There is this natural and inherent aspect of our human nature, which is the desire for perfection and ease. Dogs have become an integral part of our being so much so that we want to treat them in the best way we can, have fun with them as well as make sure they stay within a particular threshold. Mainly considering they are just animals and don’t have the will power we do have, it becomes essential to curb their nature to suit your desires.
This is where e-collar comes in, it is a device with a wireless remote and wireless receiver, the main function is to send signals to your dog in order to help them understand “good behaviour” and “bad behaviour”.
In common parlance, “power consumes and absolute power consumes absolutely”; man is a hungry being and there are some urges we can’t do without. Most people have therefore suggested that the use of e-collar on dogs is kind of torture on them and provide backing examples like that they burn, or they hurt your dog and is a painful way to train a dog. Such a perspective is understandable knowing human nature; be that as it may, the fact that the technology has highly developed over the years when they had only a few levels, some of which were extremely unpleasant is something we have to acknowledge. Therefore contemporary collars now offer 100 or more increments/levels of stimulation, which means you can taste to make sure you attain the main point your dog needs. Moreover, in all the years we have been providing this service I have never seen or encountered anyone who comes to buy an e-collar just to hurt a dog. You can’t decide to spend a fortune to hurt a dog, when there exist numerous ways to achieve such an evil desire; It’s mostly for training purposes that e-collars are bought and I can confidently say it has a proven positive track record.
Whether training companion, working, or sport dogs, we all want a happy and willing worker that responds quickly to direction at a distance under distraction. E-collar is the right tool to ensure you achieve such an objective with little or no stress. However before you can use this device for new behaviour training, it is super necessary that you eliminate the notion that e-collar is only for correcting.
Your dog equally needs to learn from experience to act in response to the e-collar and that by his actions he can control the sensation of the e-collar, once you hit this pinnacle, you can use the device to teach and encourage desired responses, and yes to discourage or eliminate undesirable behaviour.
Just like medications for your health, which you take in accordance to the directives provided by the physician, so to it is necessary to adhere to all the specifications made by the manufacturer before you can efficiently use your e-collar device. On another note, for training purposes there are equally certain rules or should I say directives, which would make sure you effectively land that “sit” command.
Here are some important guidelines to keep in mind:
- Teach your dog what to do and teach him what not to do: It is highly important that once you get your e-collar you commence by teaching your dog, proper behavioural habits before teaching him about what not to do.
- Continuity: There is a program to follow to ensure your dog adheres to your teaching and become exactly how you want him to be, but you must follow this program strictly. Don’t start with one and skip to another one, it won’t work for you.
- Consistency: Set your rules and boundaries your dog has to follow and stick to them especially during sessions. You cannot give commands you are not ready to enforce.
- Fairness: You need a leash at the beginning of your program, introduce each command on a leash so you can gently guide your dog into the desired response, then quickly fade out the leash because you want your dog to adhere to the device and not the leash.
- Repetition: Teaching your dog a new command is like lessons for human beings permit me say, we all know the effect of repetition of lessons, it makes you grasp the concept faster. A dog is no different, start each session with a resume of the last and it is guaranteed to help you.
- Praise: Pat, scratch and your voice could be highly influential to make your dog aware of good performance, more still, retrieving or chasing a favourite toy is a powerful reward for many dogs.
Having that in mind, you could now pursue your desire to nail that “SIT” command for your dog, but as earlier mentioned you ought to diligently search for the right setting for your dog. Tap the remote device and watch your dog’s reaction, keep increasing until it reaches the level you see the dog react, but you still have to be certain so do tap again after a few hours. Most importantly you shouldn’t work with your dog and see if later he could work without the device in relation to the command, the e-collar is an essential aspect of this objective and so should even be part of your dog.
Nail it!
To place your dog to sit: Take a short grip on the leash with your right hand and pull up and a bit forward the leash. At the same time, place your left hand on the dog’s back at the loin, thumb toward you, and gently squeeze, pushing down. Use the raised leash to control his front end; use only enough tension to prevent him from swinging away. Squeezing the loin muscles helps to relax them and gives you a better grip, ensuring that you can place the dog into position. Every time you stop at heel, place your dog to sit and begin to tap with the e-collar. When you feel him relax his muscles and begin to sit, stop tapping.
Add the command “sit”: Proceed to command, “sit” as you begin to tap and place your dog. When he is sitting as soon as he hears the command “sit” you can stop placing him. If your dog balks or stops halfway down, place him right away.