Shock collar

[Coalminer7]

Where and what is a good shock collar to buy for a lab.  Thinking on Tri Tronics, who has best prices?

[lil_hunter12]

dont know about for a lab but i use a trash breaker ultra from tritronics on my coon hounds

[Don Fischer]

Thing to remember about an electric collar. More dogs are ruined with them than made! Also, the best dogs have probally all been done with a collar. Sounds contradictory but true. Most people don't use one right and screw up good dogs. Done right, you can't tell a dog ever had one on. I can spot a collar wise or screwed up dog in a very short time. There's a video by a trainer named Greg Koch on using the collar. If you neever used a collar I would suggest you find it and watch it several times first. He'll be doing pointing dogs but pay no mind. Watch the technique, very important!

What you don't need is all the bells and whistles. A simple shock is it. You also don't need a lot of range, 300 yds is more than enough. Also forget the dual dog collars. Train one at a time.

It serves no usefull purpose to let your dog get out of hand and then try to correct it with a collar. Train first then GENTLY correct with the collar commands that the dog KNOWS! Also, don't shock your dog when it's out of sight. You might think you know what's happening but you gotta be sure. Shock with to much collar at the wrong time and your one step closer to ruining your dog.

Tri-Tronix makes a good collar in the 100 series. The one I used, some years ago, had a 1/10th sec nic or a solid blast for punishment. No good boy sounds or warning sounds as in their 90 series collar. I've never seen a well done dog from a 90 series but have seen a lot of screwed up one's! I believe all their collars have a range of one mile but as I said, you don't need that. Very well made collars. I also used an older 70 series. If you find a used one, it's a good collar but hard to learn to use. It had a built in one sec delay befor the shock and was hell to time a shock right. I owned several older DT Systems collars and they worked very well, instent shock when the button was hit, easy to time a shock properly. No extra sounds and enough range to train properly. I trained horseback field trial dogs but my dogs were finished training befor they got ran off a horse much. I never carried a shock collar on a horse but always had the dog wear the collar when running unless in a trial. Training is about creating habits.

Collars can also be used for punishment training. Snake, porcupine proofing and breaking off game. All come under punishment training and it's fairly severe. Then the collar teaches the dog to fear those things you don't want it around. Unless your doing that, you never want to hear your dog yelp. It does, and you hit it to hard and/or to long.

[victorcharlie]

I've owned a tri-tronics 3 dog lite 100 for several years......had the batteries replaced a couple of times now.......I've never had a tritronics collar fail, but the batteries will get to where they won't hold a charge very long after a few years.......

Definately a well made tough collar.

Again, Don is right.......lots of dogs ruined (or at least other problems made) by a shock collar. (The politically correct term is electronic training device)..........

First thing, the dog has to know who turns it on and off...........put a collar on, turn the dog loose, then blast him and you'll spend the next half a day looking for the dog.  The dog must be introduced to the collar on a cable, with just enough of a hit to make him raise his ears..........once the dog knows you turn it on then your ready to train.

On mistake people make is to try to teach more than one thing at a time with the collar......if your working on come then don't use the collar for stay until the lesson come is learned and completed.........when the dog is constatly hit for different problems it confuses them and they'll just stand under your feet or, if they don't know the collar, they'll leave the country.

One hit, applied at the right time will cure many problems........on the other hand, one hit applied at the wrong time will set you back and cause other problems.........

I've had my collars a long time and messed up several promising dogs..........knowing that, I can tell you less is more, or timing is everything.

I do think that a collar is one of the best training devices I've ever used.....I wish I'd have gotten mine many years earlier.......

The good thing about the collar is there's no yelling, no getting mad at the dog, no beating or other things that would land a fellow in jail these days........

There is a movement that seeks to ban collars as cruel........mostly by people that think there cruel have never used them......

I regularly test my collars by shocking my leg to see if there working.......the thing about a shock collar, or electric fence for that matter is it works not by physical pain, but rather by the phycological aspect of the thought of the pain.......it's all in the head.....if you think it hurts then it must right?

I highly recommend the use of a shock collar as a training aid.....but you'll have to learn how and when to use it........

