Matty joins Monique and Jill to tackle a discussion on corrections. We discuss different types of corrections for different types of dogs, give examples from our daily lives, and e-collars.

E-Collar Conditioning by Leanne Tucker

Recall Collar Conditioning 101

Turn the collar on and have both contact points touching your arm.  Feel the various levels of stimulation. It is important to know for yourself what each level feels like.  Any tool can be abuse. Used correctly,  the ecollar is a wonderful and life saving tool!   

Let’s get started!!

You may find you have to up the intensity of the stimulation if the distraction is quite exciting… ie. Baseball being thrown, squirrel etc.  each dog is different and you will have to figure out what level is required.  For example I varied between a low 3 and a medium 3 for my training.  

Use caution while around other dogs.  If you are going to call your dog do it at a respectful distance.  Do not stimulate your dog while it is saying hello to another dog. 

 Use common sense J

At this point you should have a dog with a 100% reliable recall…. It’s a wonderful feeling J

1. Have your dog wear the ecollar for a couple of weeks.  Put it on for walks and wear it a little bit around the house. It is not turned on, the dog simply needs to wear it to get used to the feel of it and so they don’t think of it as something bad. It goes on for walkies… this is a good thing!  It must fit snuggly.  Two fingers max in the collar, the prongs must have a good contact.  It is not to move around as this will cause differing stimulation results and is not fair to the dog. The contact points should stay in one spot so they don’t rub back and forth causing an abrasion.

2. Have the dog wearing the collar in the house turned on.  Do not have any distractions around and just go about your daily business.  Set the control to a starting low level.  I usually start at say a 10 with Dogtra or a low/medium 2 with a tritronics.  I use the continuous setting and just do a 1-2 second stimulation.  The response you are looking for is “hey, what was that”…… start low and work your way up until you get that response.  You DO NOT want any vocalization.  You are simply finding out where your dog feels the stimulation.  This will be different for every dog.  My dogs have all gotten a desired response with a tri-tronics low 3 – medium 3  (20 on my old dogtra) I tend not to use a High  on my tritronics collar… I get vocalization on the high so I just use low and medium settings.

3. Now you know what your baseline level is we are ready to get started.   Off to a distraction free area/greenspace/park you go with a long line and cookies!   The dog must already know what “come” means.  The collar is NOT for teaching the recall it is for reinforcing it.

4. Allow dog to wander and check out the environment as you walk him/her on the long line(not a flexi as you will let the dog drag the long line).  You can do a “free” recall (no stimulation) or two with a nice treat for coming to you.  The next step as the dog is wandering around is to say “fido come” and push the continuous stimulation button at the SAME time.  The second the dog turns toward you the stimulation stops. Gently use the long line to make sure they come in to you initially if needed.  The dog is learning how to turn the stimulation off.  It turns off by coming towards the handler. Treats are given for the recall.  The dog should not be vocalizing or be getting upset.   Some dogs may pause and wonder what the heck is that…. That is why the long line is on.  The dog can never be wrong. Bring it toward you with the long line and then the stimulation stops.  Since  your dog already knows come this should not be much of a problem.

5. Repeat several times with some “free” ones in between (“fido come” without stimulation, give the dog a chance to respond in a speedy fashion).  Lots of praise and treats for a job well done.

6. It is not uncommon for the dog to use its brain and want to stay close to you… this is perfectly normal.   Something weird happens when I’m a certain distance away from my owner.  They will figure it out quickly though. Continue walking around until they start to investigate the environment again.

7. Stay on the long line in a distraction free environment for 2-3 sessions.“fido come” plus stimulation,   Stimulation stops when dog turns toward you and comes in.   If the dog starts to come toward you (the stim has stopped) and then decides to abort and go sniff grass, repeat “fido come” with simulation.  

8. Next have some distractions present while still on the long line at a reasonable distance.  Ie. Kids playing/ people walking/other dogs at a safe distance on a leash.  Do not use the collar on your dog if another dog is approaching or while visiting another dog.  Your dog is still in the learning phase and you don’t want the dog to associate the stimulation with the approach of another dog, in addition you don’t want your dog to run toward you, away from another dog and perhaps bring on an attack.                                                 Do 2-3 sessions with distractions

9. If your dog is doing well (which it should be) remove the long line.  Go back to a distraction free environment. Again,  “fido come” with stimulation, stim stops when dog turns toward you.  Mix this up with “free” recalls too.  

10. Next repeat in a distraction area.  There should be total understanding at this point.