“How to train your dog with an e-collar?” is one of the most frequently asked questions by dog trainers who are aware of the effectiveness of this device, but have a hard time understanding its operations.
One of the most common dog accessories that come to our minds is the dog collar. A dog collar is considered by dogs as well as their human companions as a tool of control.
Keeping its effectiveness in view, a few decades back, canine experts decided to tech out the leather straps that are tied around dogs’ necks.
Unfortunately, most people who are unaware of the benefits of this electric device accuse it of being inhumane and often refer to it as a weapon of cruelty.
However, the reality is far from what most people think. If used the right way, an e-collar can be an excellent tool for training the dogs that are otherwise hard to train.
Electronic dog collars have been around for quite some time. The earliest model of this pet gadget was first used by dog owners who enforced command from a distance.
The early models of the e-collar had limited stimulation and weren’t the best thing to be used on dogs. Yet, no one to this day can deny the level of utility they provided.
About two decades back, the manufacturers of e-collars discovered the flaws in early models and modified them to the e-collars that we used today.
In the following paragraphs, all your questions regarding the e-collar will be answered, so stick around.
What Is an E-Collar, and What Is It Used For?
Before we jump to the uses of an e-collar and discuss how to train your dog with an e-collar, let’s spare a moment to talk about what it is. An e-collar is a remote-controlled device used in dog training. Just like any other collar, it is fastened around a dog’s neck and has certain levels of electric stimulation.
An e collar is operated with remote control, and the electric stimulations make dogs follow certain commands until they turn into learned behaviors. An e-collar is mighty effective when training your dog outdoors.
There are multiple reasons why dog owners resort to an e-collar. Sometimes, your dog might bark too much, while sometimes, it may chew and sofa and make a mess. All these actions from your dog do nothing except adding to your anxiety.
With an e-collar, you can make your dog behave the way that is safe for them, as well as their surroundings. If you are planning to get an e-collar for your dog, we have put together a list of reasons for using one that will help you on the way.
Naturally, dogs are playful creatures, and they love to jump around and play. However, if your dog’s jumpiness gets out of hand, and continues even when you are expecting guests, things can get a little problematic.
This is where; an e-collar can come in handy. The e-collar should never be used as a weapon of punishment. Instead, it should be used to make your dog behave gently when you want them to.
Letting your dog roam freely around the neighborhood can be dangerous, not only to your dog, but also the people and their pets. One of the primary reasons why e-collars are used is to keep a dog within the yard boundaries.
One of the worst nightmares for a devout dog person is to come home and find their dog missing. Before e-collars came into existence, it took weeks and months to train their fuzzy buddies to stay within the confines of the yard.
An e-collar is an easy way to allow your dog to play freely in the yard and come inside when it’s time to come in. Within a few weeks of training, you can make your dog roam freely, without wandering off.
Regardless of how well-behaved your good boy is, whenever they come across a stranger or taken to an unfamiliar environment, they start to bark.
This isn’t any form of punishment, but e-collars can be used as a negative reinforcement when you don’t want them to bark. An e-collar keeps your dog from barking, at least in the areas where you don’t want them to bark.
An e-collar is one of the easiest ways to communicate your commands to your four-legged buddy, while they are off the leash.
With remote-controlled collars, you can talk to your dogs, and make them aide by your commands without even saying a word. It also allows your dog to receive quick feedback from you for the behaviors they exhibit.
With this device at your disposal, the training sessions with your dog will be less time consuming and much more effective.
With an e-collar around their neck, your dog can behave in your desired way, much faster than you can ever imagine. Furthermore, with a remote in your hand, your levels of frustration can decline considerably, that you would experience otherwise.
You won’t even have to spend weeks and even months, trying to change your dog behavior. After a few sessions of using an e-collar, dog owners begin to experience results that they have been trying to achieve for quite some time.
How to Train a Dog With an E-Collar?
Now that we have discussed the reasons for using an e-collar for dog training let’s get down to business. Let’s talk about the ways you make your dog adapt to the charming new development of having an e-collar fastened around its neck.
Have you ever heard the term “collar conditioning”? Collar conditioning starts way before you can put an e-collar around on your dog. The first step in the process of collar conditioning is to make your dog recognize the device that it is about to wear. This is just a part of their training.
Your sole motive here is to make your dog come to terms with the device that it will be donning when going out for walks, going to the beach, or only playing fetch in your yard. Your dog should believe that the collar is going to be on it throughout its life.
Once your dog has become accustomed to the collar, it’s time to put it on. You can even attach their name tag on the e-collar just to make it appear as the regular collar they wear every day.
Remember, the e-collar should remain powered off, and must only be turned on when training is in session. Leaving the collar turned on, you might be potentially hurting your dog, without even realizing it. Turn it on, only when you are trying to enforce a particular sort of command.
During training sessions, some dog owners fasten the notch, tighter than what they usually do. To make the most out of the e-collar method, make sure the pressure points on the collar are in full contact with your dog’s skin.
If the fur coat on your dog’s skin is thick, you need to get a collar, the points of which are longer. For dogs with a short or medium-width fur coat, the gap between the collar and skin shouldn’t be more than that of two fingers.
If you can easily slide three fingers under the collar, it is a sign that the collar is tied loosely, and you need to tighten it. Make sure not to tighten the collar to the point that it starts to hurt your dog, choke its neck, or even cause muscular strain.
The most important thing to consider when using an e-collar is to select the right level of stimulation that you want to administer. Every e-collar in the marketplace is produced by a different manufacturer, and therefore has on it, different levels of stimulation.
The initial levels of stimulation are barely perceptible to the human hand. According to canine training experts, the stimulation in the earlier stages should be enough to make the dog understand your command.
