of good pulse. Buster isn't phased unless it is at least on level four. It only goes up to five!

You might be surprised how little stimulation your dog is getting if you try it out on yourself.

Also, I agree about the e- collar DVD from Leerburg. It changed the way I look at e-collars, and training in general.