We have a border collie who is very smart, and generally easy to train. For some reason, though everytime the front door was open, he would RUN! He was so smart and so fast very difficult to catch. For him, it was a game. He loved being chased. A couple of weeks ago, I'd had enough and had to try something! I'd always thought of shock collars as cruel, but I was at the end of my rope.
We bought this collar, and after ONE TRAINING SESSION he stopped running off!! I'm not exaggerating.
Now, he goes outside with me all the time. He comes to me, when I call him and never even tries to run off. He is a happier dog now, too -because he loves going out in the front yard with his family.
This is how we proceeded: After putting the collar on him for the first time, my husband and I took Red (our dog) in the front yard. As he started to run, I would call "Red, come!" When he didn't respond, he got shocked (just a quick press of the button don't hold it down.) This got his attention. (We used level 10 the lower levels didn't phase him.) He turned around and came back to me. I praised him for coming to me. Then, I walked away and called him again. If he didn't respond IMMEDIATELY, he got a quick shock. He would turn and come to me. Pretty soon, he started coming as soon as I called. He got lots of praise and we were both very pleased.
We only turn the collar on for training sessions we don't leave it on, this saves on batteries.
A couple of hours after the first session, Red got out when my son opened the door. I called out "Red, come!" And he came!! The collar was not turned on!
We have refresher training sessions everytime we go out into the front yard. 99% of the time, Red responds immediately when I call him. If not, he gets a quick shock. I have no doubt that it will be 100% of the time soon, and the collar will no longer be needed at all. Look at how much progress we made in the first day and after just a couple of weeks, he is like a totally different (and very good) dog. Our neighbors can't get over the change in him. It used to be a joint neighborhood project to catch him now he stands outside in the front yard with me, and never strays!
Like I'd said before, I thought shock collars were cruel. This collar is a blessing. It is certainly no worse than spanking a young child who runs out into the road, in order to keep him safe. Everybody involved is much happier especially the dog.
I was very hesitant to use a shock collar on my dog so I tried everything else I could think of to control his jumping, barking and general disobedience. I worked with him myself, hired a trainer, and purchased an audio and spray correction device but nothing worked. With two small children in the house I could not afford to have an uncontrollable dog. Maybe if he were a miniature pinscher or pug it wouldn't be a big deal but Hades was going to be a 125 to 140 pound Rottweiler when he is full grown. That would be a recipe for disaster. I purchased the Deluxe big dog trainer from Amazon (at the best price available). Five days later when I received it I still did not want to use it. After trying each stimulation setting on myself (even at level 10 it is not painful but it does command your attention), I adjusted the collar and placed it on my puppy. Saying that there was an almost instant change in his demeanor would be an understatement. He was a different dog in just a couple of days. Within 2 days I only had to use the sound to correct him. And now, only a few weeks later, I don't even need to turn the collar on. He is a pleasure and I know that this product is the reason for his change. Thank you Petsafe for this wonderful product. I have already recommended it to my friends.
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Everyone knows that training a high-energy, excitable (large) pup takes patience.
However, I had no idea how difficult training this type of dog to heel could be.
Regular collars didn't work in the slightest. Every walk was a battle. Training went slowly... very slowly.
Choke collars did more harm than good. Every walk was still a battle, but now I was causing my dog to gag audibly loud. After a few weeks of trial I found I was wearing my dog's neck raw (to the point that there was a bald line across the front of her neck).
The gentle leader collar was actually quite nice for training, though it had its issues when just walking. The biggest problem with this collar-type was that my dog was somewhat averse to it (she didn't like wearing it and would try to bat it off every time it was put on her). Also, as an excitable pup, she loves to play, and this collar is, unfortunately, somewhat restrictive.
Enter the shock collar. I was hesitant to use any fancy gadgets with my pup, but after trying the alternatives I gave it a shot.
