Dog training advise!

I have a 17 week old Llewellin Setter pup and I will not use an e-collar for at least 1 yr or longer but I would like to get the pup up and running on my electronic perimeter yard fence. Any thoughts if it is too early or how long I should wait? She is approximately 25lbs and growing fast. She can out run my 12yr old lab no problem. She will be approximately 40 lbs when full grown.

Thanks!

I don’t see how your gonna get away NOT putting a collar on her/him with an electic fence. That’s the whole premise of the fencing.I put one on my English setter and he was shocked 1 time and he remembers it always! You could do like the trailners tell ya to do is walk the perimiter with it on a leash and everytime it goes near the line,give her a yank on the collar and say “no”.I may be wrong…Get some more ideas????

I need to clarify…. I will not use an e-collar for training but “yes” the e-fence has an e-collar that has to be used. I was looking for info as to if I should use the e-fence at this age or not. Sorry for the confusion.
Thanks!

Mine has different power levels on it that can be set. I started my Lab on ours at about 4 months. It shouldn’t bother it I wouldn’t think.It didn’t bother Ruby. If fact.She knows if she runs,she can get thru it with minimal pain.(Till she get’s dragged back thru it!) Good luck.

First off; congrats on the new pup! I think you made a wise choice (I’ve got 3 English Setters myself:)….). When my dog’s were pup’s, I let them tear around the yard keeping a darn close eye on them for as long as I could take it. This isn’t easy, but it buys you time before you need to go to the yard collar. I would let them run the yard (with a long lead), and as soon as they crossed the line where the E-fence was, I’d run them down tell them “no”, and march them back into the yard. At some point though, they got too fast (and crazy….), I had to take the next step. 5 times a day, I’d walk each dog around the perimiter of the fence (no collar at this point). On that walk, if they started to stray outside of the boundry, I’d give them the “no”, and pull them back into the perimiter. This gives them a really good idea of where they are supposed to be with only a very mild correction on the leash. After about 2 weeks of this, I put the collar on for the first time, but still had them on a long lead. When they’d approach the E-fence and get a correction, I made sure I was right there to give them the “no”, and pull them back into the perimiter. By getting them back and stopping the correction quickly, they learn real fast where the safe area is. If you do this right and take your time, you shouldn’t have any issues, and they will only get the electronic correction a couple times. We’re to the point where they don’t even need to have the collar’s on them, and they never try to leave the yard. You hear a lot of stories where dog’s will run through the E-fence, and I believe this is because they were rushed into it and didn’t have the proper guidance ahead of the E-collar.

I should add that Ruby only goes thru ours when she is provoked by me! My son goes out and she will not go.Ours works really good.

From my wife.

First you walk around with the collar in your hand and the dog on a leash. Make sure the white flags are up. Swing the collar in and when it beeps, pull the dog back away from the fence. After doing this for a few days and 2 – 3 times per day, then put the collar on SNUG and again walk the perimeter with the dog on a leash. Be ready that when the tone sounds, you pull the dog back. If the dog does get shocked, run into the yard praising the dog.

al

Quote:

---

From my wife.

First you walk around with the collar in your hand and the dog on a leash. Make sure the white flags are up. Swing the collar in and when it beeps, pull the dog back away from the fence. After doing this for a few days and 2 – 3 times per day, then put the collar on SNUG and again walk the perimeter with the dog on a leash. Be ready that when the tone sounds, you pull the dog back. If the dog does get shocked, run into the yard praising the dog.

al

---

That’s an important item I forgot to mention. Plenty of flags around the perimiter will help provide a visual cue.

I should have mentioned, my wife was a service manager for invisible fencing years back, she trained the trainers..:)

Al

Thanks for all the tips! But I was actually looking for the youngest age that I should be considering using the E-Fence…. any thoughts?

Thanks!

Wife says 6 months earliest, but there’s more to it than that, she says if you want you can call her and she’ll try and help ya.
Maybe PM me if you want

Al

For my two cents, the earlier the better. Dogs are like kids; they learn a lot more than we think, earlier than we think. And the longer you wait, the more you have to undo the bad habits; in this case, leaving the yard.

I brought my Brit Lab home at 49 days. On day 50 I took her out, grabbed the newspaper, put it near her mouth and said fetch. All the time acting excited but encouraging. On day 51, took her out to get the paper, said fetch, and put in in her mouth, said fetch and ran back to the door. Day 52, opened the door, said fetch the paper, and she ran out, grabbed it, brought it back and dropped it. I haven’t had to get the paper in a year, which is nice in snow and rain. She became an overnight retrieving nut by starting young and making it fun.

Next tip, put the collar on first for several days to a week. Dog should not associate it with pain or correction. Then when you start training, start with just the beep, and if necessary, use shock at the lowest possible setting. And this is only after walking the dog along the perimeter for several days, correcting by verbal command when crossing the line.

E-collars can be good, but they are not for teaching the dog. Teach them first, then correct them as little and with as low a correction as possible. Too much shocking right off the bat will teach them fear, not obedience.