Most of our clients at our Utah dog training company come to us with a variety of issues.
But on nearly every list is a dog who doesn’t reliably come when called with distractions.
Coming when called is not only important to have a dog that is easy to live with and a great and well trained pet. But it can also be a HUGE lifesaver for dogs who may chase a ball toward a street. For dogs that may want to chase a deer and get lost. For dogs that may want to run away.
Training with an electric collar, though, is part art and part science.
Done wrong you won’t succeed in getting your dog to come to you.
Done right, however, you can soon have your dog coming when called off-leash.
Hello Ty,
I live in SLC and would love to participate in one of your programs. However, for budget reasons, I decided to watch your videos (and hours of others) on ecollar training and try it myself. Although I tried to introduce the ecollar and use it in a positive manner, following all the steps and advice I’ve seen, my dog is so reactive to it that we don’t even get around to training. Even on the lowest setting (1), he gets confused, tries to bite himself, and spins in circles. While the stimulation is meant to be aversive (otherwise it wouldn’t work), his reaction is so strong that he looses sight that I’m even there. The pulling on the leash to guide him toward me doesn’t work because he is 80lbs and is stronger than me. On our second session he ran away when he saw the leash. I’m afraid that if I continue to try to train with the collar he will form a negative association with going outside with me. The ecollar is an expensive, nice (I thought?) Garmin and it is on the lowest setting of 18. I’ve only used it sparingly for two sessions to teach recall and have never used it in a punitive manner. I believe I’m using it correctly, it just seems to be too strong for him. Any advice? Thank you.