This was a product made by Premier which does the great "Gentle Leader." It is now Multivet--a Quebec company.I paid $158 at a local pet store. Was very helpful...until it broke 5 days later. Exchanged at store, but they said further problems take it up with the company. Two weeks later the second one died.
Multivet has not responded to my email. I mailed in the warranty and it was returned as no such address. Tried registering online, webpage "submit" button does not work. Went to troubleshooting page and learned they haven't put it up yet.
Warranty is only for 30 days. Product is not waterproof. On/Off switch is cheesy plastic and I suspect much of the problem.
I am now looking at electronic trainer collars that are waterproof, have a better warranty, also contain a tone response. Looking at Innotek Ultrasmart IUT 1000, which is actually cheaper if you shop carefully. Has 1/2 mile (at best--clear straight line) versus 300 yards Spray commander
We ordered the Multivet Spray Commander in Mid December, timed to arrive when our pup was 11 weeks old and our Grandchildren were due to arrive for the XMAS holidays. I was very concerned with Belle's obsessive nipping and biting of pants legs and shoes. This habit was very annoying and dangerous for her to be underfoot. Trying to correct this behavior with the traditional `no', using positive reinforcement to distract her to another behavior, or removing her from the scene were generally ineffective or, at best, proceeding so slowly nothing would be accomplished by the time the grandkids arrived. We didn't want to have to segregate the new puppy from the kids so I was counting on the Spray Commander for help (and wasn't disappointed!).
Two spritz's with the scentless spray was all it took to cure the problem.
This product is GREAT. It is instant, can be operated remotely, the correction is not associated in the dog's mind with the human owner. It is just like nature teaches a young dog what works and what doesn't. Biting a thorn bush gives an instant lesson. Biting my grandchild's pant leg gave a similar, instant, lesson.
None of the correction was associated with me.
What is very important to me, is the ability to apply correction at the exact time of the infraction means the behavior is corrected with an absolute minimum time and fuss; minimizing strain to all of us (and especially the puppy). IMHO it is much more `positive' than so called positive correction techniques with the clicker (or spray commander beeper) that take much longer to achieve. Having said that, positive clicker or commander beeper training is the way to go for formal obedience training.
Before buying the product I reviewed the posts. There were some concerning posts about poor customer service. As a test, this morning I called the 1 800 303 0244 service line and immediately was able to speak to a customer service person. Admittedly this was a contract service and not the company itself, but it does indicate to me that the company is working on resolving a poor image. Also, I signed up to their forum . Also see for info. I'd say that the general forum trend is very positive.
The product involves electronics and spraying liquids under some pressure. Given the electro-mechanical-hydraulic nature of the product, I assume their will be some problems down stream. There is just more to go wrong than with an all electronic product. From my experiences with customer support and the web so far I assume they will be handled professionally.
I had a small issue with the remote. It has 3 buttons. #1 is for the positive 'beep', #2 is standard spray, and # 3 is major spray. The 3 buttons are all the same size and degree of recess. I was concerned with the possibility of accidentally pushing the wrong button, and once, it false triggered when I picked up something that bumped against the remote in my pocket.
I have corrected that by velcro'ing thin pieces of plastic over the #2 and # 3 button to make them harder to trigger. (I've also forwarded a suggestion to Multivet).
As another nit, I thought the instructional CD was pretty lame more advertising than good dog training instruction.
Nevertheless, most users will have dog training books that adequately explain how to use positive (beep or clicker and treat) or Negative (spray) reinforcement. Note it is an instruction `CD' not a `DVD'.
I plan to use the spritzer function of spray commander for controlling territorial access (prevent kitchen access or fence jumping), correcting food stealing from the coffee table (done remotely with a web cam to monitor the potential scene of the crime), and snake/car proofing. I will NOT use the negative spray for formal training relying instead on positive 'beep' or click and then treat training.
All in all, a good product. I'm not giving a 5 because of the remote and CD issues. Note: when talking with the customer support person, she said they were working on improvements. I hope they can come up with a remote that is tailored specifically for this function rather than just duplicating a 3 door, garage door opener remote. But,,,, none of my objections prevent successful use of the product they are 2nd/3rd generation improvement issues.
Buy Innotek Spray Commander Remote Training System Now
I have a 7 month old beagle that loves to chew and not come when called. Does the remote collar ever work great!! He's had it on for three days and now when we say no to him he knows we mean business. No-He's not perfect but this is the best training system I've purchased. I've bought more books than I care to say with an investment way over the price of this collar. I just wish I would have had it for house training. It's also keeping him from running in the road and the ally in our back yard. Cooper stops right in his tracks. We also had problems with him jumping on my young grandchildren and knocking them down. It didn't happen yesterday when they were here. Awesome product! I gave it 4 stars as it's not waterproof so if it's raining he will be on his leash.Read Best Reviews of Innotek Spray Commander Remote Training System Here
Having used a spray collar belonging to my friend's dog which only had levels of spray, the Commander having the 'beep' feature is proving it to be superior as you can get the dog not to view the collar as something to be afraid of. The only real problem noticed so far is that it is not waterproof and therefore has to be removed prior to deep paddling or swimming easy to forget! Terrific value compared to what it sells for in the UK especially with the weak dollar. Would recommend.Want Innotek Spray Commander Remote Training System Discount?
Update July 2008: This product is experiencing serious quality control issue. I still recommend it as there is no other equal product. However be prepared for it to fail... we now keep two to have a back up and hound the manufacture to get it's act together... go back to making it in Canada something, anything to once again return this product to it's former reliability. Our original unit only failed two years ago after years of use following getting caught (with the dog) in a rip tide. The dog was so well trained with this collar that, though terrified, he swam parallel to the shore on command instead of fighting the tide and is snoozing beside me today. We keep those two collar(s) on hand to loan out and for our dog to wear up-side-down at dog parks. Upside down it does wonders to get aggressive dogs at the dog park to mind their manners!original review text: This collar is amazing. We occasionally foster/rehab dogs who have behavior "issues". The Premier version of this product is one of our "secrete weapons". It's truly a god send and Veeeerrry durable. In the past 18 months we have used one collar to extinguish unwanted behaviors in two 70+ lb rough and tumble out of control adult dogs, a yappy collie-? mix puppy, my home schooled standard poodle service dog (76 lb) and the neighbor's terrier. It has been chewed, stepped and drooled on, caked in mud, butted by a goat, kicked about and forgotten on the floor of the car in both scorching heat and freezing cold. With a little maintenance... fresh batteries... clearing the mud from the nozzles and microphone... It still works fine.
Unlike electric collars, willful and mellow dogs alike just get distracted and shut up instead of getting ticked and barking more. We showed it to the local animal control police (they dropped by to scan a stray for an id chip). They are delighted with its performance and are telling folks they serve barking dog complaint situations about it. I strongly encourage you to buy this effective, reliable and humane product if you need your dog to be quite or to redirect other unwanted behavior.
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