Recommendations on Training Collars

Cam Withers

Cam Withers

Member
Got me a new chocolate lab fellas! She'll be 9 weeks this Wednesday and tripled in weight since I got her! I'll get pics up soon as I can figure out the whole picture size deal on this site. Curious about training collars. Not really sure I want to shock the piss out of my dog to get her to do what I want her to do? I have the Richard Wolter's WATER DOG book and DVD. Heard it was one of the best. Not ever done the train-your-own-retriever thing before. Anybody got any suggestions?
 
I have used a dual model before that had the vibration mode also. It worked well. It didn't take long before you only needed to use the vibration after using the shock and vibration together. But you should be able to turn any of the collars down to just a tingle.

It is very helpful when your dog knows you can correct him anywhere he is, not just at your side.
 
I have done the self train 3 times and it has worked out great, the last dog is 3 now and I force fetch trained her and I would recommend that as a great skill to have in a dog, another book I found very helpful was written by Julie Knudson and deals with training a Lab.
 
Lardy, Jurney or Graham are great programs as long as you don't get caught up in the time tables.

Remember, the pro's are under an obligation to pruduce results in the shortest amount of time.

Dogs are like children & all progress @ different speeds.

As far as collars, you can't go wrong with Tri-Tronics!!!


CJ
 
Put the collar on the dog,so that he gets used to it,but dont even turn on the transmitter untill you have worked the dog on a check cord and he knows what you want him to do.Correct him by moving him back to where you want him to be.After he knows right from wrong and is old enough,then you can correct him with the very lowest intensity.Try it with the probes on your own neck,thats what I do,but if I nick my dog,you would think he was electracuted.Go easy.If you have a sound or vibrate feature,use that.Good Luck.
 
Read Goodwin's "Retrievers, from the Inside Out" section on collar conditioning. Its the tops IMO. Make SURE you TEACH 1st without the collar, and that your youngster KNOWS what the command means before you think about enforcing it with stimulation.
 
I use a Tri-tronics 18 level collar. On the lowest setting it is almost totaly non-sensitive. You don't want to hurt your dog, just get his attention. A good collar will allow this. Ensure that basic obedience is instilled prior to collar conditioning. Force fetch training is also a plus. Once the dog is collar conditioned, the collar becomes more of an insurance policy than a primary tool. You will only resort to the collar if your verbal commands are ignored. READ, READ, READ on the subject!!! Good Luck, Kevin
 
I agree with all said above and cast a vote for Tri Tronics if for no other reason than their customer service. Someone else in this house put mine away turned on and it got too low to recharge. They took real good care of me even though it wasn't a real warranty situation. And she agrees not to use my collar without letting me know. Good Luck, now the fun begins. Keep it fun and it will go well.
 
Cam,

The 2 brands I ould recomend are tritronics and dogtra. Both are very high quality, have good customer service and great reputations. As to which model, that depends on how and where you hunt. Range will very with model from a hundred yards to 1 mile. Remeber that these distances are under perfect conditions. IE: if you are in hilly terrain the 1 mile collar is not going to get that far.

Obviously you are not going to use the collar at 1 mile distance anyway as you are not going to be able to see the dog at that distance. However, I used to do Field trials and hunt tests so we trained at distances of 500-600 yrds so I had the longer models .

My collars are the tritronics 200 and the dogtra 2002 NCP. Both are very old so I don't even know if those models are still made.

Once you decide what distance you want ( more is better) then look at the different models in that range and decide which has the bells and whistles you like as well as the size and feel .

As was mentioned above , COLLAR CONDITION your dog, don't just put the collar on and start using it for corrections . Collar Conditioning is a specific technique that teaches the dog how to turn the pressure of the collar off and that the correction is coming for a refusal of a KNOWN command. Most collar conditioning drills start with a dog that knows the commands SIt, Here, Heel. You then use a sit , here, heel drill to condition the dog . You teach one command at a time before moving on to the next.

If you have never collar conditioned before, I highly suggest you either bring the dog to a pro to do so , or pick up Mike Lary's or Evan Graham's videos on how to do so .

Send me your email and I will send you and outline of how to collar condition. I too like to force fetch before CC but that is another topic.

Good luck,

Dave B, aka baumy
 
A collar has messed up more dogs then anything you could think of..... Get with someone that knows what they are doing.... Get with someone that knows what they are doing... Again Repeat... Make sure he has years of experience with collar conditioning a dog.. Dogtra smaller handheld remote... John
 
I suggest getting a book called:
"Retriever Puppy Training The Right Start For Hunting" by Loveland and Rutherford

Very inexpensive book and it is very easy for anyone getting started to understand. I have never used a collar on my dogs.
 
Tri-tronics. Don't buy an Innotek, they suck. Don't know about the other manufacturer's collars. Wolter's is good if you are very patient. Lardy is more effective, but an entirely different approach.

Hitch
 
I'm a Dogtra fan myself.

I second the suggestion of the Goodwin material "Retreivers from the inside out". Produced by a duck/upland hunter for how and what to teach a hunting dog.
 
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