Remote Collar Training
WATCH ALL THESE FIRST: Wonder Dog Remote Collar Off-Leash Training Videos
WATCH THESE SECOND: Youtube Playlist Link Here
So far you’ve learned about treats, the prong collar (aka the on-leash collar) and now it’s time to learn about what we use for OFF-LEASH training! The remote collar, when used properly is an incredible tool and can help our clients train their dogs to do things they never thought were possible. So how do we use it? How does the collar work? What do we tell clients? We’ll cover all that and more in this section!
Intro the the remote collar
At first glance, the remote collar (RC) looks much nicer and much friendlier than the prong collar. Wouldn’t ya say? Unlike the prong collar which is primarily used with a leash, the remote collar is an off-leash collar designed to be primarily utilized when the dog is off the leash.
Similar to the prong collar, the remote collar is a communication device used to talk to the dog at a distance. With a prong collar, we need a leash or to be close to the dog to make the prong collar effective. With the RC that isn’t the case. We can be 10 feet away from the dog or half a mile away and the collar works the same. We have the ability to talk to the dog when he is away from us.
We’ll go much more in-depth later, but the remote collar goes around the dogs neck and should be on snug. The metal contact points you see on the collar (receiver) touch the dogs neck. The remote (transmitter) sends signals to the dog via a button. The collar in the picture has three signals it can send to the dog such as vibrate, tone (noise) and tingle.
We use the functions interchangeably for various things, but we mainly use the RC for three things in training. We use the collar to recall the dog, get the dog to stay where he is told and to stop doing unwanted behaviors.
There’s lots more to come in this section, but that’s a quick brief to the RC. Let’s jump into the rest of the RC Training…
How Do We Explain The RC To Clients?
When we’re in front of clients, we explain it to them the same way we did above. We’re a bit more detailed though and add more info.
When we’re showing it to a client for the first time, we break it into a few sections and we want to hit all these points…
The Explanation of the Collar
We start by showing them the collar and explaining how it all works
Explain the collar itself and what we use it for (Come, Stay & Stop)
Explain the metaphors we use to teach them about the collar (below)
Finding the dogs working level and what a working level is
Explain the remote and buttons, the collar and how to turn it on and off, the charger and how to charge the unit, etc.
Have them feel the collar
We have them place the collar on their palm or the bottom of their wrist
Fitting It To The Dog
After we explain things we want to fit it to the dog and show them how to put the collar on, get it connected and take the collar off of the dog.
To get the collar on…
Lift the dogs head up and place the receiver
Buckle the collar down and make it snug (You should be able to get 2-3 fingers under the collar)
Rub the receiver into the dogs neck to get it through their fur
Mark the collar with a silver sharpie on the hole that the collar is on
Then, after the training part, get them to take the collar off and try putting it on again
Training the Dog
After explaining the collar and fitting the collar to the dog, it’s time to do some training. In a normal first RC lesson, you should be woking on come when called. So go outside and get started. But before you get started, explain the following…
What we’re looking for from the dog in terms of the dogs response to the collar
What we’re NOT looking for from the dog in terms of the dogs response to the collar
Set the expectation that it should go well but that the dog may possibly respond too high as we’re figuring the collar out
Test and find the dogs working level
Start the lesson on come when called
Have them do it once the dog is doing well for you
Other Things They Need to Know at 1st Remote ColLar lesson
After that, when you head back in and you’re wrapping up the lesson with the client, we want to make sure they have all the final stuff they need to know. So we explain the last few things to them before we send their homework and leave the lesson.
When the collar can be on and when the collar should be off
Re-explain the working levels of the RC. Levels go up with distraction and go do down in lower distraction. Don’t get number blind.
Only use collar for the exercise you, the trainer, did with them that day. The first week, the collar should only be used for the Come command as you just did. The next week we layer the collar in for bad behaviors. Unless you otherwise expressed this to them and the situation warrants it.
Have the dog wear it around outside of just practicing. Pair the collar with fin stuff like walks, training, going out, car rides, eating food, etc.
Send them the off-leash content email in the database system.
Explaining Everything You Need To Teach Them
That’s a lot to explain, a lot to remember and a lot to do. The good news is that the more you study, the more you do it and the more familiar you are with things, the easier it gets. To help you get there, we’ll go more in depth on all the bullet points we just described.
Explaining The Collar Itself
Since at different times we use different collars, the collars and remotes change over time, etc. we’re not gonna dedicate a whole section to the particular buttons and models.
The main thing you need to know about the collar is what buttons do what on the remote, how to turn the collar on and off and how to charge the unit. Then it’s helpful to know general facts about the unit like range, waterproof level, etc.
