E-Collar Help

I have a 1 1/2 year old lab that is currently only a house dog that I am going to but an E-collar for. I have decided on the SportDog SD-400 model. My question is: Has anyone ever needed the SD-400S model that is for more stubborn dogs? I have never used one before but know that my dog seems to be very stubborn in the sense that she is very resiliant to pain. For example… it takes a major effort to deter her when she is on a leash and there is another dog nearby, even with a choke collar. I am wondering if I may need the extra power.

My lab, Brooke, weighs approx 70lbs. She knows her commands very well and listens very well when there are no distractions. Especially in the house. My major problem is when she is outside, off the leash, in my yard. If she gets near the property line, she bolts off without even hearing my commands. When I take her to run thru fields and the woods she listens fairly well and doesn’t get more than about 50 feet from me.

Any help is appreciated. Will the training collar help? Is there a need for the more powerfull collar? Or any other suggestions of E-collar brands.

Brooke

Cant say much about your specific collar but will say when properly utilized the collar will have your dog paying attention. Remember it is a corrective action device not punishment. Be sure and do some research about how to properly use the collar. My pup is about to get home from school and she pays attention when the collar is on. I paid 2k for someone to start my dog so I cant elaborate in precise detail on how you start a dog using the collar. I just know how to run her with it, hope this helps! Persistance and dedication is where you’ll acheive results!

I have run into dogs that I think are going to strangle themselves with a choke collar. The problem being, if you are not pulling straight up on it the pressure is not on the sensitive part of the neck.
Next, I have used the SportDog FT200 on some pretty stubburn dogs and did not need to go above 3 when stimulating them. I don’t think you need to go to the SD model.
The first thing you want to do is fit the collar on your dog and take her out for a walk or retrieving or other type of play. What we are doing is relating the collar to fun. Let her wear the collar a few days before you use any stimulation on her.
Next go back through your basic commands using a leash. I start off with kennel, sit,here, heel, in that order. Do them one at a time. If your dog is solid on kennel using voice commands, we are now going to introduce the collar. What we want, is the dog to learn how to avoid low level stimulation. Keep the dog on a leash so it doesn’t try to run away when stimulation is applied. With the dog a few feet in front of the kennel, hit the tone button and then apply low level stimulation. Right after you apply stimulation, say kennel. When the dog goes in the kennel, release the stimulation. After a few reps, the dog will head for the kennel when it hears the tone and feels stimulation. When this happens, we now want to switch to giving the vocal command followed by stimulation. Apply stimulation even if the dog goes into the kennel on the vocal. We want to do this the first few reps. The next step would be to use the vocal command only. The dog has learned that it can avoid stimulation by complying to your command the first time you give it. Once this happens you can then make it into a game and the dog will have fun while obeying your command.
Follow the steps for sit and here. When you get to heel, you will want to use the vocal command first followed by stimulation. The reason we don’t use stimulation first on heel, is because the dog already has been trained on the here command.

I have the SD-400S on my 90 lb dog and have never needed to use it over level 4. I wouldn’t really consider my dog stubborn, but I have used it on a stubborn, mean, junk yard doggist Chesapeake and did not have to move off of level 6.

One thing about the collar is that it WILL NOT work to 400 yards like it says. Atleast the one I have now will not and either did the last two that I had to return for exchange. I would estimate 150 yards max. If you are pheasant hunting and the dog gets over 150 yards, you probably have other issues to deal with, but if a dog is chasing a crippled goose, he can get that far out. I also do not like the battery life. If you are taking weekend trips camping, plan on buying the 12VDC charger. I can run about 8-10 hours on a full charge and that is with minimal corrections.

Collar conditioning is a must…I used a method similar to what Don mentioned and it seemed to have done the trick.

Thanks to all with all the advice. Don – I will keep all that in mind when I begin using it.

Mallard_Militia – Doesn’t sound like the SD-400 would be my best choice. I might be dissapointed with the range and battery life. Are there any other brand or model suggentions? Price for me is not that much of an issue. I’d like to get a quality unit that I won’t have to worry about. I would say that a true 400 yd range is what I would like.

I know that while searching this website I saw mention of Tri-Tronics and Dogtra. Anyone have experience with these?

I was able to run both the Dogtra and a Tri-tronics this year on my dog. They are both great units. If I had to pick one it would be the Dogtra.

F.Y.I. The other day I noticed that the directions for the SportDog say something about holding the transmitter HIGH and AWAY FROM YOUR BODY to get maximum range…

JF

Quote:

---

Thanks to all with all the advice. Don – I will keep all that in mind when I begin using it.

Mallard_Militia – Doesn’t sound like the SD-400 would be my best choice. I might be dissapointed with the range and battery life. Are there any other brand or model suggentions? Price for me is not that much of an issue. I’d like to get a quality unit that I won’t have to worry about. I would say that a true 400 yd range is what I would like.

I know that while searching this website I saw mention of Tri-Tronics and Dogtra. Anyone have experience with these?

---

I haven’t been completely disgruntled with my SportDog collar, I have been just dissappointed with the range claim and battery life. I personally like the size of the transmitter and the collar has yet to work loose from the dog. I have hunted with “the Grump” and he uses a tri-tronics and has never had a problem. His collar also has great range. One day his dog ran off, he went outside hit the collar and 10 minutes later the dog came screaming back home. He must have been a mile away. Maybe the guys that use the other collars can help you out. I have only ever owned the SportDog so I can’t give too much insight on the others.

Good Luck.

Thanks to all .

I believe that I will look into the Tri-Tronics.