As an owner of not only a hunting breed but a dog that has already wandered off chasing birds, only to be found 4 days later… I have seriously reconsidered my opinions about using a training collar….

by Elizabeth Shaw | The Flint Journal

Wednesday September 24, 2008, 8:03 PM

FLINT TOWNSHIP, Michigan — Ever wonder if an electronic collar could help improve your dog’s hunting performance? Successful collar conditioning starts with training the trainer, said Tri-Tronics field product specialist Jim Trotter, a retired Haslett teacher who’s been training his own retrievers for waterfowl and upland birds since 1971.

“When I first started working with dogs, all there was were shock collars, which a lot of people felt were inhumane — and for good reason,” said Trotter. “Over the years, the technology has evolved so that now we have the ability to turn them down (and) fine-tune the stimulus to suit even the most sensitive dog.”

But seeing is believing, Trotter said.

“They’re now truly training collars, not shock collars anymore. In demonstrations, I actually let customers feel the stimulation and show them the ability they have to control it,” he said.

An electronic collar, or e-collar, delivers an electrical stimulation controlled by a remote device. When used properly, the dog quickly learns it can avoid stimulation by obeying the trainer’s commands.

“It’s allowed us in the dog training world to speed up the training process and allowed us to increase what we’re able teach by a good 30 percent,” said Trotter.

But it isn’t magic, and it isn’t instant. One of the biggest mistakes novices make is using an e-collar on an untrained dog.

“The dog should already know the basic obedience commands of here, heel and sit. Once they’ve got those down, then you can begin to reteach those commands using the collar for reinforcement,” said Trotter. “If you start your dog’s very first teaching sessions with a stimulation, the risk is the dog not understanding and not drawing the right conclusion to what is going on.”

Some dogs can become “collar-wise,” learning to obey only when the e-collar is on. A trainer can avoid that pitfall with a good understanding of how behavioral conditioning works, said Trotter.

“Before doing any stimulation at all, the dog wears the collar every day for a full two weeks. Every time we go out, the collar goes on. They get to associate the collar with something good happening,” said Trotter. “After two weeks, all of a sudden in association with your voice and a base command he understands, he gets his first stimulation. So he associates it with your command, not the collar.”

One of the biggest benefits is the increased range it’s given trainers for reinforcing commands.

Until the early 1970s, a typical long blind in a field trial might have been 100 or 120 yards. Today’s dogs are running open blinds at three times that distance.

“It’s like an extended leash. It has totally changed the retriever aspect of things, what we’re able to do with dogs today and how we’re able to get dogs to respond 300, 400 yards away from us,” said Trotter. “I can put a dog out on a water blind and he will respond flawlessly at 350 yards and handle right to a tee. The dogs of 30 years ago couldn’t do the tests the dogs of today are put through, and it’s because of this kind of advanced technology.”

It’s improved real-life hunting situations too.

“Guys don’t have to walk nearly as far to pick up their birds. Now they can send the dog because the dog is under full control even hundreds of yards out,” he said.

Ultimately, the dog’s safety might be the best payoff of all.

“He may be running deer or chasing birds halfway across the field. Or maybe he’s running straight for the road. That’s when you just want to know you have total control, to stop him when he’s doing something wrong.”

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