Weaning the Dog off the Ecollar

The reason that dogs don't obey all the time is that they are gamblers. Let's see if I can do what I wanna do THIS time!

I recommend this method to ensure reliability. In my opinion either a dog is reliable or he's not. Reliability means 100%. My bottom line is that if the dog is off leash and he's not wearing the Ecollar you can't give him a correction and therefore you can't guarantee reliability. Some people don't need reliability but others, particularly those with Search and Rescue dogs, Personal Protection dogs or Police Service Dogs; DO need reliability. But just because you own a pet, rather than a working dog, doesn't mean that you too, can't have a reliable dog.

When you start training there's a temptation to Let's see if he's "getting it." There's a temptation to give a command to not give a stimulation, to check and see if he's "getting" the concept. Usually, if you've been following my protocol, the dog WILL perform. But you've just taught him a valuable lesson, one that will cause you grief later on, even though it's not apparent now. It just takes one of these tests (more tests is worse) to teach the dog this lesson. This lesson is that a stimulation doesn't always come when the command is given. When this occurs before the dog has the habit of performing every time, it can end in an undesirable result, unreliability. This is not limited to Ecollar work, it's common with most methods.

Automatic Corrections

I recommend that people use automatic corrections, that is they give a stimulation EVERY time they give a command, for the first two months of their training. Do this even if the dog is in the act of performing the movement. That means 60 days of working the dog, not 60 days, elapsed time. At the end of those 60 days give a command but don't give a stimulation. As long as the dog performs quickly you're OK. Start a count and if you get to 30 days (of training, not 30 calendar days) and you haven't had to give a stimulation because the dog didn't perform, you can remove the Ecollar. But if just once the dog didn't perform and you had to give him a stimulation along with a second command, start your count over again.

Restarting Your Count

At some point later on, your dog will gamble. That is he'll be more interested in doing what he wants to do than obeying your command. When he does this put the Ecollar back on for a week of automatic stimulations. Then you can start your 30-day count again.

For those working dogs mentioned above, Search and Rescue dogs, Personal Protection dogs and Police Service Dogs I recommend that they wear the Ecollar all the time, when they're deployed. For those dogs we often can't afford nor have time for a second command.

How Reliable is Reliable Enough?

This is a question that only you can answer. If you don't mind having to call your dog three times then neither do I. But it's not acceptable for a police service dog and can cause serious problems with SAR dogs and pets as well. If it takes three commands to get your dog to sit as he runs toward a highway, you might find that when he finally does comply he's in the middle of the road.

If you have the dog wear the Ecollar as long as he's outside the home or whenever he deploys you have the ability to correct him if he doesn't perform. If the Ecollar is back home, you can't.

I've been asked a few times if 60 days of automatic stimulations is really necessary. I've found that it's not always necessary with every dog. But I've found that all dogs respond if it's done this way. YOUR dog might only need 45 days or 30 days of automatic stimulations but then some people will assume that because their dog is working OK that he only need 20 days. The result of cutting this corner is unreliability.

 

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© 2007 Lou Castle