If someone has multiple dogs, then you’d just show them how to operate both collars on the same remote.
We have videos on all this and your Lead Trainer will teach you about all the buttons, the collar, charging, and general knowledge.
What We Use The RC For
At the macro level, we use the RC to talk to the dog at a distance. When the dog is away from us, we use the remote collar to either send the dog a tone, vibrate or tingle to get them to either do something or to stop doing something.
At the micro level, we use the collar for three things. These three things are to get the dog to come (aka close the distance between us and them), stay where they are told OR to stop doing bad behaviors.
Come
Calling a dog to you means that they are away from you and you want them to be close to you, check in, etc. So, how do we use the RC to get the dog to come to us? Simple. We call the dog, they don’t come and we send the dog a stimulus (tone, vibrate or tingle). Through repetition, the dog is trained to respond to the stimulus by coming back to us.
Stay Where They Are Told
Stay in this context could mean a few different things depending on the situation…
1) Stay could mean get on a place and stay there until you’re told to get up.
2) Stay could mean stay behind a line, barrier, etc. until told to cross it
3) Or, it could mean to stay in a particular area like walking in our bubble for off leash heel.
How do we use the RC for stay? Simple, we give the dog a stimulus for NOT staying in the desired area. Through repetition, we train them to stay on their bed, behind the line or in the area and when they get out of the area, we give them a stimulus (tone vibrate or tingle) and to them that means get back in the area, behind the line or on the place.
Stop Doing Bad Behaviors
One of the great things about the RC is the ability to fix problem behaviors at a distance. If the dog is barking in the other room, jumping on a guest, stealing food off the counter, etc. we can use the collar to address it at a distance. This allows us to train a dog very reliably and not have to be right on top of the dog.
How do we use the RC for the problem behaviors? We start by training the dog on come when called (CWC) and pairing the collar with fun stuff the first week. We do CWC because it’s outdoors, fast paced and normally fun for the dog. Normally, outdoors and while on a long leash, the dogs are a bit more forgiving with the RC and don’t mind the sensations it gives as much. That first week, as you’ve already learned, we have the client pair the collar with fun stuff like training itself, going on walks, car rides, outings, eating their food, playing, etc.
Once we’ve done that, we will then layer the collar into the training to teach the dog to stop doing bad behaviors. At this point, the dog knows that the feeling they get on the collar. Now, with great timing, we pair the collar with the things we don’t want the dog doing. Example: The dog has the remote collar on and during lesson two with the remote collar we’re working on recall. When the dog gets to you, he jumps on you. When he jumps on you, you give him a tap on the collar. When his feet are on the ground, you praise him for having all four on the floor.
Metaphors We Use to Explain The RC
Sometimes when you’re explaining the collar to clients or people you meet out and about it’s helpful to have a metaphor to explain how it works. Lots of times one of the things you’ll get when discussing a RC is “Is that a shock collar?” or “I don’t want to shock my dog.” This is an understandable question and response. Most people have no clue what these collars do or how they are used. If they do have experience with. collar, it’s typically a cheap one and their impression is negative. So we want to have a few metaphors in our back pocket to explain the levels and what the sensation of the tingle feels like.
Tone & Vibrate
Tone Explanation & Metaphor - This is just a beed that the remote sends to the collar that is audible for the dog to hear. Similar to your phone getting a text and making a dinging noise, the tone is the same thing.
Vibrate Explanation & Metaphor - The vibrate is a feeling sent to the collar by the remote and feels just like your phone vibrating in your pocket.
The Tingle/Stim/Buzz/Etc
People, even with preconceived notions are okay with a tone and okay with a vibrate. The tingle feeling, often called a “shock” is the thing people are the most hesitant about. Most of the time as soon as you make people feel the collar they say, “OH! Wow, yeah that isn’t bad at all and not at all what I had in mind.” But, what do you say before you get them to feel it? What if you’re talking to someone and don’t have a RC with you? Here’s how to explain it…
Metaphor #1 - Most people have felt a TINs unit or have been to PT. A TINs unit send a tingle to the muscle and stimulates the muscle with a tingle. It feels just like a TINs unit and if someone knows what a TINs unit is, they are normally okay with this.
Metaphor #2 - Most people know what an Invisible Fence is. You can compare the collar to an Invisible Fence and it’ll click for most people. The difference between an Invisible Fence and an RC is that with an Invisible Fence, the dog is in control of when they get a stimulus. With a RC, we’re in control of when the dog gets a stimulus.