Try to keep the stimulation as mild as possible, to make your dog accept it as being a normal training method, and not something incredibly painful. Your dog should be able to identify the stimulation as a part of simple communication, and nothing alien.
The first time you apply the e-collar, make sure your dog stays within your sight. Set the stimulation to the bare minimum. Now, start to increase the stimulation level, and observe your dog’s reaction, and how it reacts to the fluctuation in stimulation.
The moment your dog starts showing signs of annoyance, stop until next time. Continue the process a couple of times with a lot of patience. Within a couple of sessions, your dog will get accustomed to the device, and from there, you can take the training forth.
In most cases, the response from a dog when exposed to an e-collar is not that of pain. Instead, it has more to do with confusion. The annoyance that your dog exhibits will not be different from the disgust of having a fly buzzing on the top of its head.
If your dog starts to bark, growl, loosen its ears, or tucks its tail under its body, these are signs that it is feeling too much stimulation. According to some dog experts, dogs are more muscular in the neck region, than us humans.
According to a famous veterinarian, just like any other living species, dogs too feel the pain. However, their reactions are much different than the ones humans give off. A journey into a dog’s psychology will tell you that it is in a dog’s nature to hide pain and appear less vulnerable. This is the reason; we get confused and fail to determine the thing that makes our dogs hurt.
Before you start training your dog to wear an e-collar, make sure whether or not they have sustained any injury, earlier on in their lives. If the dog’s reaction to the new collar is overt, it will be considered as unacceptable by most humans.
Before making your dog respond to your electronic demands, make sure you have a detailed conversation with dog experts, as well as reputable veterinarians.
Watch the video below on how to train your dog with an e collar.
What Are the Benefits of Using an E-Collar for Dog Training?
As discussed above, an e-collar is one of the easiest ways to make your dog follow commands. With that being said, the first time you are using an e-collar, make sure you do it in the presence of a trained professional. By doing so, you will minimize the chances of making a mistake and causing pain to your dog. Before you put the collar on your dog, make sure to conduct your research, and find a trustworthy dog trainer, in whose presence you will do the deed.
Let’s discover some of the benefits of using an e-collar.
As discussed above, most people think that an e-collar is one of the most painful training tools for dogs that are inhumane and savage. Contrary to popular belief, these devices are highly adjustable, and with some practice, you can get the right level of stimulation.
Regardless of whether your dog is extremely mellow or stubborn, the e-collar works perfectly as a convenient method of training. By using a leash, you can put your dog under a lot of pressure or stress. An e-collar can make you communicate your command, without any added pressure, stress, or anxiety.
Interestingly, an e-collar is the best training tool for rather stubborn canines, which would otherwise go in a resistance mode, if pulled tightly with a leash. An e-collar would softly communicate your command, and make your dog act accordingly, even if it is in an angry state of mind.
Another good thing about these e-collars is the features they offer. The best feature of an e-collar is the ease of operating it. If you have multiple dogs with e-collars in your home, you can easily control all those collars with a single remote control.
Some electronic collars come with a flashlight feature, which makes dogs more prominent when they are moving around in the dark. The later versions of e-collar come with better adjustability and beep and vibrate features.
Although they are not the core components of dog training, they surely help you do some pretty fancy stuff once your dog has learned to wear an e-collar.
What Are Some Common Myths About E-Collars?
Now that we have discussed the benefits of using an e-collar let’s take a look at some of the myths about e-collars for dogs.
Contrary to popular belief, e-collars don’t hurt dogs. An incident or two might have happened in the earlier models, but e-collars today come with safety mechanisms. These mechanisms protect your dogs from electric shocks. Furthermore, you don’t necessarily have to use an electric shock always. You can produce the same result with a light or a beep.
An e-collar doesn’t cause neck burns. Instead, it forms pressure sores on a dog’s neck. These pressure sores have a lot to do with the neck collar being too tight. To resolve this issue, make sure to adjust the collar rightly and not hurt your dog by fastening it too tight. If you are new to e-collars, it is better to go through the manufacturer’s instructions on the manual.
Dogs are pack animals and have a lot of respect for authority. Contrary to what most people believe, an e-collar doesn’t make your dog fearful of you. Instead, an e-collar makes your dog understand all of your commands, thus increasing respect for you in the dog’s eyes.
Hunting is a tough sport, and for that purpose, dogs need special training. An e-collar can enable you to train your dog to hunt down the trickiest of targets. However, an e-collar isn’t only made for hunt dogs. It can be equally good for pet dogs.
Just like any new thing that you try, training your dog with an e-collar can be pretty frustrating in the beginning. However, with time, you get the hang of how the thing works. Plus, you have in your hand the remote control, which helps you operate the e-collar without even moving a muscle.
E-Collar Mistakes to Avoid While Training Your Dog
Let’s take a look at some of the mistakes you need to avoid when using an e-collar.
- When using an e-collar, make sure the collar you are using is regulated by policy. By doing otherwise, you’ll be putting your dog as well as yourself, under a lot of trouble.
- Before using an e-collar for the first time, make sure to get enough training. If possible, do it in the supervision of a trained professional.
- The e-collar is only for training purposes. Try not to make your dog dependent on the collar alone.
- The collar should be used occasionally, and not for every other task. Similarly, don’t use an e-collar for a short period, just to fix a problem.
Watch the following video so that you can avoid the mistakes while training your dog with an e collar.
Conclusion
By now, you must have gotten the answer to the question “How to Train Your Dog With an E-Collar?” Before you make your dog wear an e-collar, have a detailed word with your vet as well as a professional dog trainer.
If possible, when using the collar for the first time, make sure it is done in the presence of a professional. Training your dog to accept an e-collar can be difficult and sometimes frustrating. But with patience and persistence, you will see results.