[Don Fischer]

Truck was broke down for three weeks. No internet at home. Three weeks later and $3000 and I'm back.

Had a client years ago that wanted to become the Ferrill Miller of the west coast. Problem was that all he knew how to do was ruin dogs. Had him a 90 series collar and didn't think he did anything if the dog didn't scream. Had a guy from Pheonix, Az send me a nice little setter, he wanted her finished. Didn't take long to find out it wasn't gonna happen anytime soon. Put the collar on her and put her on a whoa post, no transmitter. Walked her to the end of the check cord and told her "whoa" and she hit the ground like she'd been shot! Called the guy to see who had whoa trained her. He did and was damn proud of it. Sent her home just as I'd got her. I'm sure you can fill in the blanks.

see ya,
Don

[captkev]

   Things to concider when buying a collar, First off, I use a Lovett's and Love it. And here is why... it uses a 9volt batt. you can find them in just about any gas station or grocerie store. Lets say you buy a collar that you have to put on a charger... you forget to turn it off... Now what? Your ready for the hunt of a lifetime and you have a dead collar. better have a generator and about 4 hours to kill. And even if you have a 12 volt charger, your still S.O.L.  its going to take some time to charge. Now lets say you buy a collar with one of those small fancy camera batteries in it... your collar is dead and your out in the boonies, the closest place is 20 miles away and its just a small gas station with 4 cans of pop in the cooler and some twinkies on the shelf with a layer of dust... I'll bet there is a 9 volt batterie with dust on it too, but your chances of a fancy little camera batt. is slim to none.  Now you'll need to drive another 30-40 miles to get to a town with a population large enough to find your batt. Just my .02 cents worth. Get what you want, but be sure you have a spare.

[Don Fischer]

                              Your ready for the hunt of a lifetime and you have a dead collar.


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If you still need the collar, you are not ready for the hunt of a life time.

[victorcharlie]

I haven't heard of a Lovetts..........I've got to look into them.....a lot of the new tritronics have user replacable batteries....that are also rechargable.......

I, in the past have gone on vacation and loaded a dozen dogs of various ages in the box and stayed camped in the field for a week at a time.  Most of the time, I'm much more comfortable with a collar on a young dog, and often put the "A" team up in order to train some of the "B" team..........

cheap, long lasting, reliable power is one of the things a collar should have........Collar technology changes fast.......thanks for suggesting the Lovett.......now I've got to find out more about them......

[captkev]

                              Your ready for the hunt of a lifetime and you have a dead collar.


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If you still need the collar, you are not ready for the hunt of a life time.

 So true, but not everyone knows how to handle their dog with out one, I don't need the shock part of my collar, I just like the remote on/off for the beeper, sometimes I like it on sometimes I like it off. I hunt mostly for Grouse and Woodcock in cover so thick you can't see your dog 30 feet in front of you, sometimes you need the beeper

    Here's a link to some info on Lovetts collars...
http://www.gundogsupply.com/lovetts--bucket.html

  I do agree with you, most people should'nt own a dog, much less a dog with a collar, but in the right hands, it can be a handlers best friend. I also agree about the setters, they can be prety soft. but if you know as much as I think you know about dogs, then you must addmit, there is a time when you just have to make the correction, and the only way is with the collar.  A very wise and well know trainer told me one of the first things to know about training a dog is to make sure you never issue a command you can't enforce, and your not asking the dog to do something, its a demand.

[Don Fischer]

In grouse and woodcock cover, a beeper could be nice. I've tried small bells but I can't hear them. A friend had a beeper collar years ago, I couldn't hear it either! There may be something wrong with my hearing!

[captkev]

 LOL... What ?   Do you use ear plugs while your shooting? Thats what my doc asked me, I said then how do you hear the bird get up? most times you hear it before you see it. he said to use one of those game ear things... you ever use one?  prety hard to tell direction with one, yes sounds are amplified, but you don't know where they are comeing from

[Don Fischer]

Well truth be known, I'm 28yrs old but I was issued old ears, 60yrs old. Twelve years befor I was born, these old ears started going bad because their former owner didn't use ear plugs!

[captkev]

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