The Dog Charmer by Tom Shelby

To E-collar or Not To E-collar

Dear Dog Charmer:

I have a 1-year-old goldendoodle who’s quite obstreperous. I want to walk him off leash on the many country trails near my house, but I’m afraid he’ll take off. Some people are telling me to get an e-collar, and other people are telling me it’s cruel. Any suggestions?

Ziggy

Dear Ziggy:

I have a goldendoodle who I often refer to as “Crackhead.” His name is Jeffrey and I adopted him at 6 months of age. He’s now 3. I use an e-collar every day. It beats the heck out of screaming his name to come when he’s flying through the woods at 100 miles per hour 100 yards away, or about to eat a mushroom, or roll in some kind of fresh poop.

The first step is the positive association with the collar. Show it to your dog, let him smell it as you give him a special treat, put it on him and leave it on for a few hours. After a few days, when it’s obvious that he likes the collar, call him to come as you hit the sound switch, rewarding him with a treat when he arrives. This is done indoors and outdoors if you have a fenced-in area.

When he’s coming 100 percent of the time when you hit the sound switch, it’s time to use the possible negative connotation, which can be the vibration switch. You can set your dog up in the house by putting a piece of meat or cheese in a perforated plastic container and leaving it on a low table, or the floor. When he so much as sniffs it, you can say “No” or “Leave It” as you hit the vibration switch.

My poodle, Paula Jean, jumped two feet in the air from the startlement of the vibration, then came to me right away as I hit the sound switch. There’s no pain, just some well-timed startlement. PJ and Jeff are off leash almost every day as we hike the trails for a couple of miles. I use the sound switch several times every walk to “condition” the recall response. Like I said, beats the hell out of yelling. I did use the “electric pain stim” once, when Jeff was about to cross a street to chase a stray cat, then immediately called him to come with the sound switch. It may have saved his life!

Good luck, and remember—“success builds on success.”

Dog Charmer Tom

Tom Shelby, “The Dog Charmer” Cooperstown author, answers pet owners’ questions on training their dogs. E-mail questions to dogsrshelby@msn.com. Tom’s book, “Dog Training Diaries,” was judged one of the three best training books by Dog Writer’s Association of America. Look for his new book, “Dog Training: It Ain’t an Accountant’s Job.”