I'm looking for training advise on the use of an E-collar in controlling excessive barking in the back of squad cars . I have a Dogtra 1200NCP . I only have knowledge in the area of E-collars with hunting dogs where I used a Tritronics Model Pro500(?).

I have a basic idea on how I would like to use it but would like to hear from others who have actually had success using an E-collar in this area.

Hi;

I'm not a police officer but I had a similar problem with my GSD and I have a friend who is a Michigan State Police trooper who had a problem with his dog whining in the back of the jeep. My electric collar has a warning tone as well as the shock levels. All I had to do to break her of the habit was a verbal warning and if she didn't respond I would give an appropriate level of correction. After a couple of incidences all that was necessary was just to use the warning tone and in a short period of time both dogs were broken of the habit. My female was broken fairly quickly. My trooper friend has a rather headstrong male and it took a while longer in his case but the dog did not like to be zapped and was broken of the habit as well. Good luck!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

It's so confusing for a police dog. They see so much as a threat, or sometimes not sure how to interpret what they see. Use of electronics is a very good way to cure the problem, I would strongly suggest though, rather than just teach the dog he will be corrected when he barks, that he is taught a command to stop barking. It can be a good thing, when he barks, he just has to know when to shut up.

DFrost

I agree with David that this needs to be put on a cue, rather than just correct the dog for barking.

There are times when you want him to bark and just correcting him will lead to confusion if it's not clear when it's OK to bark and when it's not.

David and Lou ,
I agree also , "Quiet" is the command I have choosen when I want him to stop barking. Have either of you used your e-collars to stop excessive barking. If so how did you do it? I got an idea but having little experiance in E-collar training I would like to know how the experts do it before I get too far into it .

Jim,

I've used and use them, and have been very successful with them. My philosopy has always been however, I only use them to correct a behavior the dog already knows. Having said that, I'll defer to Lou and others that are much more conversant in the use of the E collar than I am.

DFrost

I wish I had a nickel for the number of times that we have had a conversation about this in a training session. Most often we select dogs because of their drive. While riding in a patrol car they are exposed to so much stimuli it's no wonder some them just don't spin out of control.

Our experience has been that for most of the dogs straight compulsion from a shock collar doesn't work. Don't get me wrong it has curtailed the barking with a quiet command. However, what has been most successful has been giving the dog something to do when you want or need him to be quiet. We actually started doing some obedience in the car. Simple things like sit and down. Initially this with was done with the door open and on leash. From there it was done with the door closed and so on.

Obviously, it's unrealistic to keep your dog in a down nor would you want to. What it has done is provide the handler some relief. With the dog under a down command the handler can talk on the radio and order something at the drive in window!

My guys were sceptics about this strategy at first but this along a quiet command and little electricity it's a lot quieter around here.

More than likely you already have a bark command. But if not, I'd suggest that you first train the dog to bark on a command.

It's hard to do this training with random distractions so wait until you have a training session where you can control the level of them and then set him up.

When you don't want him to bark and he does, press the button on the Ecollar with it set on a low level of stim at the same time that you give the "quiet" command. If he ignores the stim and keeps barking. Turn it up a bit and repeat the command the button press. Try to keep the distraction at the same level as before. Raise the level of stim very slowly at you continue to repeat the command press the button. At some point, he'll respond to the stim and will stop barking.

Turn the level down a bit and try another distraction. Don't test the training for a while! If you do, it will lead to confusion and the dog will continue to test for the rest of his life. Continue to give the command and press the button for about 50 stims that get through to him.

Towards the end of that training, you'll be able to figure out just what level of stim is appropriate for his level of distraction. If you go too high you may convince him to never bark again so be careful with that. It's rare that will happen but I've seen it done.

Lou,
We've done quite a bit of that training (minus the E-Collar) to teach the quiet command and to keep them quiet when we deploy them so it may take alot to get them to bark. I get the idea though and can work with it .

We get good alerts(upon locating suspects or when we command them to bark) from all of our dogs and didn't want to mess them up. Thanks for the help.

Jim,
I used the technique that Lou Castle used and it worked well. This was with my previous dog who was very high drive and hard temperamented.
I would teach the quiet command outside of the vehicle. A place to do this would be during search training where you give an announcement. The old way, when I had my first K9, was to let the dog bark when announcing a search. There are too many tactical reasons not to do this.
If you teach this or already knows it then the quiet command will overlap into the vehicle. Just use your collar and adjust the stimulation to where you need it. It is very easy to do w/the dogtra collar. One thing I would add is make the command in a command tone, not a loud correction tone. If u get louder then you are going to cause conflict. Keep your voice (temper) on a even plaine and let the collar work for you.