# What am I doing wrong??



## ashleylp (Jul 23, 2011)

We got Remy's e-collar in last week (TT Pro 500). We let him wear it for 5ish days and then this morning took him out in the field and followed the smartworks dvd on how to collar condition to here. Remy responded great to the exercise. Tonight I decided to test him and went in the other room and called him. He didn't come. I tried again... no response. My boyfriend suggested I try using the collar (just a nick). Remy ran and hid by my boyfriend, acting scared.

I do not want to hurt him in any way and don't want to mess up our training with the collar.... so I am wondering what I did wrong. He is a sensitive dog and I am keeping it on 1 high at the most because he is very responsive. I've used the collar on myself and 1 high was not painful whatsoever.

Please help me out, I'm totally new to this and don't want to screw things up!


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## 2Retrievers222 (Sep 5, 2007)

You made the biggest mistake. Using it for no reason. Your dog probably got message that she should not of been standing where she was. You said she responded great in the field. So why was the reason you had to test it in the house, you got it for field training.


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## ashleylp (Jul 23, 2011)

So I should only use it in the field for commands? What about training at home? When do you use the collar?


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## 2Retrievers222 (Sep 5, 2007)

That collar has a tone button. The tone botton should be used 90% of the time. Your dog should know what the tone means after 5-10mins of first time training using pulse with tone


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

I think the best thing you can do with this collar is take it off and put it in a drawer until you sign up with an experienced dog trainer who is extremely knowledgeable in e-collar training, and after they teach you the right way to use it, then work with Remy under their supervision.

If you try to use this tool on your own and don't know what you are doing you will ruin any training you have started, you have already seen how Remy reacts when he does not know why he is getting nicked and doesn't understand what he supposed to do, and by your own admission you don't know what you did wrong. 

Find a trainer, learn the correct way to use the collar, then work with Remy.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

It's all about consistency. The "rules" have to be the same all the time. A lot of folks are not good at being consistant from inside, to the yard, to the field. Expectations and standards have to be the same no matter where you are or you'll confuse the hell out of the puppy. Be aware that dogs are place oriented so in order for the pup to understand "sit" for example, you need to teach it in the house, in the yard and in the field, using the same command and demanding the same standard of perfomance. You don't want to create a situation where the pup has learned it must comply with commands in the yard, but in the house mom or dad doesn't really mean it unless they have a cookie in their hand. 

Before you get to pushing buttons on the transmitter, make sure that the pup's OB foundation is solid and you're consistent with commands and expectations. 

Remember that the collar is used for refusal to follow or for a lack of effort in following KNOWN commands. If the command isn't thoroughly understood, you'll see a confusion response.


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## 2Retrievers222 (Sep 5, 2007)

Here,s some youtube video,s


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## EvanG (Apr 26, 2008)

ashleylp said:


> So I should only use it in the field for commands? What about training at home? When do you use the collar?


The problem wasn't using it in your home. It was using it for a cold application too soon. It's really not fair to the dog to have a session one day, and begin experimenting with cold applications the next day. Do your follow-up's over a course of the next week. Otherwise, don't use it unless your dog is also on a rope so you can clear up any confusion he/she may have. That is best reserved for the field until the condition has really become 'conditioning'.





 
EvanG


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## MarieP (Aug 21, 2011)

You are going too fast. I had my pup on a long line while collar conditioning, for over a week. After one session, Remi still has NO idea what the nick means. You "tested him" without a way to help him if he messed up. The collar can certainly be used in the house, but you need to have him on a long line so that you can teach him how to respond correctly to the nick. And even this shouldn't be done until you have finished the collar conditioning process. 

I also think that you may want some in-person help. Timing is VERY important when collar conditioning, and that takes experience.


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

mlopez said:


> You are going too fast. I had my pup on a long line while collar conditioning, for over a week. After one session, Remi still has NO idea what the nick means. You "tested him" without a way to help him if he messed up. The collar can certainly be used in the house, but you need to have him on a long line so that you can teach him how to respond correctly to the nick. And even this shouldn't be done until you have finished the collar conditioning process.
> 
> I also think that you may want some in-person help. Timing is VERY important when collar conditioning, and that takes experience.


What Marie and SC said.
You can't expect them to respond to something they don't understand. Finish the conditioning before you test and actually there should be no need to test. They should know what a nick means.


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## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

mlopez said:


> I also think that you may want some in-person help. Timing is VERY important when collar conditioning, and that takes experience.


This would be my advice as well. I would either ask one of the more experienced and successful people you have met in your new club, or arrange to day train with a local pro and have them mentor you through this. They can observe and will be able to give you a much better idea of how well he is understanding. 

We had a new lab out with us at training today who is in for some training. He is on his second day of being conditioned to "here". All of his recalls were still line of sight, with lots of praise and encouragement when he started to come in, and he is still dragging a long line so he could be helped if necessary.


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## shortcake23 (Aug 15, 2008)

I probably missed another post on this, but why use an e-collar to train Remy at home? There are a lot of other training methods that can be used (such as clicker training...)


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

I have also been told to that if you can't see the dog, you can't nick the dog. It's not fair--how do you know if the dog is or isn't coming?

I agree with what everyone else said too. You need to spend more time teaching before you test. The dog needs more experience with connecting leash pop to a low collar pop to learn what the nick means.


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## ashleylp (Jul 23, 2011)

Thank you all for your responses! I'm sorry I could not respond earlier... yesterday was extremely busy.

I took Remy out and did a follow up session with him in the field following the smartworks DVD and he did fantastically! I am also going to meet up with a more advanced member of my club this week to work on training with the e-collar!


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