How To Explain Collar Levels To A Client
It’s helpful to explain how the levels of the collar work to clients so that way they don’t get number blind on the collar. What does it mean to be number blind? Sometimes, when working with dog owners the get set on one level of the collar. For example, when doing their first remote collar lesson and you use the level 13 on the collar out of 100, it is easy for the owner to only want to stay on level 13.
So when explaining the levels of the collar, we want to teach them about a “working range”. A working range is the range from low to high we’ll use for their dog in daily life. We have a lower number as the base for low distraction times and a higher number for more distracting times. Note: The range is not a constant. The range may move up and down. And there may be times you have to go WAY outside of the working range. It’s simply a working range we use most of the time.
The Radio Metaphor For Explaining The Working Range
When you are in a loud room, in order to hear a radio, the volume has to go up. When you are in a quiet home setting, the radio volume doesn’t need to be up high in order for you to hear the radio. Likewise, with the level on the remote collar, in order for the dog to feel it, we have to use the levels appropriately. So when the distractions (noise in the room) goes up, the level goes up. When the distractions go down, the level goes down.
Examples of when the level of the collar may have to go up: When the dog is around other dogs, when people come over, when the dog is on a walk, when the dog is in the car, when the dog is aroused by toys, when food is involved, etc. When the di
Examples of when the level of the collar may have to go down: When you are in the yard alone with the dog, when you are in your home with the dog
The simple idea to know here is that as the distractions go up, the levels go up. As the distractions go down, the levels go down.
What Responses we ARE and AREN’T Looking For From The Dog
When Introducing the RC to A Client
When you’re about to find the level of the dog and train the dog, it’s important to set the expectation for what you’re about to do, what to look for and what we’re not looking for. Tell them the stuff you’re about to read below about what signs we want to see and what we don’t want to see. Let them know that as we’re doing this their dog may overreact and if this happens how they should react.
What We ARE Looking For
There are many ways to tell if the dog is feeling the collar and the stimulation from the collar. Most of them are subtle, so make sure keep a good eye out.
Here are some examples the dog is feeling the collar: The dog starts looking over their shoulder on the side that the collar is on, the neck muscles are contracting, the dog starts blinking when you tap, if the dog is panting and momentarily stops and closes their mouth, they are moving and they freeze, biting at where the receiver is located, scratching where their neck is.
What We AREN’T Looking For (In Everyday Life & Training)
Signs the dog feels the collar and it’s too high: They yelp, the jump, they screech, etc.
We don’t have to write a ton here because if the collar is too high, you’ll know.
Trainers Note: There ARE times where you will have to crank a collar up and use it on a high level. This will cause the dog to yip, yelp, etc. When may you have to do something like this? He is off-leash and taking off and bolting away from you. He is running towards the road and a car is coming. He is chasing an animal down in the woods and running off. There are certain other training exercises where it’s better to give a high correction once rather than a bunch of smaller ones.
How to React If The Dog Gets Over-Corrected
Sometimes when finding the level of the dog and that first day there is a slight chance that the dog gets buzzed on too high of a level. This happens for a handful of reasons but the main one is that the contact points aren’t connected to the dogs neck and then they connect. How you and the owners react to this is very important. We’ll be using the collar A LOT and if the dog gets scared and we reinforce their fear, they will learn to be scared every time the collar is on.
So, if the dog responds too high, what do we do? The main thing is to NOT coddle the dog. Turn the level down. Do a few reps of CWC with just the long leash and treats. Then get back to work. Note the level the collar was at and restart the level finding process and go from there. Use lots of fun and upbeat energy.
How to Find the Dogs Working Level
Assuming the collar is charged up, the collar is ON and you have the collar on the dog right then you’re ready to find the dogs working level. There are two main ways to find the level.
Continuous Method
Start at Level 0 and hold down the continuous/stim button. Turn the dial up slowly until you see a sign the dog feels it.
Tap Method
Start at Level 0 and turn the collar up by 1-2 numbers at a time. Tap the button 1-2x at each level and go until the dog feels it.
Once you have a number to start with, adjust up and down as needed as you train the dog. Then you’ll have a working level and working range for the dog.
Lowest Level Of Stimulus
The idea of what we’re doing here and with balanced training is to get a dog to the point where we have to use the lowest level of stimulus possible. That means the lowest level of positive or negative stimulus. We ideally want to get to the point where we don’t really need to use any stimulus at all. We just say a command and the dog listens to what we say. We don’t need a treat to bribe the dog or a correction to get the dog to listen. This isn’t saying you can’t praise the dog after a behavior, but that rather a stimulus isn’t needed as a motivating factor.
When it comes to the RC, we want to use the lowest level to get the dog to RESPOND. Notice we didn’t say the lowest level the dog FEELS the collar on. The dog may feel the collar but not care, so we want to use the lowest level to get the dog to respond to us.
