Doggy shock collars

[Ken_CT]

Irish wolfhounds are sighthounds. When one sees moving prey they lock in and go. If he's on a leash he can take you "grass surfing". They are also very big dogs. This is an old pic of my first one & me from about 20 years ago. I am 5' 10". Although they can be hunters, they are very gentle, easy going couch potatos.

 

[penokee]

I realize the use of shock collars is a personal decision, but would like to list a few reasons why I decided not to use them when training my yellow labs:
1. I talked to 3 different veterinarians about the use of shock collars in training dogs and all, independently, said the same thing: "I'm not against using them, but I personally wouldn't use them on my own dog".
2. I was concerned that I might get upset/angry at the dog/puppy when it wouldn't listen, and OVERUSE the shocking.
3. I trained and use my lab for hunting pheasants in North Dakota and Montana, and am aware of situations where the shock collar trained dogs got out of reach of the shocking and just took off into the prairies. Needless to say, the coyotes usually got them the first night.
4. Our son brought his black lab to a professional trainer who used shock collars, and though the dog obeys, it lost it's spirit.
I strongly recommend Positive Re-inforcement. I use praise, encouragement and a liberal amount of dog cookies to reward them when they do what you are trying to teach them.
My current yellow lab is 6 years old and bonded to me as tight as any dog I've ever owned. Enough rambling, attaching a picture of my faithfull hunting partner(10%) and pet(90%).
penokee /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[PineRidge]

What a dog might say or do if they were training a human:

* You should have your human fixed, even if it's a purebred human. There are too many humans, and our big cities are over populated with them to the point where we are unable to feed and shelter all of them.

* If your human talks to much, we suggest using a shock collar to train them not to talk so much.

* If you must breed your human, even though we do not believe there are any good reasons for breeding humans, at least do genetic screening to help insure your human is a healthy one that conforms to breed standards.

* Some humans are very hyper and will pull on their leash constantly, for these extreme cases, we recommend a choker collar.

* If your human is aggressive and frequently starts fights, please put a muzzle on it when you take it out in public.

* You should feed your human something better than purina human chow.

* If your human is sick, you should not put it down just because you can't afford the cost of surgery. You should re-arrange your budget or mortgage your dog house.

* Don't buy a human for your puppy just to teach it responsibility.

* You should always carry "money" treats to reward your human. Humans love money and will do almost anything for money treats.

* If your human attacks a dog, it should be put to sleep.

* If you already own a male & a female human, you should be carefull about getting a third human. Two males will often fight very aggressively for the attention of the female, and two females will often do the same over a male human.

* A good way to test a human for temperament, is to takes its money or food away from it to see if it reacts aggressively.

* Some humans have a bad habit of peeing in the water bowl, if your human continuously goes to the bathroom in the house, we suggest you chain it outside.

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[Maxfli]

My wife breeds Wire Fox Terriers. We have a Tritronics 3 dog system. One of the first things we did was to sample the shock our selves before we used it on the dogs. Yes, my wife's idea, and no I didn't turn it all the way up. Our collars have six settings for intensity. On the lowest setting it feels like the hair on you arm standing up, from my perspective it is barley noticable. Thatcher is probably our most adventurous, and he consistantly responds to the lowest setting. We get out most days, and Thatcher gets a correction maybe once a week. Used properly, they are a great tool to allow your dogs to get properly exercised. If I pull out the Transmitter they all get excited, cause it is time for a run. We spent time with a professional trainer, we were alway told to never use the collars as a correction against aggressive behavior.

 

[goodoleboy]

I see we all have mixed views on the collars. I ordered one today but not sure if i have the heart to use it on my best friend. She is a great dog & listens well and obeys commands.Except for those few times which are life threatning to her (chasing cars) and jumping on people.
Ill take a pic of her one day so you all can see her.

 

[gsxr1100]

I personally would not use them on my three dogs. I think they are a good way to "baby sit" the dogs. Again, this is me. Plus it does not prevent any other dog or animal from coming into your yard. The best part with these collars is when the dog "break through" the fence and needs to get back in. Wait and see how long it takes just to get the dog back on your property.

 

[PitbullMidwest]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ...has different probes (resistors) for varying shock levels )</font>

Maybe our collar is different, but aren't the different probes used for coat thickness not shock level?

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ...can also be set to just give the dog a short pulse or for as long as you hold the transmitter button down )</font>

I really feel that the shock limiter is a very important feature. If the dog isn't responding to the highest level it probably won't respond to an extended shock either.

 

[PineRidge]

The color coded probes on our Tri-Tronics collar are all the same length. The booklet does mention shorter contacts as an optional component however.

To change the intensity of the shock they give you a neat looking little spanner wrench to unscrew and replace one of the two probes.

Since this is DC current one probe is a ground, it is never changed. The other probes that were supplied with the collar are

#1 brown (lowest setting)
#2 red
#3 orange
#4 yellow
#5 green (highest setting) wish I haden't touched this one. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

The dog that I used it on was a long haired Shi-Tzu that had a tendency to run toward traffic in the street. The collar worked very well as a deterrent on the red probe level.

 

[GeekHollow]

I've got an Innotek 300 that I use on Tipper, my half Weimeraner, half Husky. It has been invaluable to me, although I only use it in very limited circumstances.

From what I can tell, the only thing she inherited from her mother was a pretty good tolerance for cold weather. Otherwise she looks like Weimeraner with too much brown and some white patches. And the hyperactive nature as well.

The only time I use it is when she (A) doesn't come when called (which usually means she's racing after something's scent), or (B) she's playing too rough with my other dog - a 15+ year old Collie mix who adopted me after somebody dumped her on my road.

Now this model Innotek has 7 shock levels, plus a tone. It also has two different probes, the only difference being the length to compensate for our friends with longer fur. With the collar on, all I have to do is hit the tone and she immediately stops and comes running. I'm currently working to transfer that behaviour to a dog whistle with a fair amount of success. On the other hand, she must be almost immune to pain. I've found that I have to start at a level 5 pulse just to get her attention. This model does both the quick pulse and a continuous shock. The continous shock self-limits to 10 seconds, and then can't be used for 10 seconds afterwards. Most of the time the pulse is enough to do the job. For cases where additional reinforcement is necessary (such as chasing after visitor's cars when they leave) I've found it necessary to hit level 7 on continuous for a second or two. This enough to make her yelp and then run straight to "daddy" for forgiveness. I also have to make adjustments for water. She loves my creek, but once she's been playing in it, I've found that a level 4 pulse has the same effect of level 7 for a second (gee, whodathunk wet skin would be more sensitive /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif), so I have to make certain that I adjust the level accordingly.

I think the key to one of these is to not overuse it, but at the same time use it consistently. Just like djradz's dog, Tipper actually looks forward to me bringing it out of my pocket, for it usually means she gets to spend the better part of the day outdoors (with decreasing supervision, and she's only 5-1/2 months old!). I may go an entire weekend and only "zap" her two times. She's quite intelligent, and a fast learner.

But I will be so glad when she outgrows the puppy stage (which I hear for Weimies, is somewhere around a day or two before they die /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif). Just this past Tuesday, I thought I was going to have to seek out an opthalmologist. When I went out to her pen to give her her morning rub down before going to work, she jumped up once and caught me by surprise, raking her left paw down my face, ripping off my glasses, and scoring my right eye with a claw. For the first hour, I feared she had at least scratched my cornea, it hurt so much. Fortunately that turned out not to be the case. And I don't fault her at all - there's not a mean bone in her body, she was just so happy and bouncy to see me.

Jerry

 

[PineRidge]

Jerry great picture. Since the dog has your chair where do you sit?