E-collar Freedom
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you took your dog off leash in a new environment? Do you know if they would return to you? If they noticed a squirrel or another dog across the street, do you know without any doubts-that your dog would come back to you? That’s a pretty important thing to be sure about. It could mean their life if you’re wrong. And, unfortunately, for many—they have been wrong.
The View of E-collars in Society Today
Imagine there was a new sickness running rampage and killing people at random. But there was a medicine that many people swore would save you if you learned the proper dosage and protocol with it.
There was a lot of evidence of people getting better from taking this medicine following the protocol. But a second group of people said it was not because of the medicine that they were getting better. They said the medicine was poison, and anyone taking it was delusional.
That they only got better because of other means.
This is what is happening with e-collars. Basically.
But e-collars, with proper training, have been providing so much freedom and clarity to their dogs, that even haters willing to give them a try have been changing their tune.
I myself used to be very unsure of using tools like e-collars or prongs. I was very hesitant to use them at first because I believed what many around me were saying—without having tried them. But I decided to try them on myself first.
I realized they are remarkably similar to a TENS unit. The thing that uses mild electrical currents into our muscles to actually reduce pain.
When I felt a high-quality e-collar like the ones from E-Collar Technologies, I realized that because of how many levels they had (0-100), the stim only went up in micro-increments. And the sensation was similar to someone mildly tapping my arm.
Dogs are physically and visually orientated animals. While we rely heavily on our verbal communication to auditorily understand the world around us, dogs first language is significantly more physical and visual.
An e-collar is a physical, or tactile method of communication.
When I began to see the results of positively conditioning an e-collar with a dog, I was blown away. I would have thought more nervous dogs would become more shut down and scared, but the EXACT OPPOSITE occurred.
I began seeing anxious reactive dogs calm down. I saw scared and timid dogs open up and become more confident. I saw dogs who had been running the relationship with their humans suddenly look to their humans for guidance, but with appreciation and enjoyment.
Real World Example
Aisling is one of the most unique dogs I’ve ever worked with. She had an almost constant impulsive (likely genetic) need to check out anything and everything. Even if it was literally an ant. Or a leaf across the street. Or a twig snapping in the neighbor’s yard. Or a bee that disappeared into a bush.
Never have I met such a constantly anxious dog. Even after being awake 24 hours, she was not able to sleep anywhere unless she was in an enclosed crate, inside a quiet darkened room. And even then, she struggled.
No matter how long, calm, slow (or fast) our walks were, she was always trying to rush towards everything to investigate.
Her owner was hesitant to have me teach her an e-collar. But they, having a lot of experience training dogs in their past, didn’t know what else to do and allowed me to teach Aisling the e-collar.
There were many reasons why I wanted to teach this dog to respond to an e-collar, but the biggest one that I could see was that Aisling was in a near constant state of stress because she didn’t know her boundaries and was always trying to find them.
Now I know this seems counter-intuitive. I once thought the same thing. But I’ve since seen the results from countless dogs, and most of the time, it is the one thing that becomes so clear to them, they no longer have to second guess everything in their lives.
As I do with every dog that I work with, I went slowly. I never want to build a negative association, because yes, there are incorrect ways to teach nearly any tools. I found the lowest possible level that she could feel that stim (shoulder tap) and gave her heavy reinforcements and lots of praise when I used it.
She began to associate the light tapping sensation as a recall to the handler—where she would get lots of praise, treats and love. And she LOVED the game.
After she went home, her owner sent me a long message a few weeks later saying how they never would have guessed such a “scary” tool could help their dog relax in their own skin. That the results of this training were evident in Aisling’s body language and overall happier emotional state.
See review here: Aligned K9 Reviews
Purpose
To refer to my first example at the top, I unfortunately know of far too many people whose dogs have died because their recalls were not 100%. These dogs literally ran across a street, or into a situation they couldn’t handle, and have paid the price.
I never want that to happen to anyone’s dog. They are too precious. We owe them too much.
For me, teaching a dog to understand a tool is specifically for the wellbeing and safety of a dog. It is also for them to be able have a more free and open life to be able to experience more things than they ever otherwise could in this day and age.
To see a nervous dog build confidence with a tool that HUMANS have labeled “bad”, is kind of mind boggling.
It’s also very sad to see how many people deny their dogs this potential freedom simply because they don’t understand this tool or are afraid of it.
Wouldn’t you be willing to try and learn something if it gave your dog the ability to enjoy and experience more of life??
What Can You Do?
What you should NOT do, is just go out and buy an e-collar, put it on your dog and start clicking buttons. Do not do this.
Research top trainers in your area and see if they offer e-collar training. Ask them questions about their philosophies on training and their conditioning process. I highly recommend doing your own research and reading books like Everything You Need to Know: E Collar Training by Larry Krohn.
If you are in San Diego and looking to improve your relationship with your dog, solidify their recall, and teach them how to recall with an e-collar, I will be hosting a 6-8 week long, in-person coaching for a small group of 4 people starting Sundays in October. Click here
If you are unsure and looking for more direct information, please feel free to join my Q&A Zoom session the third week of September by emailing me: alignedk9@gmail.com
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