eTraining Dog Collars

This is the last of a series of three blogs on “your dogs first command (The Bed Comand – How to do it using a training dog collar).   Before you proceed further you should be at a point where you have successfully taught your dog the meaning of the word “bed” and his “safe zone”. You have also learned how to put on and establish the proper setting of your training dog collar and your dog knows how to turn off the stimulation on the training collar.  If you are fuzzy in these areas please review these blogs.

When the dog goes to bed upon feeling the stimulation, it is time to move on.  He has learned to turn the stimulation off, and it is now time to teach him to avoid the stimulation altogether. A benchmark for proceeding is when you know that he knows how to turn off the low-level stimulation.  It does not matter if the dog learns to turn the stimulation off by going into his bed on the first session or the fifth session. Collar training sessions should be kept short.  Two short sessions of three to five minutes are much better than one long session of fifteen minutes. Your objective is to teach the dog to avoid the stimulation altogether by complying with the command the first time it is given.  It is easier for the dog to learn to avoid the stimulation if he first knows how to turn off the low-level stimulation. Once the dog knows how to turn the stimulation off, never again stimulate him prior to giving the “bed” command.  He will not forget how to turn the stimulation off by going into his bed.

Once he knows how to turn the stimulation off, It’s time to move to the next collar training step.  Place your dog six to eight feet in front of his bed and start the process over by saying “bed” one time, turn on the low-level stimulation, and turn the stimulation off when the dog is in the bed

You your collar training is successful when your dog goes into his bed on the command the first time with no stimulation.  Build confidence by being upbeat.  Reward the dog’s success.  You may initially have a few setbacks, but with enough consistent repetitions your dog will reliably go into his bed the first time you give the command.  If the dog tests you and he will, do not repeat the command.  Simply apply stimulation until the dog obeys the command and goes into his bed.

What Have We Accomplished?

The bed command has taught the dog the following:

1. He can turn stimulation off by entering his crate or going to his bed..
2. He can avoid stimulation altogether by complying with the command.
3. Escape hatches do not work.

Additionally, he now understands the concept of a “Safe Zone.”  When the dog was in his bed, there was never any stimulation.  Because the dog learns by association and is place oriented, it does not take very many sessions before the dog grasps the Safe Zone concept.  You will use the Safe Zone concept for teaching other commands as well.

 Once you have taught your dog to respond to the ”bed” command reliably and enthusiastically, you already have a better-trained dog.  The key is to keep the training sessions short, be consistent, and reward success.  As a guideline, the ”bed” process normally takes one to two weeks.  Daily exercise with numerous short sessions is the key.

Following up with our previous blog: Using a Training Dog Collar – Finding the Proper Level of Stimulation:  Before you proceed further you should be at a point where you have successfully taught your dog the meaning of the word “bed” and his “safe zone”. You have also learned how to put on and establish the proper setting of your training dog collar.  If you are fuzzy in these areas please review these blogs.  Once these steps have been accomplished it’s time for the next step: 

Training With Electronic Collars

It is now time to begin formal training. Formal training is the process of developing a dog to be motivated to respond to a given command the first time the command is given. Start the dog on a check-cord or a long lead.  With the dog facing the bed or crate from four to six feet away, Press continuous stimulation on the electronic collar at the lowest level the dog feels and then say “bed” in an upbeat tone one time.  If the dog goes into his bed turn the stimulation off as soon as the dog is all the way in.  If the dog does not go into the crate, keep the stimulation on and put him in.  When the dog is all the way in his bed or crate, turn the stimulation off. Never have the stimulation on when the dog is in his bed.  What we are doing is establishing a “safe zone”.  

Do not repeat the command if he does not go in the crate.  You are teaching the dog to respond to the command the first time.  For safety reasons, the electronic collar turns off in eight to ten seconds, even if you are depressing the continuous stimulation button.  Therefore, you should get the dog into the kennel before the stimulation goes off.  Praise the dog when he is in the crate. It most likely will not take very many sessions before the dog goes in the bed or crate upon feeling the stimulation, before you give the command. This is your benchmark.  Once the dog goes into his bed when he feels the stimulation, he then knows how to turn the stimulation off by himself.  Consequently, when he feels the stimulation, he goes into the bed to solve his problem.  Dogs do act in their own best interest therefore he is doing this for himself, because it works for him.

