The American Beagler Forum

Ok guys i have some ?s about the shock collars. ive rabbit hunted for a long time and ive done some coon hunting ive only used a shock collar once before on a coon hound. but after losing my best male last rabbit season i bought one to help better handle my dogs so i want some tips on using it. ive been out with guys that have set thers on a low level just for handling and if there dogs went runing down a road are what ever and not getting in the brush where they wanted theyd tape the collar and the dogs would come running. so what im wanting to know who does this i want to get my dogs to handle better but only 2 have had collars on before how do you guys go about it do you use verbal comands with the collar say a dogs just running about playin and acting stupid not trying to hunt with you do you holler at him and if he doesn't pay any attetion then tape him with the collar im just wanting some advice im nervous about using the collar but i do know becasue ive seen alot of guys do it but i can make a difference with a dog. thanks for any advice sorry for this being so long just curious.

I am not an expert at it but start with a check cord and work them on commands in the yard. Use the collars to get them to obey, I like to use the tone button that way they get use to hearing me call and I tone when I call them, if they dont come I give them a little juice and they come running. Just be careful not to over shock them, when I first got e-collars I had a tendency to use it too much. Just remember that it is a hunting dog, let it hunt. Just because it isnt hunting in the exact area you want them to, if it is hunting you could ruin them by over commanding them. They will get so they dont want to leave your side because they are afraid of getting shocked. I have done this and learned a valuable lesson, let them hunt they will get a rabbit up and the chase is on. Like I said I am not an expert but I have learned some stuff the hard way, Tom

thanks for the advice tom i mainly just got the collars for deer breaking to have on them for safty reasons but i wouldn't mind having them handle a little better trust me i know there hunting dogs and beagles will be beagles lol just can't stand to turn a dog out in good cover and it go half mile away before it decides to hunt.

• The first time you use the E-Collar on a hound, you may want to have then in an enclosed training pen. You never know how they may react, and you do not want them to take off to parts unknown with your new collar.

• Young hounds should have had lots of yard training before they are ever introduced to an E-Collar. This way they will know what they should do when and if they get bumped for not responding to a command.

• Always start off with the lowest power and work your way up the scale until you get the desired results. Some hounds are very sensitive and will not need much of a shock to do your biding. Others will take a little more of the E-Power before they decide to line up. My Dogtra Collars has a scale of 1 to 8 and most of my hounds respond well to a 1 or 2 and then it is just a bump. I never hold it down, unless they are doing something very bad. (Running trash or about to enter a busy road).

I let my puppies wear the collar when we are working in the yard. I never intend to use it when they are young. I am no expert but I want them to associate wearing the collar with light fun work in the yard. I read an excellent book last spring about e collar applications. It was written by Vickie Lamb. The title is Hound Training Dynamics, it is written about coon hounds but applies to what we do as well. I also agree with the check chord. I have a buddy that shocked one for the first time in the field and he bolted, the more he shocked the further he ran away. It just confirmed to me that dogs need to be conditioned to the collar.
Anthony Kerr

ANTHONY KERR wrote:I read an excellent book last spring about e collar applications. It was written by Vickie Lamb. The title is Hound Training Dynamics, it is written about coon hounds but applies to what we do as well.

Click here > http://www.coondawgs.com/vbook.html

I agree, it is the most informative book ever written on e-collars. I have witnessed Vickie's dogs first-hand in the field on many occasions. It is a site to behold. This girl knows her stuff, not only on coon-hounds, but retrievers, bird-dogs, etc.

Good advice above. Get as much info on Collar Conditioning as possible. The main thing about collar conditioning is that you want the dog to know that it's a correction and not punishment and that it came from you and how to respond to it properly no matter what the intensity.

You want to add the distractions in the yard and by having the dog on a lead; you can ensure a stable response. Way too many people just put the collar on the dog give it a correction on a low setting if they call the dog and it doesn’t come and then the dog comes so they think the dog understands the collar. Later on, the dog might be running a deer and they turn the collar up and hammer e'm. Since the dog wasn't conditioned properly, they will probably bolt since they don't know how to respond to a bigger correction. D-bolting is done at the end of collar conditioning.

There's an old saying, if you can't get it in the yard, you'll never get it in the field. Take the time to properly condition the dog to the collar and you'll end up with a well rounded dog that is a pleasure to hunt with and he won't look at the collar as a bad thing.

Chris

Good advise Chris. I will add along with the check cord if you have an enclosed area such as a ball diamond or some such thing available to you it works real well to work them in there as they can't get away and you can observe their reaction to the shock. I also have a toner on my collars and think they are the best invention EVER for training. They get used to the beep and come in when used. Hope this helps Hare

thanks for all your alls replys ill read up and do my home work don't wana ruin these dogs thats the only fault i got to buying a pup already started i like to get them around 2 or 3 months old and bring them up myself. again guys thanks for all the advice.