A Buyer's Guide To Electronic Dog Collars

Electronic training collars have come a long way. In fact, they used to be known as "shock collars." This was because, twenty years ago, shock collars only allowed a trainer to issue one level of stimulation, and it was a fairly intense level. Today, electronic training collars are considerably different. These training tools have advanced greatly, and now offer a wide range of humane and effective applications.

The most important development in training collars is the ability of the trainer to control the actual intensity of the correction. Utilizing the handheld remote to issue the correction, a trainer can choose to emit a very strong stimulation, or a correction light enough to be scarcely felt by the human hand. With this technology, a dog will receive exactly the correction it needs until the behavior is learned and retained; at which point corrections will no longer be necessary.


Practically inseparable from the ability to control intensity is the ability to control the duration of the correction issued by an electronic training collar. This means that, at the touch of a button, a trainer can not only decide how much of a correction to give, but how long to apply it for. Corrections can be controlled to be less than a second, or as long as ten seconds. (Most systems automatically shut down at seven to ten seconds in order to prevent misuse.)


To understand why these two innovations are so important, we should examine how these features might be applied. First, imagine that your dog is on a runner. For whatever reason, he is bolting away from you, and will not respond to your recall. In situations like this, it is doubtful that a slight, momentary correction would stop the dog and convince him to comply. More than likely, he will run right through such stimulation; entirely ignoring it. This is where a sustained, intensified correction may be needed. If the correction is sharp, and continues for several seconds, even the most stubborn dog will respond and answer your recall. Conversely, if your dog is simply not paying attention to a basic command, or is distracted by something unrelated to the current training, a slight, quick correction may be exactly what is needed to refocus your animal.

Another area of electronic training collars that has seen significant improvement is in the available working range. Today, you can work with your dog in the field and have control over their behavior and safety from up to one mile away. This was not the case until recently, which had made it very difficult to use this highly effective training system in the field or on the hunt. With modern electronic training collars, you can work with your companion dog in the back yard, or you can train your pointer from a half mile away or more.


Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of electronic training collars is their portability and durability. This comprehensive method of training your dog can be taken anywhere in the world and used successfully. The collar and handheld transmitter can be tossed in a backpack, taken on a flight, or placed in the trunk of your car and easily transported. Both the collar and the transmitter can even fit in your pockets. Most collars are completely waterproof and can withstand years of use- even with dogs that are especially rough on equipment. Handheld transmitters also come in water resistant or waterproof models, and are designed to conform to all types of training environments.


The features and humane uses of electronic training collars have greatly contributed to the success of this training method: many professional trainers today utilize them. However, consumer education is perhaps one of the most prominent reasons why more and more people are using electronic collars. With all these modern developments and technologies, it can be clearly rationalized by most that electronic training collars are not only effective and practical, but also quite humane.