Training by wirless transmitter.

[Mundyboy]

I have just come back from our afternoon walk.  We walk in woods along fire breaks and smaller paths.  A deer broke cover and crossed the path ahead of us followed by two dogs with radio collars on and a Jack Russell, which I have seen before.  My Jenni took off to join the chase but came back instantly to her whistle.  (Mundy, aka The Prince of Darkness, just looked at me as if to say I'm not bothered).  I managed to grab the Jack Russell and held on to her until the owner appeared some ten minutes later.  She was very grateful.  The lady was accompanied by a man with two transmitters around his neck and asked if I had seen his dogs.  I pointed him in the direction I last saw them all going in and he went off saying he was teaching his dogs recall with these radios but the dogs had to be out of range.  Is it just me or would this chap had been better off training with a long line and whistle going on to just a whistle?  I am not expert but my Jenni got the hang of a whistle from day one.  It just seems to me an awful lot of expensive gear to teach simple basics.  Has anyone used one of these transmitters?

[Helen]

haven't seen these - but have seen plenty of shock collars are sometimes referred to as wireless radio transmitting collars.....nicer name I guess...

did it look something like this?

[Mundyboy]

haven't seen these - but have seen plenty of shock collars are sometimes referred to as wireless radio transmitting collars.....nicer name I guess...

did it look something like this?

Black and a little bulky I would say.  Hard to believe he would be teaching recall by giving the dog a jolt remotely but then I really do not know.  I have looked on an American site that have dog radios but they assume I know how they work and do not explain the workings of the gadget.

[johndoran]

Sounds like a sledgehammer to crack a nut to me.Maybe ive been lucky and i wouldnt say bonnie boos recall is 100% perfect but she does come back to my whistle the majority of the time. I whistle myself but am thinking about getting  a dog whistle so my O.H can use it ( she is useless at whistling ) .Any recomendations ?

[elaine.e]

Black and a little bulky sounds like the shock collar that some people I know used in desperation when their underexercised and untrained lurcher started chasing sheep. It worked for them, but they completely failed to understand that putting some time and effort into their dog's training would probably have prevented the problem in the first place.

[Cob-Web]

Is it just me or would this chap had been better off training with a long line and whistle going on to just a whistle?  I am not expert but my Jenni got the hang of a whistle from day one.  It just seems to me an awful lot of expensive gear to teach simple basics. 

It is not really possible to compare training a dog to a whistle in a positive way, and using a negative training method such as a shock/sound collar 

There are people who consider that punishing the dog for doing wrong is the only way to train them effectively; and others (like me) who prefer to reward a dog when they get it right   

[spanielcrazy]

Yep, it's the same as a shock collar, but termed more nicely. Some of them also have transmitters that tell you where the dog is if it is lost (range is only a mile or so  )

I'm not familiar with the training collars, but I have held an Invisible Fence collar against my wrist and gone in range of the wire. It's actually more of a vibration than an electic shock in the lower settings, but definitely gets your attention.

I have really mixed feelings about these collars, but I do know, in theory (and ideally) these are used after the groundwork has been done with the  long line, whistle, etc., the dog is relatively steady on recall and whoa, and used by a knowledgable trainer. They are mainly used on hunting dogs so that commands can be enforced at a distance, or a "Norty thought train" can be broken in time, or a dogs attention brought back to focus.

Unfortunately they are available to any eejit who has the money  

[Mundyboy]

Is it just me or would this chap had been better off training with a long line and whistle going on to just a whistle?  I am not expert but my Jenni got the hang of a whistle from day one.  It just seems to me an awful lot of expensive gear to teach simple basics. 

It is not really possible to compare training a dog to a whistle in a positive way, and using a negative training method such as a shock/sound collar 

There are people who consider that punishing the dog for doing wrong is the only way to train them effectively; and others (like me) who prefer to reward a dog when they get it right   

Yes I agree with you.  There have been times that I have been cross because one or other of the dogs take off but always reward for coming back to their call or hand signal.  I do not think I would be comfortable with a negative approach.