Example: You call the dog and he doesn’t come. You tap the collar and he looks over his shoulder. You repeat a handful of times and he still doesn’t come. He FEELS the collar but isn’t responding. This means we need to turn the collar up to get him to respond. That means you’re turning the collar up but it’s still the lowest level he will respond too.
When The Collar Can Be On And When The Collar Should Be Off
When The Collar CAN Be On
The collar can be on when you the client is home and awake. Sound familiar?
The difference here is that since the RC is fitted a bit more snug, the RC ideally won’t be on more than 6-8 hours at a time. If the collar is on more than 6-8 hours at a time, then the client needs to rotate the collar to the other side of the dogs neck to give a rest to the original side of the neck.
When The Collar SHOULD Be OFF
The collar should be OFF when the client isn’t home or isn’t awake.
We don’t want the dog to wear the collar unnecessarily for long periods of time. Like we said above, the ideal length of time the collar should be on is ~6-8 hours. If it’s on longer, make sure the client knows to adjust it.
There will be cases where the RC may need to be worn when no one is home or asleep. Or a similar type of collar, like a bark collar, may need to be worn when no one is home or overnight. If this is the case, try putting the collar on a bit more loose than you would for training AND have the client rotate the collar when they can.
Risks To The Collar Being Worn Too Long
Just like with the prong collar, there is a risk if the collar is worn too long. Some people suck and leave collars on for days at a time and this harms the dogs neck. The collar will indent in the dogs neck, become infected, hurt when the collar is used, etc. We want to avoid that by having our client just simply having the collar on only when they are home and when they are awake.
There isn’t much risk of the collar being too “tight” for short periods of time, but there is if the collar is worn for hours and hours. This is why it’s important to fit the collar to the dog snug but not tight. What is snug? A snug fit means you can fit 2-3 fingers under the band of the collar. A tight fit means that you have to work hard to get a finger or two fingers under the band of the collar.
Note: There is no need to overstate this with most people. Just make sure they have the simple on and off rules. If they are a special case and need a bark collar when they aren’t home, make sure they know about rotating the collar. If you have a weird feeling about them and think they may overuse the collar or make the dog wear the RC too long, state the risks above. Let a LT know as well. But with the majority of people, they just need to know the simple and basic rules.
Only Use The RC For What We Did In Training On The 1st RC Lesson
When we’re towards the end of the first RC lesson, with most clients and most dogs, we want to tell them to only use the RC for what we did that day. We also want to tell them to pair the collar with stuff the dog likes and create positive associations of the collar.
The reason we only want them using the RC for what we did that day is so that they don’t misuse the collar that first week and teach the dog to dislike the collar. Since CWC is fun for the dog, this make the collar a fun thing. We don’t to correct the dog for bad behaviors with the RC too soon. This insures that when we come out the next time the dog has had a whole week of fun and positive experience with the collar. That way on the second week, we can then layer the collar in for corrections of bad behaviors.
A Caveat For You: We don’t want dogs to shut down or have bad associations with the remote collar. However, there are some dogs that are a lot for the trainer and the owner and they are so happy-go-lucky that the collar doesn’t effect them negatively. With these dogs, if you need to layer the collar in for corrections in that first week, you can as needed. If you do this, we would still suggest using the RC for corrections that first week minimally. Use it for jumping on you when recalling or similar behaviors. We’d also suggest that you just use it for corrections outside that first week as well.
Another Caveat For You: There are some dogs that are red alert situations and we HAVE to get rid of a behavior soon or they will re-home the dog. This could be jumping or barking or something of the like. If this is the case, we want to make sure we use the RC in a positive manner and then layer it in for corrections that first week as best as we can. We still want the same outcome, which is to have the dog create positive associations with the collar. But, due to the circumstances, we must move quicker than we’d like in an ideal scenario.
Pairing The Collar With Fun Stuff
We’ve talked about this already, but it’s worth re-iterating. On lesson one and towards the end of the lesson, we want to make sure out clients know to pair the collar with fun stuff. We also want to tell them to have their dog wear it outside of the context of just training.
Explain to the client that you want the collar on when they are home and awake and that this week you want the dog to just wear the collar around. During the times that the dog is wearing the collar, make sure the dog is doing fun stuff as well. We’ve already talked about these things, but these are things like: eating his food, playing with toys, going to the park, doing some fun treat training, etc.
Overall, have the dog wear the collar outside of just training and pair it with fun stuff and your job will be easy and the dog and client will love it!
Other Helpful RC Knowledge
We’re through the client part of the RC training but there is some more stuff for you to know about the remote collar, how they work, types of collars, why we use ones we use, tips, etc. So let’s jump into the rest of that!
