WTB - E collar - suggestions?

[jlirot]

My 7 month old GWP has been an absolute peach - until about 2 weeks ago. Her recall has been amazing. She sits, 'leaves it', down, come, etc, etc. But, the past couple of weeks when she wants to play with other dogs I can't get her to stop and recall. It's frustrating because she's been so damn good until now.

I will get to spend a little more time with her in the next couple weeks and I'm sure that will help. But I'm thinking that it's almost time to get the collar going.

As far as bird training goes, she's started pointing, I whoa her to food and just for shits and giggles once in a while. She's good. I haven't worked too much on whoa-ing her from a distance but I'm SLOWLY getting there. And, I've started making her hold things in her mouth for 'fetch'. She generally won't take it from me without my forcing her mouth open but after that she'll hold for as long as I ask her to (probably 30-60 seconds at this point).

She's bird crazy and chases after every tweety bird in the woods. I'm taking her to a couple of training days with some pointer clubs in the next couple of weeks. We'll see how she does.

Any suggestions on dog collars? Someone highly recommended the Dogtra. Thoughts?

[xfactor]

I have and use the Tri-tronics pro 500 G3. pricey but excellent…that being said, dogs can be ruined very quickly unless you know how to train with the collar. not a tool for an amateur to train with...can be done, but please do your research, don't just throw the collar on the dog and expect all the bad habits to disappear.

[Foxton Gundogs]

[QUOTE=xfactor;1625567]I have and use the Tri-tronics pro 500 G3. pricey but excellent…that being said, dogs can be ruined very quickly unless you know how to train with the collar. not a tool for an amateur to train with...can be done, but please do your research, don't just throw the collar on the dog and expect all the bad habits to disappear.[/QUOTE]

What the Xman said. I actually have all 3 brands my go to is an old TriTronics, but I have lower end $250 Sport Dog and Dogtra as well. I don't like the Dogtra feature that you must use the control to shut the collar off by pairing up a special spot on each not is the control rechargeable. For an inexpensive collar the Sport Dog 1200 or 1600 is the best bet the only down side is you can't shut the controller off but it is rechargeable at the same time as the collar. TriTronics were always the best going but as stated they aren't cheap. Most important attend a collar clinic and learn how to use one before you strap it on a dog. Good Luck FG

[FirePower]

I have and use the Tri-tronics pro 500 G3. pricey but excellent…that being said, dogs can be ruined very quickly unless you know how to train with the collar. not a tool for an amateur to train with...can be done, but please do your research, don't just throw the collar on the dog and expect all the bad habits to disappear.

Excellent advice sir.

[Cdn-Redneck]

I have a dogtra and it works good. I think the tritronics is easier to adjust the stimulation as needed. Make sure you learn how to use the collar first. Conditioning your dog to the collar is the key. Excellent training tool.

[Trav]

Put a Sport Dog (not sure the model) collar on our springer. Possibly the best money I've ever spent. The dog caught on within two walks. Have only used the actually shock function twice, and the vibrate maybe a handful of times. Now when the dog is too far away or misbehaving, a single beep and she is at my side. No more yelling and cursing and chasing after her when she decides to go play with someone else. I highly recommend it!

[huntergirl86]

I have the Dogtra T&B 2500 - has a beeper on it. Works great. They must know the commands really well first before you start using the e-collar on them.
I had tried the sportdog on my GSP, and at 8 months it barely worked on him.. It is a small reciever on the neck, more suitable for a smaller dog like a brittany. For a GWP I wouldn't choose sportdog because of all that hair as well.

[Foxton Gundogs]

[QUOTE=huntergirl86;1625983]I have the Dogtra T&B 2500 - has a beeper on it. Works great. They must know the commands really well first before you start using the e-collar on them.
I had tried the sportdog on my GSP, and at 8 months it barely worked on him.. It is a small reciever on the neck, more suitable for a smaller dog like a brittany. For a GWP I wouldn't choose sportdog because of all that hair as well.[/QUOTE]

Not sure what model Sport Dog you had but I use the 12 and 1600s and they have both worked fine for 2 yrs. They all have different ranges so be sure you have one with a bit of range and you can change the length of the electrodes for coat type, receiver size is every bit as big as the DogTra, maybe bigger. As for settings there are multiple settings and I have used mine on everything from a 32 lb Spaniel to an 85 lb 'meth'Lab with no issues what so ever. As one who uses collars almost every day on multiple dogs I would tell anyone don't discount a Sport Dog 12 or 1600, they work as well or better than any "lower end" collar. I would suggest HG86(and I do not mean this in a nasty way) that if you can't get your 8mo old dogs 'attention' with a Sport Dog you need to heed your own advice and go back to the basics and re condition him he should be responding to beep alone with little need for stimulation at that point.

[Iron Glove]

Please heed what the experts like Foxton are saying - get a Trainer who is experienced with humane E Collar use.
Watched a Professional Trainer light up a young Lab with an E Collar, wasn't a pretty sight.

[jlirot]

Thanks for the advice guys. Always appreciated. No worries about me zapping the shite outta my dog. She's REALLY good. I just see that she's getting a little bit of an attitude sometimes and I want to make sure she knows how things are supposed to work. She's very bright and generally sensitive to what I want so I don't think it'll take much. Just a buzz might work.

And, i've been reading up a bit on conditioning and I'm planning to buy one of the DVD's I've seen online and go through it before any zapping.

Girl is coming along quite nicely but when I say 'sit' or 'come' - she needs to listen right now.

Cheers,