[SkyeSue]

Is it just me or would this chap had been better off training with a long line and whistle going on to just a whistle?  I am not expert but my Jenni got the hang of a whistle from day one.  It just seems to me an awful lot of expensive gear to teach simple basics. 

It is not really possible to compare training a dog to a whistle in a positive way, and using a negative training method such as a shock/sound collar 

There are people who consider that punishing the dog for doing wrong is the only way to train them effectively; and others (like me) who prefer to reward a dog when they get it right   

Yes I agree with you.  There have been times that I have been cross because one or other of the dogs take off but always reward for coming back to their call or hand signal.  I do not think I would be comfortable with a negative approach.

I agree with all of this. Very interesting thread to me, as a friend got a beagle a few months before I got Chloe and was pretty difficult to train. Recall was virtually non existant and they have resorted to one of these shock collars after being told off by one of the crofters, cos dog was chasing sheep. Apparently, its worked wonders for them, but I really would have a problem using one myself, Id be terrified of the possible knock on negative effects.

[Rats and Dogs]

I would never use one of those collars, surely your dog would then become frightened of you if you were giving it shocks?

I trained Gari with treats and he always comes back when called by me or whistled by OH (I can't whistle!). If he is rolling in something, he develops selective deafness, but responds to the word "Biscuits", so much so that a woman I met in the park thought it was his name and kept calling him that everytime she met him! She wondered why he seemed so keen on her!

[Helen]

Sounds like a sledgehammer to crack a nut to me.Maybe ive been lucky and i wouldnt say bonnie boos recall is 100% perfect but she does come back to my whistle the majority of the time. I whistle myself but am thinking about getting  a dog whistle so my O.H can use it ( she is useless at whistling ) .Any recomendations ?

whistles - Acme 210.5 or 211.5 

[SkyeSue]

Sounds like a sledgehammer to crack a nut to me.Maybe ive been lucky and i wouldnt say bonnie boos recall is 100% perfect but she does come back to my whistle the majority of the time. I whistle myself but am thinking about getting  a dog whistle so my O.H can use it ( she is useless at whistling ) .Any recomendations ?

whistles - Acme 210.5 or 211.5 

Agree with Helen...Acme 210.5 works well for Chloe

[Top Barks]

I tried a shock collar on myself, I jumped out of my seat on a low setting.
Barbaric is the only word I could use to describe them!

[Joules]

I tried a shock collar on myself, I jumped out of my seat on a low setting.
Barbaric is the only word I could use to describe them!

Agree with this - but how on earth would one of these help with recall anyway? 

Acme 210.5 here too - Coco is almost totally reliable at returning to the whistle.    It is the only time she is 100% guaranteed to get a treat.     Works a treat for us and over quite a distance too - saves me yelling my head off like some deranged banshee only for her to carry on ignoring me   

[Hurtwood Dogs]

They are not all electric shock collars so he may have been using a different type.

I got very close to letting a gun dog trainer use a remote air collar on Normy (my Weimaraner that I rehomed aged 2.5 years). We had tried everything positive for months and she was a total danger to herself and other people/dogs when she got a hunt scent and keeping a Weim on lead long term is not an option IMO. The air collars don't 'shock' they have a canister of air (not citronella) that gives a puff similar to that of a snake hiss - i.e in theory a 'natural' warning to deter the dog from what it's doing if it's not listening to human comands and in theory, to try and help get the dog to do what you want it to so you can reward it when it returns to you, giving you the opportunity to positively start reinforcing that behaviour in them.

For it to be successful you have to be very sure of the timing of the puff - i.e the dog is maybe frantically digging to get at something and ignoring recall and you can see it but are far enough away for the dog not to associate the puff of air with you as such. I got to this point as an absolute last ditch option and luckily didn't have to go down that path, but I would never use a shock collar.

Hannah x