I recently got an e-collar for my dog for two reasons:
1- to help his recall (pretty good but he likes to chase squirrels, in that case he won’t listen)
2- to try and train him to not leave our partly unfenced yard
I had him smell it, gave treats, had him wear it, gave treats. Tried to create an overall positive association with it and he seemed fine, he didn’t seem to care about it at all. My plan was to use the beep as a “don’t leave the yard” and the low level stimulation for the recall.
I have flags set up around the perimeter of my yard for his boundary training. He already knows not to go through them, he just ignores it sometimes when he’s distracted, I wanted to use the e-collar to work on that. I beeped it in my hand multiple different times over a couple days when he tried to walk through the flags and gave a verbal correction. Today I took him outside with it actually on him and walked the perimeter then let him walk around on a long line like always, when he tried to go through the flags I beeped the collar. He stopped and came back, yay, and he did it a couple more times and I beeped the collar each time then rewarded him for staying in the yard or when he was running, stopping at the flags. But after the second or third time I noticed he was becoming scared in general. He stopped running around, and walked timidly by my side even far from the flags. I have the beep on the lowest setting so it’s not super loud. Now it almost seems like he’s afraid to be outside.
My dog is not one to be afraid of sounds, he can sit on the sidewalk as an ambulance goes by and be unfazed by it, fireworks don’t bother him either. I’ve stopped using the collar in the meantime but what can I do to help him? Did I do something wrong?
He didn’t care about the sound when it was in my hand, but now he seems like a different dog. No, it was not shocking him, I tested it many times on myself to make sure of that. I haven’t used to for recall training yet and now I’m afraid to. What should I do?
1- to help his recall (pretty good but he likes to chase squirrels, in that case he won’t listen)
2- to try and train him to not leave our partly unfenced yard
I had him smell it, gave treats, had him wear it, gave treats. Tried to create an overall positive association with it and he seemed fine, he didn’t seem to care about it at all. My plan was to use the beep as a “don’t leave the yard” and the low level stimulation for the recall.
I have flags set up around the perimeter of my yard for his boundary training. He already knows not to go through them, he just ignores it sometimes when he’s distracted, I wanted to use the e-collar to work on that. I beeped it in my hand multiple different times over a couple days when he tried to walk through the flags and gave a verbal correction. Today I took him outside with it actually on him and walked the perimeter then let him walk around on a long line like always, when he tried to go through the flags I beeped the collar. He stopped and came back, yay, and he did it a couple more times and I beeped the collar each time then rewarded him for staying in the yard or when he was running, stopping at the flags. But after the second or third time I noticed he was becoming scared in general. He stopped running around, and walked timidly by my side even far from the flags. I have the beep on the lowest setting so it’s not super loud. Now it almost seems like he’s afraid to be outside.
My dog is not one to be afraid of sounds, he can sit on the sidewalk as an ambulance goes by and be unfazed by it, fireworks don’t bother him either. I’ve stopped using the collar in the meantime but what can I do to help him? Did I do something wrong?
He didn’t care about the sound when it was in my hand, but now he seems like a different dog. No, it was not shocking him, I tested it many times on myself to make sure of that. I haven’t used to for recall training yet and now I’m afraid to. What should I do?
, only the vibrate. Live and learn I guess
. I’m still having him wear it at random times like you said, and he doesn’t mind wearing it at all which is good. I’ll look for a trainer to assist me before I do anything further with it. Thanks!