Types of Electronic Collars
We use Remote Collars in training and that falls into the category of an electronic collar (E-Collar). We don’t use the word electronic publicly facing and with clients, but for this section the word electronic is needed to explain the other types of electronic collars. The one we use has a remote but the other types don’t have a remote but are still electronic collars.
The Remote Collar - We’ve covered this in-depth already as as part of the training you’ve just read through, but it’s the top of the list here. The RC is an electronic training collar that uses a remote to send a signal to the dog once a button on the remote is pressed. With a RC the person who holds the remote controls when the dog does or does not get a stimulus from the remote.
Bark collar - A bark collar is an electronic collar that gives the dog a stimulus, normally in the form of a tingle for barking. If the dog barks, the dog gets a stimulus. Different bark collars have different settings and work in different ways but they all give the dog a negative stimulus for barking. With a bark collar, the dog is in control of when he does or does not get a stim from the collar.
Invisible Fence - An invisible fence is an electronic collar that gives the dog a stimulus, normally in for form of a tingle for getting to close to or crossing a line they aren’t supposed to. With an invisible fence, the dog is in control of when he does or does not get a stim from the collar.
3 Ways to Use The Stimulus’ of a RC
There are three ways we use the RC to stim the dog. We have the tingle, the vibrate and the tone as singles that we can send to the dog. We mainly use the tingle in training since it’s adjustable. The vibrate and the tone setting on the collar are set and don’t go up or down. Since the tingle goes up and down, we use that for the most part and with most dogs. Regardless of the stimulus being used, there are three ways to use the stimulus.
Quick Taps - As the name suggests, this is a quick tap on the button of the collar. This would be just to quickly get the dogs attention if he isn’t listening or is doing a bad behavior. This is a quick and easy way to remind the dog of what they are supposed to be doing. Example: you call the dog, he doesn’t come and you give a quick tap on the collar.
Long Taps - When the dog is a bit more distracted or the quick taps aren’t having the desired effect, you can do long taps. With a long tap, the tap is held for roughly a second. Example: You call the dog and he doesn’t come to you. You try a few quick taps and it still isn’t working so you do a long tap and he comes.
Tap & Hold - This is reserved for when the dog is doing something very bad, very dangerous or just isn’t getting it. Here, you’d press the button and hold it until the dog does the desired behavior.
Dangerous Behaviors - For example, if the dog is running away, you call the dog and hold the button down until the dog stops running. You’d let off the button and if he starts moving back toward you, then it did it’s job. If he continues to run away after the pause, you’d do it again. Normally when it’s a dangerous thing (and the distractions are high — like chasing a deer in the woods) such as running off you not only have to tap and hold but you also have to turn the levels of the collar up significantly outside of the dogs working range.
If a scenario happens like the one above and you have to go up high on the collar and tap and hold, the good news is that the dog knows moving forward not to do that. And there recall is much better moving forward as a result. If we do a great job with recall on the long leash and the short leash, the above scenario MAY not happen. But it does happen and it’s good to know what to do and to be prepared.
The Dog Just Isn’t Getting It - If you find yourself doing recall with a dog and the dog isn’t particularly doing anything dangerous, he just isn’t getting it, tap and holds may be necessary. Let’s say you’re training a lab and he is very easily distracted. You’ve been working him, found a good working level and you’ve tried quick taps and long taps. He is still making you call and tap multiple times you may need to tap and hold for a bit.
Brands of RC We Use & Why We DOn’t Use Cheap Collars
The Brands We Use - We use E-Collar Technologies (ECT)or Dogtra training collars. If a client has a SportDog Collar, we will use that too if they ask us, but they aren’t our preference in comparison to an ECT or Dogtra. Both ECT and Dogtra are great and work really well and are the nicest collars you can get for a pet. But, why specifically do use Dogtra or E-Collar Technologies?
We Can Find The Precise Level - Most cheap collars go from 1-10. Ours go from 0-100 or 0-127. On a cheaper collar their level 1 is equal to our level 10. Their level 10 is equal to our level 100. But if you’re working with a dog using a cheaper collar and 2 is too low and 3 is too high, then that isn’t ideal. With our collars however, we can put the collar on 27 which is the prefect level for the dog in training.
The Stim (Tingle) - The stim on the collar feels like a tens unit and stimulates the muscles. There is 100% a difference in the feeling the dog feels between a nice collar and a cheap collar. That’s one of the main reasons we use ECT and Dogtra.
Consistency - The ECT & Dogtra collars work very well and very consistently. This isn’t always the case with the cheaper collar.