Once you are at this level there is one more step before you are there.  Look for our next blog The Bed Command -  How To Avoid Stimulation – Success

Lets follow through with our “bed” command on this.  If you have not read the blog on:  Your Dog’s First Command – How To Do It  you should refer to it because that step should be mastered before you proceed with using your electronic  collar.

 Once you are sure the dog knows what the “bed”  command means or whatever command you are trying  to teach, the next step is to find the proper stimulation level on your electronic collar.  Remember there should NEVER be any pain to this. We have a responsibility to take care of our pets and to cause any pain is unthinkable. When using electronic collars as soon as your dog senses something different that is the proper level of stimulation.  Note If the stimulation is to low the dog cannot feel it, or if the stimulation is to high the dog will feel pain, these are the wrong settings. To find the proper setting, place the collar on the dog’s neck.  The collar should be at the high side of the dog’s neck, up close to his head.  The neck is thinner there, and the collar cannot slide down to the thicker portion of the neck. If you place the collar low on the neck, near the collarbone, the collar may slide up and cause the sensors to lose contact and stimulation will be inconsistent. 

You should be able to slip two fingers under the electronic collar to ensure a proper fit. With the dog on a check-cord or lead, turn the continuous stimulation on at the lowest level and look for a reaction from the dog.  Maybe the dog looks around curiously.  Perhaps he was wagging his tail and stops wagging, or an involuntary twitch occurs at the neck.  You are trying to find the lowest level the dog feels.  If the dog does not show any signs of feeling the stimulation, move up one level and repeat. Once you have established the lowest level the dog feels, that is the level you will use when training him. Depending on a dog’s past history and temperament, you may have to use higher levels during training, but eventually the dog will respond to the lowest level he can feel.

Our next blog will take  on the  training process with an electronic collar.  Look for it.

You can use this method in teaching your dog to understand and obey numerous other commands. Normally I like to call the dog’s name first followed by the command.  This will get your dog’s attention. Teaching the “bed” command, correctly, will make your dog a better companion and will facilitate future training efforts.  This is equivalent to telling your child to “go to bed” and should probably be the first command you teach. Note that you can use any word you want: bed, kennel, crate, etc. You obviously need to be consistent using the same word. For this blog I will be using the word bed.

For puppies it will be easier to use a soft dog crate with a door, but a nice bed will do too.  This is going to be your dogs’ safe zone.  Your dog should always be safe when he is in his crate or bed.

 The First Step

Initially hold the dog by the collar or physically pick up a puppy and place the dog into his bed while saying “bed, bed, bed,” in a gentle, upbeat tone.  Think of Pavlov’s bell as “ding, ding, ding,” not “clang, clang, clang.”  Praise him or give him a treat. You cannot be lazy and take a half hearted approach to training. Once you start you must follow through with your commands or you will inadvertently embed in your dog the idea that he doesn’t have to listen to you.  Do not take the approach of “Let’s see what happens if …. In any and all training you do resist the urge to give the “Bed” command without holding onto the dog to see what he will do.  If the dog does not go in, either you will be forced to let him get away with it, and thereby teach him that he has options, or you will have to discipline him.  Neither option is beneficial to your training program.

 After numerous sessions with the “Bed” command, the dog will associate his going into the bed with you saying “bed, bed, bed”.  Be consistent; always repeat the “bed” command before putting the dog into his crate or bed. You want to make sure that the dog complies immediately upon hearing the command.  Remember, we should never reward or correct a dog if the dog cannot associate the reward or correction with a specific behavior.  Think of this analogy:  if you adopted a child from a foreign country who does not speak English and you say “go to bed” in English, the child would not know what “go to bed” means.  If you disciplined the child for failing to go to bed, you will not create trust.  The child would not know why he was disciplined. The same is true with dogs.  We need to first repeat the command and when you think they have it repeat it again. Use this technique with every command you give in the future.

