I have been training with electronic collars for a little over a year and a half. I have done multiple training sessions with trainers whom I consider highly proficient in their use and understanding of the electric collar. When I purchased my first collar, I went with what I felt was a top of the line collar for fear of problems with the stimulation level or usage. When I decided to start using an electric on my competition dog, the dog certainly didn’t “need” one. I simply thought it was an interesting technology and its usage would benefit my training at some point in the future. I also wanted to experiment with the usage of the electric as a positive in training (for drive building for example) and thus began the three-action training steps.

For those who are unfamiliar with the electric collar, I’m a strong believer in people learning to use the shock collar on themselves. I purchased my collar as a present to myself in December of 2005 and went to train with Dana Miller (world-level Competitor) a few weeks later. Up until that point my collar sat snug in its box. I made the drive out to Arizona in my antique Mitsubishi Mirage, with two dogs chilling in the backseat - my Rottweiler and my Belgian Malinois. Needless to say I never again braved having two dogs in the backseat loose for a 6 hour drive! But that’s an amusing story in itself.

We arrived in Arizona and got in several training sessions. Most of them were on me. Some of the fundamentals I feel people miss in not being mentored through electric training is stimulating themselves, allowing themselves to be stimulated, and practicing stimulating another person with the electric. Yes that’s right – if you’re going to shock your dog I am a strong believer that you feel exactly what you’re doing to your animal. 

Most of this training took place in “mock dog” scenarios. I would practice when to turn the collar on, when to command, and what to do if the dog decided to stop complying. All of this with Dana M. as my guinea pig (the electric turned on and pulsating into her own palm which I will tell you is a heck of a lot more sensitive than the dog’s fur-covered neck).

I left Arizona after a few days having accomplished many things in regards to timing, theory, and application. We also only stimulated the dog maybe 5 times in the entire weekend while Dana and I received probably 10x that number!

Since then I have applied this knowledge to using the electric for recalls, place training, and down stays in a variety of sessions where I was being coached by Dana M or another experienced trainer. Even after a year and a half of training, I try to be moderate in my use of the collar and tend towards using low-levels for most of my behaviors. Owners who want me to teach an electric recall to their dog often feel the levels we use on the dogs and are shocked at how minimal it is. No one has ever described it to me as “shock” training that has felt the level we use. It’s honestly more like a cell phone vibration and some dogs are on levels that people who have a slightly higher pain threshold can’t even feel.

My theory so far since beginning electric training and using it on a dozen or so dogs in different applications is that it definitely has a place in training reliability of behaviors. In particular, I like its application in recall training because it often saves dogs lives. The recall (come) is one of the most important behaviors a dog can do.

I often tell owners the time my Belgian Malinois, Malachai, bolted into oncoming traffic. It was at a kennel I was working at and a staff member was moving a cat in a carrier. Needless to say, the carrier broke and the cat took off. I was trying to help catch the cat and dropped the leash to my dog, who took off thinking that mommy was acting too strangely. I ran into oncoming traffic myself to top vehicles (which I will forever be grateful to the motorist who stopped that day!) and called him to me. He immediately came as he had been trained to do.

The applications for needing a dog to come reliably are endless and need no explanation. And while its entirely up to the owner whether or not to utilize the tool on their animal, I think its an interesting technology and will continue to learn about its application.