electronic dog collar

[alg]

I have a 16 week old golden retriever I'm training myself. I'm having some trouble getting her to come, and having her lost in the woods doesn't appeal to me. Do these electronic collars work, and are they difficult to train with? At what age should they be used? My dog is young, so am I not giving her enough time, and expecting too much at this age?

[Fish&Fowl]

You have to condition her properly to a collar slowly. Don't ever use it for punishment, only for reinforcement of commands she already knows. I'd say 16 weeks is a little young, but I'm no expert. I don't know what you mean by lost in the woods, but if you are hunting with her at that age I don't think that's in the dog's best interest. It should be all fun and little bits of work here and there at that age.

[alg]

No, I'm not hunting with her yet. Just walks in the woods, etc. The last time out she took off and would not come back. It ends up she was just sitting a few yards from me, watching me. I couldn't see her, but had me worried. She's mostly on a leash. I've worked with her on sit, come, etc., but sometimes she comes only when she wants to.

[Pyrex]

When I started training my brit. I had the same problem, what I did is had a 20 foot tagline and worked with her in the field for the first year. It wasnt fun as you could imagine the stuff they can get tangled in. but she learned the distance to be away from you. After awhile she began looking back before the rope got tight, the idea is getting the dog to watch for you while hunting, not for you to watch the dog. Believe me it worked great. After she had that down then I put the collar on and would give her a light tick the moment she got out of that 20-25 foot mark. Havent had a problem in the last 3 years. Hope this helps you out.

[humen007]

You probably need to do some basic obedience training such as come, stay etc. Using a shock collar can save a lot of time but the dog must know the commands before they are reinforced with a shock collar. You say you are afraid of losing the dog in the woods. Does the dog check in to see where you are or is it comfortable being away from you and out of sight. I would suggest using a long check cord (100 ft) made of stiff nylon and work the dog in an open field to teach quartering and come. The idea is that as you walk the field in a small zig zag pattern, the dog should be quartering out in a bigger zig zag. As you are walking a line in your zig zag, the dog should be heading in the same direction and when you turn to go in the opposite direction, the dog should turn and change direction and cast off. Use the check cord to give a tug if necessary when you want to change direction if necessary. If your dog is comfortable being away from you keep in mind that it is easier to bring the dog close to you than it is to make them go out away from you.

[landscaper]

what age do most do you start putting a collar on a dog??

What all do you use it for?? (I dont know much about them) Like some said above reinforcement of commands?? I have a 3 1/2 month old Springer and we are teaching the basic commands but really need to get her used to Pheasant scent? (mostly pheasant hunting only)Use a dummie with scent on it and throw it so she smells it?

Also How do get a pup Use to Guns/Firing guns?? So the dog doesnt get scared and NEVER want to hunt again

thanks!

[fishroger]

Thats a good age to get the obedience commands down. They have some pretty good classes around that are real helpful and you can get some pro advice on how to handle dogs, plus they can get use to other dogs. It takes alot of work. Mine knows the commands but he is lax on the come command so I tried the e-collar. Be careful not to use it as punishment. It only took a couple of nicks to get his attention. Dont be zapping him for chasin birds, he is still young and will learn. You will probably get alot of opinions on this.

[Joe15]

Our dogs used to run alot but on our shock collars and on most others there is a tone buttong...so we would just yell come and put that button...my dog would hear the beep and if he didn't come he got a nick....so eventually he hears the tone and realizes taht if he doesnt come hes going to get shocked...so i would say that they work very well