# Shock collar question



## 3ringer (Jan 31, 2016)

We have a German Short Hair Pointer. I whistle trained her to come back to me. It was easy to do. I bought a loud whistle. For several days I would whistle and give her a treat. This conditioned her to come to me every time she heard the whistle. It has worked great letting her run loose in the yard. When she would run past the boundary, I would hit the whistle and she would run back. 
We have a neighbors dog that gets loose and visits. She loves playing with this dog. Yesterday I let my gps out to play in the yard. She smelled the neighbors dog and took off. I hit the whistle but she ignored it and headed straight to the neighbors yard to look for her boyfriend. 

I said all this ask my question . Will a shock collar work to teach her not to go past our boundaries. She has always done great with the whistle until she fell in love with the neighbors Lab. What are your thoughts on the shock collar. We don't have a fenced in yard. I enjoy letting her loose to play ball and fetch. I just can't be chasing her over the neighborhood.


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## NUTT (Jan 31, 2016)

I would ecollar condition her to "here" so that she knows "here" means HERE. It will save her life.


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## drawedback (Feb 1, 2016)

Yes, an E collar will help you with this problem. You have her conditioned to come back for a treat, but now she has found something that interests her more than the treat does. I would put the collar on her, and put her on a check cord, or a 20 ft rope. She already knows the whistle means come, so use it. Start with low level stimulation, followed by a whistle blast and a yank on the cord. As soon as she starts coming to you, turn the stimulation off. After a few repititions, and I mean 3 or 4, she will start to come before you blow the whistle. That means she knows how to turn the stimulation off. Once she knows how to turn it off, flip it. Blow the whistle followed by stimulation, this will reenforce it, so the first 2 or 3 times stimulate her even if she is coming. After that, blow the whistle, if she comes pet her and give her a treat, if not low level stimulation until she comes to you. I would work her for atleast 3 days in a row, no more than 10 minutes at a time, and you should have her conditioned to where anytime she is out running around, and she feels stimulation, she knows to come back to you. This is how I have taught my bird dogs and hounds to come for years, and it has worked very well for me. Good luck!!!!


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## HuntDawg (Feb 1, 2016)

NUTT said:


> I would ecollar condition her to "here" so that she knows "here" means HERE. It will save her life.



I second this. "Here" means "Here". The ecollar is used to condition, not to punish in any way. 


In addition, use the word " Here". Not the word "Come". The word " Here" can carry further due to higher pitch than the lower word "Come". I am not sure exactly the physics, but I can carry the word " Here" much louder and further than "Come".

You probably want to add in " Sit" from a distance and use a 1 whistle blow to mean "Sit". You never know when you will need to stop and " Sit" your dog from a distance. This can save the life of a dog if it crosses a street and you need to stop the dog, but not have it "Here" back to you right away.

I am no expert, but I know I have had to stop my dog in the field instead of have her return to me immediately.


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## Adamr2727 (Feb 3, 2016)

Also just some info if your new to collar conditioning I would get a video on it just so your more comfortable. Iv seen to many dogs  ruined due to improper collar work. If you get a vocal response you have it to high. Good luck


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## Joe Overby (Feb 3, 2016)

Adamr2727 said:


> Also just some info if your new to collar conditioning I would get a video on it just so your more comfortable. Iv seen to many dogs  ruined due to improper collar work. If you get a vocal response you have it to high. Good luck


Not entirely true. I have dogs vocalize on the lowest possible setting, one that is undetectable by me. Sometimes dogs vocalize just to get you to stop doing whatever you're doing. They think that if they vocalize you'll stop and they'll get what they want without changing any undesireable behavior. You've gotta read the dog...


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## drawedback (Feb 3, 2016)

Joe Overby said:


> Not entirely true. I have dogs vocalize on the lowest possible setting, one that is undetectable by me. Sometimes dogs vocalize just to get you to stop doing whatever you're doing. They think that if they vocalize you'll stop and they'll get what they want without changing any undesireable behavior. You've gotta read the dog...



I agree, I have a collar that you can vibrate to warn a dog instead of a tone. I have on many occasions had dogs to vocalize on vibration alone, with no stimulation.


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## Adamr2727 (Feb 3, 2016)

Hey joe what's going on. I 100 percent agree with you and have had some dogs do the same thing on the first setting. I just meant in general when you put the collar on to see when you get slight movement to find the working range. I didn't wanna go on and on and make it sound overwhelming to him. I should have explained more. I'm sure I'll see you around soon at the the hunt test coming up


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## 3ringer (Feb 3, 2016)

Thanks for the very useful information. The ecollar arrived today. I will try it on her this weekend. She got away from me again this past Monday. We live on Jackson Lake. The water is down very far right now. She took off and I couldn't keep up with her. When I did catch up, she was trying to swim out to some mallards. I caught her as she swam back. She can be stubborn. She likes to chase all animals and birds. She understands me very well but will ignore me. If I grab the flyswatter , she will obey me without me saying another word. It's like she is testing me.


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## Joe Overby (Feb 3, 2016)

Evan Graham. Collar conditioning DVD.


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## 3ringer (Feb 14, 2016)

I finally got a chance to try the e collar on my gsp today. I tied her to a 20 foot tether. As I called here , I gave her a very mild shock. She responded very well. I removed the tether and she did very well. I walked around the yard and she stayed close to me. I am very pleased at how well and fast she responded. Hopefully she won't get distracted and run.


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## 3ringer (Mar 6, 2016)

I ended up purchasing the ObeDog brand ecollar from Amazon . It was the best 69 bucks I ever spent. Our Gsp stays in our yard now and obeys very well. Anytime she wonders too far , I just give her a beep and she comes running. I only had to shock her a few times in the very beginning. Now just a beep or vibrate gets her attention.


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