Waterproof and Distance - The ECT & Dogtra collars are waterproof when the ports are closed. They also have a very long range (up to 1/2 mile on some units)!
Why We Don’t Use Cheap Collars - Cheap collars HURT! There are a few collars that will work and are cheaper than a ECT or Dogtra (like a SportDog), but we REFUSE to use cheap $30 collars bought online because they hurt dogs. There is a risk of the collar burning the dogs neck up and harming the dog as well. They aren’t consistent. And once again, a cheap collar feels like an actual shock.
The less you pay for a collar, the more the dog pays the price in what he/she feels.
Brands we will use: E-Collar Technologies, Dogtra OR Sport Dog.
How to Guarantee The Dog Will Feel The Collar
A quick recap on getting the collar on… Put the collar around the dogs neck. Place the receiver on the bottom side of the dogs neck to the left or the right of the throat. Buckle the collar down and make sure the collar is snug and you can get 2-3 fingers under the collar. Wiggle the receiver once it’s placed to get it through any fur to insure the contact points are connected to the dogs neck.
If you do all that, you’ll likely be fine and the collar should work fine. If you do all that and the collar still isn’t working, then here are some other things you can do…
Split The Fur To Place The Unit - For dogs with longer fur, you may have to split the fur apart to make a line where you can place the receiver and then buckle it down.
Get Longer Contact Points - For dogs with really long fur or double coats, you may have to get longer contact points. If this is the case, send the client a link to 3/4” or 1” links. The ECT collars come with longer prongs in the box. If those don’t work, have them order some. Here are links to the RC Contact Points: 1” Here — 3/4” Here
Make A Training Patch - If you’re up for the challenge, you can cut some of the hair down where you want the receiver to sit on the dogs neck. You’d either use clippers or scissors for this. If you want to to this, sit where the dog can sit backwards in between your legs. Get some peanut butter on a spoon and hold it above the dogs head and clip away. This is harder in reality but has been done many times.
Other Helpful Things To Know About Getting The Dog to Feel The Stim
For dogs with longer fur, having the collar a bit looser may be helpful. If the collar is on too snug and the contact points are pressing the dogs fur into the dogs neck, it’ll be hard to wiggle them onto the skin because the collar is pinning the fur to the neck.
The Snugness Trade-Off - When a collar is on snug, we can use the collar at a lower level. When we use the collar and put it on looser, we have to use it on higher levels.
The Consistency Trade-Off - The same goes for dogs with long hair and no patch, if we don’t have a patch or we don’t have a consistent way too get the dog to feel the stim, we lose consistency. If we have a patch, longer prongs etc., we get much more consistent training.
Phases of CWC Off-Leash Program Training
Phase 1 - Start with the dog on the long leash and practice recall with the dog. Get lots of reps in this way at first to teach the dog that the tap means “come”.
Phase 2 - Once the dog is coming the majority of the time with no tap on the long leash, hook the dogs short leash to their flat collar. Let the dog drag the leash around behind them and practice recall. This is like a mock off-leash mode for the dog. But the short leash at least gives us something to grab onto if we need to.
Phase 3 - Completely off-leash! If you go through the proper steps, by the time you get to Phase 3 and have the dog off-leash, this is so easy. By this point the dog has TONS of reps under their belt and CWC shouldn’t be an issue.
Helpful Accessories
For most clients, the RC setup we give them is enough and works well. For some people though, it can be helpful to recommend some things other than what they get in our program.
Bungee Strap - For people having trouble getting the collar on and off OR want to get the collar on and ooff easier, a bungee strap collar can be a great purchase. It puts the receiver on the a band and the band gets tightened down by pulling the bungee. This is the link to send people: Click — > Here.
Longer Prongs - We discussed this in the last section, but longer prongs can be helpful for dogs with with really long fur or double coats. These are the links to send people — > 1” Here — 3/4” Here
RC Comfort Pad - If someone is really concerned with damage to the dogs neck as a result of the contact points, or if a dog has sensitive skin, or if the dog is wearing the collar for long periods of time, a comfort pad may be a great solution for them to use in training. This can also be helpful for dogs with longer fur. This goes on the receiver where the contact points go and goes out wider than the receiver to cover a larger surface area and not make such direct contact to the neck, like the contact points to. This is the link to send people: Click — > Here. Note: This link is only for ECT collars.
General Tips & Best Practices
Leash - Do not hook the leash up to the remote collar. Hook the leash to the flat collar. When you finally get the collar set on the dog, you don’t want the collar moving around unnecessarily so it’s best to clip the leash to another collar.
Handling the Long Leash - If the dog get tangled, rather than trying to grab the leash under the dogs leg and lifting up, grab the leash next to the dogs neck and move the dog over the leash. Keep the leash off the ground as best as possible to keep the dog untangled.
