E-collars are great as long as you use them corectly. Only use is as an enforcement tool not a training tool. As in only use it with commands they know. If you are willing to receive the same shock everytime you give the dog one, you will be fine.

My wife thought I was crazy when i told her I was going to shock myself with it. She warmmed up to the idea when I told her she would be the one to push the button.

I agree with the above. I too tried it on myself before any of me dogs. Other than the initial training them to it, which took maybe 3-5 negative stimulations before a dog caught on, that function rarely gets used. I use more positive stimulation with the tone and in the case of HERE reward for returning. A hound that comes back immediately without having to scream your fool head off is a wonderful thing. The couple of times I've used the high settings in the field were on dogs that decided to trail or chase deer, at which one time seems to teach the lesson, and dogs that a chase was taking them to a road. I'm not for the higher settings in general, but it's worth it to be able to stop a dog in it's tracks before encountering an automobile. I'm a fan. My dogs are excited to see the collars come out becuase they know they'll be allowed off lead and are more obedient just for having the weight on their necks as a reminder. If you need another reason, try teaching a rabbit hound that it needs to listen even while in thick briars with a check chord.

Never had one for my first dog and spent an awful lot of time looking for and chasing her. I have one now and I only need to use it for correction very rarely, but I do use the pager feature quite alot instead of a whistle. Gets my dog's attention to come, come around or look for a hand signal. Great tool if used properly.

I too rarly have to ever use the collar in the field but is a great safety tool(dog insurance).You have 1.5 seconds to make a correction if needed when beyond the check cord.

I have a Lab that started out early as a car-chaser. Even after getting hit and dragged by a Lincoln Continental(and an old one at that!) I was skeptical. This was and is a particularly strong-willed dog and finally I saw no other way. I think it took maybe 3 or 4 car chases and zaps at VERY low settings to completely fix that problem. Five years later he has yet to chase another car. He's my best buddy and a great dog.

E-collars are a tool in the toolbox. I don't think they are for every dog. I don't think they are for every dog owner. Properly used in the right context they are very purposeful. Improperly used, they are capable of ruining an animal.

The e collar makes your dog know who is in charge because you can correct at a distance it tells them instantly woops I screwed up. If you have to go out there or they have to come to you then they can get confused by what they did wrong. I hate that they have the potential to be misused in the wrong mans hands but I went to pros to learn when to use it and when not to. Wouldn't touch it till I did. You and I have so much in common Dave it cracks me up! People look at me like I'm nuts because I always check my collar by nicking myself. I won't do to her what I won't do to myself. And I have felt all ten settings even though she never feels more than a couple. LOL

I stayed away from collars for years because I was afraid of over-use. When my Shorthair misbehaved I would get angry with her and I thought the collar would be dangerous in an angry guy's hand. Now that I have it, I see that she responds almost always just to the tone and thus I don't get angry, hence there is not a problem. The collar is a great tool to reinforce what the dog has already been trained to do.

I used one on my dog (a Viszla... "Reba") for two purposes only. 1) To make sure she stopped, turned around, and came on command (ranging) and 2) Snake proofing. In my case, we took care of the "whoa" (not creeping on point), fetch, drop, and everything else with straight-up affection/reward. The E-collar is very much a "less is more" deal.

I'm not even sure it's much of a controversy anymore. I don't know anyone who doesn't use an e-collar.

I think a lot of what constituted the e-collar controversy revolved around two issues: time and technology.

I'm not old enough to remember what the prevailing e-collar training techniques were 30-35 years ago, but I'm sure they weren't nearly as refined or subtle or as well-understood as they are now. It's a mature, well-established school of thought now. Back then, it wasn't.

Two, the collars themselves are so much better, reliable and more humane now.

Again, I'm not old enough to actually remember how collars used to be, but I've heard the horror stories about collars going nuts and frying dogs, the insanely high stim levels some of them had, the unreliability, having to switch out prongs to change levels (if the collar even could change levels...)all that stuff.

I have played around with some of those old collars and hell, I wouldn't put one on my dogs, either.

But now? It's a no-brainer.

Go find some old retriever trial training books and look at the set-ups, the complexity and distances they used to use for the open all-age trials, then watch a modern trial and look at what those all-age open dogs are doing now. Huge difference, and all of them are using e-collars.

Been following your blog for a while and thoroughly enjoying it. I really hear very little criticism of e-collars. In the old days they were apparently home built or strictly high-test, but with modern collars the highly customizable levels seem to take cruelty out of the equation for any owner.

I tested out my SportDog 1800 on my hand at every level, fully aware that I did not want to do anything to my dog I was not prepared to endure, or at least understand. Honestly, at the lower levels I could not even feel it on my hand, while at the higher levels the muscle spasms caused me to release it.

Next, I tried it on my own neck. Two things were quickly obvious. First, my neck was FAR more sensitive, so I was able to sense even the lowest levels. And, the inability to withdraw from the shock was far more disturbing and painful.

I think e-collars cannot be beat for their immediacy of correction, especially given the military studies that emphasize only quick correction is truly effective in training. However, we all have those moments of frustration where our dogs having their good training overcome by excitement or instinct, at least I sure have, and I like that understand before leaning on that button.

Two things I wish someone would have told me.

1) When the dog is soaking wet any stimulation gets magnified.(DUH!!)
2) Using the delay feature helps to prevent accidental stimulation when pushing through brush.(OOPS)

Fortunately, my dog don't hold a grudge for my stupidity.