shock collar on pup

[Margaret Ethridge]

I have a question for all you experienced folks. I have an unstarted
pup that's 6 months old. She sight chases a San Juan I have but I haven't started her in the wild. I have deer that come out in the evening
behind the house and I wanted to know if I could/should shock her off
of them. At her young age and inexperience could this mess her up
psychologically to where she wouldn't want to even run rabbits? Thanks
for all the input.
ME

[WhiteRock Ken]

I would rather avoid exposing them to deer the best that I can until they are running rabbits fairly solid. If deer are coming into your yard anyway, wait til she is running better, so she kinda knows what she is suppose to run, and then set her up on the deer later. Your on the right track, just wait for the right time IMO.

[tiffinis]

At this age I would tell you to verbally remind her to "leave it" or "no". Make sure that it is deer she is sniffing when you do it. The best advice I can give on training with E collars is, make sure they KNOW the command you are giving first. Give them a chance to obey that command before you give a buzz to correct. Later on... you can use it to break them of something, but timing is essential. Come fall if you have someone that hunts deer. Have them throw a freshly butchered leg out in the yard. Let her out, give her a chance to walk over to it, tell her firmly to "leave it" or whatever command you are using. If she doesnt...give her a zap. By the second time they go to it... I turn it up a notch. I teach the leave it command to apply it in many ways. It has proved worth it's weight many times over.

[wright boy]

I second what Whiterock Ken said.

[coolbrze]

There's no time like the present. My collars are usually on by 6 months, but it doesn't mean you have to set them up right away. Having the ability to do set them up means you will be able to know when they hit a deer, what happens if they hit one 1/8 mile out when they're running a rabbit?

[Chaffin Crank]

I kinda have mixed feelings on this right now. Before if they got on deer that young I would light them up. But here recently I had a young pup that was doing a fine job. She hunted great and was really fast and just did a wonderful job. Well she ran a deer on me and I turned the tri tronics up as high as it would go a fried her. Now she won't really hunt because she wants to stay close to me. So I feel that shocking her ruined what was turning out to be a heck of a dog. I have never had this problem before now but I guess it happens every now and then.

[tiffinis]

what happens if they hit one 1/8 mile out when they're running a rabbit?

A couple times in the yard has been enough to cure ours. One time we caught Sage just sniffing deer tracks after that and a firm "Leave It", he trotted off looking for rabbits.

[jonnyringo]

At this age I would tell you to verbally remind her to "leave it" or "no". Make sure that it is deer she is sniffing when you do it. The best advice I can give on training with E collars is, make sure they KNOW the command you are giving first. Give them a chance to obey that command before you give a buzz to correct. Later on... you can use it to break them of something, but timing is essential. Come fall if you have someone that hunts deer. Have them throw a freshly butchered leg out in the yard. Let her out, give her a chance to walk over to it, tell her firmly to "leave it" or whatever command you are using. If she doesnt...give her a zap. By the second time they go to it... I turn it up a notch. I teach the leave it command to apply it in many ways. It has proved worth it's weight many times over.

I agree with your tactics. Very good advice.

[Hare Hunter]

I keep the collars on "just in case". If you can stop the very first case of off game running it is easier to make them trash broken. Maybe exposing it to the deer scent b/4 it is running scent will let it ignore the deer scent when it is running rabbits. jmho. Hare