Kids In The Home - Understanding the remote collar is VERY IMPORTANT. Advise parents that their younger kids shouldn’t be allowed to use the remote collar or remote. If a kid gets ahold of it and starts pressing buttons and turning the dial, that won’t be good.
The Vibrate Button - Think of the vibrate as your pet corrector spray in the sense that it can help break the dog’s focus from the squirrel or the other dog. It helps the dog snap out of what they’re focusing on and listen to you again. If the dog is doing an unwanted behavior though, it’s best to not use the vibrate button and to actually correct the behavior. If we use the vibrate button as a “warning” then the dog will stop listening the first time because they know they get multiple chances to listen. This leads to them not listening and doing what they want over and over.
Stacking the RC and the Prong
If you have a very large or a very strong dog and a smaller/weaker/more fragile client, consider using the prong collar on the first COME when called (recall) lesson. This will help with controlling the dog on the long leash and prevent any emergencies or accidents. Put the RC at the top of the dogs neck and the prong under the RC. Clip the leash to the prong collar and then when the dog pulls, he will get a correction. This will help teach the dog where the end of the long leash is and not pull clients down.
Note: If you or a client have their dog on a long leash and they are by your side and then take off in another direction and have no plan on stopping AND there is a risk of getting pulled down and hurt, it would be better to let the leash go. It is 100% better to let the leash go than to get pulled down and dragged or get your shoulder ripped out of socket.
We’ll leave when to stack the collars up to your discretion, but it’s an option and very helpful when needed.
Levels & Ranges Changing Over Time
Over time and during training you may notice the levels that work with the dog changing. They can go in either direction, but it’s something to be aware of. When you first start with a dog, they may be on level 22 and then after a week or two of training, they don’t care about 22 anymore and 30 is their new working level.
You may notice the opposite too. You may work with a dog and starting out they are on level 22 and then as they learn what to do and get more used to the collar, their working level goes down to 15.
This is a small detail in the grand scheme of things but something to note and be aware of.
Don’t Mistake Energy For Obedience
Certain dogs out there are really hyper, friendly and energetic. When you start training these dogs on CWC they will come as soon as you say it. You won’t have to tap much or at all on the collar because they are getting it. They do not in fact have it. They are just running to you because you’re talking to them and giving them treats and they are all over the place.
With these dogs, once they work their energy down some, they stop listening. This is when yo do the “real” training where you pair the RC stim with coming to us. Because they don’t have the excess energy and they aren’t recalling right away.
Remember, the point of CWC on the 1st RC lesson is to pair the tap with the dog not coming to us to get the dog to actually come to us when they feel the tap. If they come over and over without correction, that’s great BUT they don’t know that the tap = coming to us. And our job is to pair the tap with moving towards us.
Another thing you can do with these dogs is just pair the tap with the come command. So if you’re noticing that the dog in training is one of these types, then when you call the dog, you tap at the same time. This will also pair the tap with the “come” command.
Explain The WHY
We’ll talk about this more in other sections of the training, but we must explain the WHY behind what we’re doing. We want to do this in everything but especially with the RC. So when you’re training a dog to CWC, explain the WHY behind it. The WHY is to get the dog to pair the tap with moving towards us off-leash so that in 2-3 weeks we can have the dog completely off the leash.
Another example would be that a client hires us for the off-leash program and their main concern is jumping. So that first RC lesson, we use the RC with CWC. We know that we have to do CWC first to layer the collar in for the jumping the following week, but the client doesn’t know that. So explain the WHY behind it by saying “Hey this week, we’re working on CWC. I know that isn't your biggest concern, but in order to address the main concern, the jumping, we’re starting with CWC. This way the RC is paired with something fun and then next week we can layer it in for the jumping and tackle that big problem behavior for you. BUT the best way to start that is by doing this.”
So explain the why in all you do here to the client, but especially explain the WHY with all the RC stuff.
Frequently Asked Questions
“How long will my dog have to wear this?” // “Does my have to wear this forever?” // Etc.
“How long your dog has to wear the collar and how long you need it depends on a number of factors. If you’re consistent about training, you’ll be able to ween the collar away much sooner. Typically we suggest you start weening it away when you aren’t having to use it consistently. So if you call your dog for a week and he comes, it would be a good time to start to ween the collar away.”
“Will this shock my dog?” // “Will this hurt my dog?”
“If we’re using the collar right, it shouldn’t shock the dog or hurt the dog. The collar vibrates and tingles when we’re using it properly. If you crank the collar up and you’re not using it how it is supposed to be used, yes it can hurt your dog. But I know you won’t do that and your dog will love it. Here, why don’t you feel the collar?
