Most gun dog owners either love e-collars or hate them. For those who know how to use them correctly, they are great training tools. But for those who don’t, they can cause dogs a number of problems.
For non-dog owners, and even some dog owners who don’t understand the utility of e-collars, the device seems cruel. However, when used properly, that’s far from the truth. Living proof is all those dogs that run up to their trainers jumping with excitement and sticking their neck out to have the e-collar attached. They know they’re about to go do something fun—something they were born to do—and they also know that getting that collar on is the first step to having that fun.
How to Introduce the E-Collar Jason Campbell operates Osage Gun Dogs located near Madill, Oklahoma, and shared his expertise for this article. (Photo courtesy of Osage Gun Dogs) Jason Campbell operates Osage Gun Dogs located near Madill, Oklahoma. Campbell has been working with bird dogs nearly his whole life and believes the e-collar is one of the best tools in a trainer’s toolbox. However, there are some drawbacks for those who haven’t used the collars to train a dog before.
“I'm a firm believer that when they are used correctly, they are an absolute priceless training tool and a great attribute to trainers who know how to use them,” Campbell said when asked about e-collars. “But you have to do lots of work before you ever get to that e-collar. The whole purpose of the e-collar for my training method and training philosophy is just to enforce and reinforce the commands that they have already been taught and that they know.”
“I'll use it for heel. I'll use it for whoa. I'll use it for handling purposes. Every time I drop a dog down on the ground—my broke dogs, my unbroke dogs, it doesn't matter—they've got a training collar on them. I really can't think of anything that I don't use that collar for.”
Campbell warns, however, that dogs need to be conditioned to the collar before it is ever used. He has a strategy that he uses to determine the lowest level a dog can feel, then uses that level for its training.
“You know all of my dogs from day one, whenever they come in, they go on a chain gang,” he said. “That's just my rule of thumb on day one. Whenever the time comes for the collar introduction, I'll put that e-collar on them while they are on the chain gang and I'll get on the other side of the truck, and I'll start on the absolute lowest setting that is available on that collar. I'll nick them and look for a response. It might just be a head turn, it might be an ear flip, it might be them blinking—any little thing like that. I’ll adjust the setting until I see a response out of him, and that’s where we will start out.”
Campbell cautions that dog owners have to be careful and not use too much stimulation.
“You're by no means laying the dog down with electricity,” he said. “All you're doing is applying the least amount of pressure possible. For some dogs, that's just to vibrate. So, reading your dog, knowing your dog, and just being able to pay attention to him tells you how much pressure needs to be applied, or can be applied, to that particular dog.”
Once conditioned to the collar, dogs are set up to learn a number of things—with the collar’s help and that of the trainer.
“You can fix just about anything with an e-collar,” Campbell said. “If you've got dogs that are busting birds or you've got dogs that don't want to handle, if they’ve been taught the command, you can reinforce it the right way with the collar.”
Common Mistakes While Training With E-Collars E-collars aren't a magic wand, but they can be a valuable tool for training gun dogs. (Photo courtesy of Osage Gun Dogs) As mentioned earlier, when used incorrectly e-collars cause problems instead of helping solve them. After all, e-collars aren’t the magic wands some people seem to think they are.
“I think they just go out and buy an e-collar and they put it on their dog and expect that dog to do everything that they're telling it to do,” Campbell said. “I think that is a common misconception, that they should train the dog with the e-collar instead of using it to reinforce training that has already been done.”
Another frequent problem Campbell sees is inexperienced dog trainers using the collar at too high of intensity for the purpose.
“I think that a lot of people use more stimulation than they need to,” he said. “They don't know that you can get a lot done, with a lot of dogs, with low-intensity settings.”
When used in an improper manner, e-collars can result in a dog becoming “collar smart,” Campbell said.
“Dogs that have become collar smart are completely rogue until you put a collar on them, then they are perfect little angels,” he said. “That usually comes from someone putting an e-collar on them and using way more intensity than they ever needed to use. It also results from not showing the dog what you want, or not properly introducing the dog to the commands, and then going to the e-collar.
“It's collar smart because they know what's going to happen if they misbehave when they've got the collar on. So, if you're playing any kind of games—any kind of field trial venues or any kind of hunt test or anything like that—and you've got a collar-smart dog, you're in trouble.”
Should I Get an E-Collar? Our conversation left me wondering if a person just getting his first gun dog and planning to train it himself should even purchase an e-collar. Consequently, I posed that question to Campbell.
“I mean, you're going to need an e-collar,” Campbell said. “So yes, get one. Then leave it in the box and get with a trainer that knows what they're doing first before using it.”