When I got the collar I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be doing as much damage as the choke collar had done, so I went through the entire range of shock levels (there's 10) on both my arm and my neck. On your arm it will cause an electro-numbing sensation (if you've ever been shocked you know this feeling) and a muscle jump. On your neck it will sting and cause you to jump. On levels 1 and 2 I didn't feel anything. After levels 8-10 I wouldn't get myself shocked. Note that in both cases, though, no lasting damage is done (cept maybe a little muscle tightness like you just worked out).
So with that cleared up, I tried it out on my dog. After 2 tries she understood that she only got shocked when she did something wrong (note that this is a perfect time to find the right power level: enough so that they visibly react, not so much that they audibly react I trained "stay" while I did this). After 5 tries she understood that the sound meant a shock was coming (there's 2 buttons one sound, one shock). After the first day (2 hour long walks with leash and shock collar) she understood that she shouldn't get excited over dogs and squirrels or attempt to get out of leash range. After the second day (2 more hour long walks with leash) and a "heel" refresher course (taking 1 step and rewarding if she stays by me or correcting if she doesn't, then 2 steps, then 3 steps, up to 10 consecutive steps I always make her do 10 of each interval before moving on) with and without the leash, she was walking without a leash. And she's been walking without a leash ever since (the past month).
As mentioned, it can be used to train other activities other than walking.
Also note that it seems to be good in water. My dog's been completely submerged swimming multiple times wearing the collar with no problems.
Annnd the range really is nice. 100 yards may be stretching it (I don't let my dog get that far away), but I've had no problems with 30-50 yards (which is pretty far if you're just using it for playing while walking).
And last but not least, the only thing that may be a potential problem is the batteries. The collar batteries are tiny circle batteries that supposedly have 2 weeks worth of "on" time according to the manual. This made me hesitant at first, but as I only use the collar 2 hours a day, and the "on" time should last 336 hours, I shouldn't be needing to get replacements for about half a year. The remote, on the other hand, just requires a 9V battery which should last about as long as a remote control battery (a long time).
Either way, hope this all helps someone out there (and maybe even answers a question or two).
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I purchased this "waterproof collar" to assist in training my dog. He learned quickly that the tone was immediately followed by a shock if whatever behavior he was exhibiting did not stop. Sadly, I have a dog that enjoys the sprinkler system....and I found out that the collar was not waterproof. I now found myself out $130.00 for a training collar that only lived about two months.
I contacted PetSafe and braced myself for a fight while attempting to get them to honor their "Lifetime Warrantee," but was pleasantly surprised that they were both responsive and courteous. The support employee on the phone immediately stated that he was not comfortable with trying to repair a unit that had been wet on the interior, and he immediately shipped a new unit with a return postage label for the broken unit.
While I do not think this product is everything it could be, the warrantee and the support from PetSafe motivated me to change my initial rating from 2 stars to four.
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What an excellent product! My recent rescue, a 5-year old female Yellow Lab, came to us un-spayed, unhouse-trained, malnurished and sickly. After a couple of months of lots of love and good food, she became quite the athlete jumping over our wooden 7-foot privacy fence like she had wings! (The two little Yorkies next door were not impressed.) Desperate, I purchased this product in late June, and from the first day, I was able to stop her, not only from jumping the fences, but from barking, eating rabbit you-know-what and lunging after anything that moves, knocking me off my feet when we take our walks! The sound option is all we needed, I've never had to use the shock. After a month, it's hardly necessary to push the button at all! I've had to replace the batteries in the collar once, but well, well worth it. Save yourself, as well as your neighbors, lots of aggravation try this product!
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I thought this would be a better choice than it was. The color is good very snappy! But the extendable thing just doesn't work so well when you have it down to the small size it doesn't stay together. It's not that it's broken, it's just that the two sides of the pink section get tangled in my dog! I would have done better if they had just a four foot leash but I liked the color so I thought it would work. It doesn't and it's in the drawer. If you are looking for a five or five and a half or a six foot leash this would probably be perfect. I think this was my problem not the designers/manufacturers.