The next Step is how to use a Training Dog Collar – Finding the Proper Level of Stimulation.  This will facilitate the training  process.  Look for it.

Every year my college roommate and I go on a weeklong hunting expedition. I go for the week away from civilization and for the opportunity to catch up with my friend, but he is generally more concerned with the actual hunting. Throughout the year, he travels to various corners of the country to experience a range of hunting environments.

As you can imagine, he was an ample cache of hunting equipment. In addition to the guns, ammo and other gear, he also owns a pair of hunting dogs, which are in many ways as indispensible as the other supplies. Before we head out for the day, we attach a couple of hunting dog collars to them so that we can track the dogs wherever they may roam. Over the years, I would guess that the dogs have contributed to at least 80 percent of the game we’ve shot on these annual outings.

Using decoys and hunting game calls is a joy in itself.  Great pride can be gained by using decoys and your special hunting game calls particularly if you made them yourself.  It’s an art in itself and a great way to get ready for the hunting season.

 During the hunt just setting up the decoys is a challenge, making sure that everything is just right.  Unfortunately the longer you are on post the less effective your decoys are even when using a variety of hunting game calls. That’s’ because the scene that you set up is stagnate.  Today there are decoys that have movement to them.  Interspersing a couple of mechanical decoys with your stagnate ones will be more effective and bring you better luck.  Try it.

As you continue to undergo gun dog training for your dog to hone in his hunting skills you and your hunting colleagues need to continually master and be aware of hunting safety.  You must also develop certain responsibilities to the sport such as an understanding of game laws, sporting codes and wildlife management these areas are almost as important as handling a weapon safely.  All hunters must develop a code that makes them good hunters. This code is called “the code of hunter ethics.”

Obey all the rules of safety and insist that those around you do the same. Obey all game laws and insist that those hunting with you do likewise. Do your best to acquire marksmanship and hunting skills that assure clean, sportsmanlike skills. Support conservation efforts that assure good hunting for future generations. Fortunately most avid hunters and sportsmen take conservation very seriously and are great defenders of the outdoors.  

Don’t be a slob. Keep your campsite neat, and don’t offend others by openly displaying your kill in camp or on your vehicle. Pass along to other hunters, especially youngsters, the attitudes and skills essential to being a true outdoor sportsman.

As a young man in upstate New York I was introduced to small game hunting.  Being outdoors, the aroma of autumn and the closeness to nature gives one an appreciation and respect of our environment that always stays with you.

One day a relative invited me to go hunting with his dog.  I jumped at the chance.    The delight of watching an experienced hunting dog methodically work an area brought small game hunting  to a new level.  The bond that is built with your pet is strengthened and continues to grow.  I had to get involved with my own dog.

 Have you ever seen your dog smile?  I swear I did.  I saw the satisfaction in my dog  Brownie’s face after he sniffed out a rabbit  and was bringing it around to me.  And when it went  past me the quizzical look he gave me was humbling.  Sorry Brownie I’ll pay more attention next time. 

The related experience works because the dog I was with was well-trained.  That’s the challenge.  And that’s why it was easy for me to get involved with training dog collars.  I wanted to share my experiences by providing state of the art collar training items, sport shooting equipment and continuing instruction on a variety of training and safety issues.

I’m sure you have special experiences of your own.

According to the Florida Wildlife Commission in the past thirty years, 76% of turkey hunting accidents were a result of the victim being mistaken for a turkey.  That’s right, in attempting to lure game in close enough for a shot with your predator call or various hunting game calls it’s very possible that you will attract other hunters as well.

 Be alert and know exactly what you are aiming at before you shoot. If you see another hunter make eye contact with that person.  It is in your best interest to acknowledge each other even if you have to make a slight sound or use hand jesters.  Don’t become a victim to    the state of the art hunting game calls that are out there today which may attract other hunters as well as game.