COME WITH THE E-COLLAR

Looking back to the my article on teaching the come command I discussed how to get your dog to come to you with the check chord and a choke chain. When your dog is returning to you on command under light distractions. you may start teaching the come command with the e-collar.

Prior to this step you have let your dog run in the yard playing and retrieving while wearing his e-collar. this step allows the dog to get familier with the feeling of the collar before you use it for the first time.

Now that your dog is comfortable with the e-collar you can make the transition from the check cord to the stimulation of the e-collar. starting with the lowest level offered on your collar, apply light continuous stimulation at the same time that you tug on the choke chain. when your dog starts to come to you turn off the stimulation from the e-collar and continue to take in the slack of the rope'

Make sure the dog comes to you all the way. praise him lavishly and turn him loose. to play. keep teaching this method a few times a day for a few days adding distractions slowly like kids or other dogs. If the lowest level is not working raise the level to the next position and try again. your goal is to have the dog turn around and come to you to turn off the stimulation from the collar.

It is important to use the lowest level that your dog can feel and only rasing the level of stimulation if the distractions from kids, dogs, etc. become to distracting for the dog.

Your not trying to make the dog become uncomfortable about wearing the collar. so start at a low level and match the level of collar intensity with the level of distraction.

As your training progresses, you should be able to have your dog come all the way back to you by turning off the e-collar stimulation and with out any help from the check chord.

Roger Hess