“Will the contact points burn my dogs skin?”
“If you’re only keeping the collar on when you’re home and awake and the collar is off when you’re not home and not awake, then you shouldn’t have an issue. If you keep the collar on for days at a time and the collar is on too tight, yes, the contact points can burn your dogs skin. But this won’t happen if you’re being responsible with when the collar is on and off.”
“Is the collar on too tight?”
When you show the collar a client and put it on their dog, lots of them will ask “Is this on too tight?” This response makes sense, especially if they’ve only used a flat collar or harness. So must make sure they know that the proper fit is where they can get 2-3 fingers under the band of the collar.
“Does my dog have to wear it all the time?”
“No your dog doesn’t have to wear the collar all the time. He only needs to wear it when you’re training, you’re going out with him or if he you know there will be things in the environment that will make him act up. Like someone getting home from work and you know he will jump. He can wear it when you’re home and awake. He doesn’t have to wear it then though. The more he wears it, the more opportunities we will have to work with him though.”
Troubleshooting
What to Do if A Client doesn’t like the collar Initially
From time to time, you’ll run into a client with reservations and they don’t want to use the collar. They normally don’t understand the collar and what we use it for. They also just want to make sure their baby doesn’t get hurt.
To start, agree with them. If they don’t want to hurt their dog, agree with them. “Mrs. Client, I don’t want to hurt your dog either. I don’t want to hurt any dog. I love dogs. I love dogs so much in fact that I became a dog trainer. If I thought these were bad and that they hurt dogs, I wouldn’t use them and wouldn’t be asking you to use one.”
From there, get them to feel the collar. They will likely give the normal “Oh that isn’t bad reaction!” and then you ask, “Would you be willing to let us try this with your dog?”
You can also let them know that their goals being accomplished or their problem behaviors going away is on the other side of them using the RC. If they want their dog off-leash trained, they need a RC.
You can also do a best case/worst case scenario with them. After some explaining and having them feel the collar, give them a best case/worst case. “Best case, it works really well, your dog loves it and we get your dog off-leash trained. Worst case, he hates it, you hate it and we just do the on-leash program and ditch all the off-leash stuff. Sound good? Are you open to that?
What to Do if A Dog doesn’t like the collar Initially
Let the client know up front that this is new and weird for the dog. New trainer person, new collar, new sensation from the collar, etc. and that a dog not liking the collar at first is totally normal. The best way to get a dog over not liking the RC is to USE the RC and ACTUALLY make the dog wear the collar. You can not help a dog get over something he doesn’t like if you never use the collar.
Of course, with these dogs be a bit a be extra careful and make sure that the client is having the dog wear the collar a lot. Make sure that the client is working to pair the collar with fun stuff for the dog as well.
The Dog Is Not Feeling The Collar
Outside of the stuff we talked about earlier in the section on insuring that the dog feels the collar, there may be a couple more issues…
The Collar Isn’t On - The collar isn’t turned on. This happens more than you may think. Clients and trainers put the collar on the dog and don’t connect the red dot to the red dot to turn the unit on. To test if the collar is on, grab the receiver and hit the vibrate button. Or look at the flashing light and see if it is on.
The Collar Isn’t Charged - This happens a lot too. You start with the collar on but it dies. To see if the collar is about to die, look at the color of the light blinking on the RC.
The Collar is Broken - Rarely, but sometimes the collars just break. If this happens, get the client a new collar, have them buy one, etc. Call a LT and find out what to do.
Dog Problems When Using the RC
Dogs That Get Scared And Run To The Door
Sometimes when training a dog and we get to the point that they are off-leash, they will run to the door to get back in the house. Typically, they are scared to some degree or want to get out of the training. This happens for few reasons…
1) They don’t know what they are being asked to do so they run to the door
2) You moved too quick and got them off-leash too quick
3) You/The Client didn’t do a great job introducing the RC and the dog is scared of it
There is a fourth reason and that is some dogs just don’t like the training, the trainer, being outdoors, etc. and maybe you did it all perfectly.
Most of the time the reason the dog is doing this is one of those three reasons. If the dog does this, that is fine. If you try to recall the dog and after a couple taps he isn’t coming, STOP AND DO NOT CONTINUE TO BUZZ THE DOG WHILE HE IS AT THE DOOR. Get the long leash and practice on-leash recall with the long leash from the door the dog is going to. Continue to practice recall on the long leash from the door and in other areas until you KNOW the dog has it down and will come to the tap from the door and in other areas. Then move back to short leash, no leash, etc.
UNGRADED STUDY QUIZ
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