finally decided on a collar... what do you guys think?

[jimalbert]

I have decided on a dt systems 2430 collar because it has the posivibe, beeper, and a good range.. although your dog shouldnt be that far ahead of you? anyone have experience with these collars?


jIM

[topher40]

By your subject line in your post it doesnt seem to matter what we think, you have made up your mind right? Personally I wouldnt EVER pay money for a DT collar again. Nothing but problems, they dont stand behind their product, and they arent made in the USA. I would suggest a Dogtra or Tri Tronics.

"although your dog shouldnt be that far ahead of you?"

Why not? I have a Dogtra 1 mile collar and I dont care if they get out there that far as long as they hold the birds. I guess they should make a 50 yard collar for gun dogs.

[birddogger]

I also had nothing but problems with the DT systmems. They were great for a little while though. After problems with another brand, I switched to Tritronics and have never looked back.

Charlie

[Sharon]

By your subject line in your post it doesnt seem to matter what we think, you have made up your mind right? Personally I wouldnt EVER pay money for a DT collar again. Nothing but problems, they dont stand behind their product, and they arent made in the USA. I would suggest a Dogtra or Tri Tronics.

"although your dog shouldnt be that far ahead of you?"

Why not? I have a Dogtra 1 mile collar and I dont care if they get out there that far as long as they hold the birds. I guess they should make a 50 yard collar for gun dogs.

ROFLMBO Exactly how I feel. i don't care how far out they hunt as long as they hold until i get there and don't crowd the bird.

[jimalbert]

OK... well i guess i wont contradict myself in a post ever again. ahahhaha.... There is only one reason for me being interested in that collar. The vibrate/beep combo. I have read messages that were posted about this collar decision and take them all to tons of thought, believe me. Then ill do the research and some more and some more and some more until I cant stand it. Im new to this whole training thing so I can only go by what I read, and what I am taught hands on. The fellow who I got my GSP from and who is helping me train my dog highly recommends the vibrate function, and his first recommendation was the dogtra. I was planning on buying a 2500T&B but it doesnt have vibrate, and If i go with say a 1900NCP then it has vibrate but no beeper. And i think with the area's that I am going to hunt, a beeper will sometimes be essential. Believe me, I have no idea what to do.

Jim

[Sharon]

I've never used a collar with a vibrator. The "momentary" option has always been enough. Have others found the added feature to be worthwhile?

[jimalbert]

I can only gauge it by what this guy recommends, but he says he seldom ever has to electronically stimulate the dog... vibrate does the trick... maybe he's just a softie.... i dunno

Jim

[birddog1968]

pager/vib works good for getting dogs attention and turning them silently. I wouldnt run a beeper tho.....hate those things.

Got two for sale if anyone wants em.

If i need to keep track of dog in cover I use my garmin.

[Sharon]

I sold my beeper too. The hawk scream definately didn't hold the birds. The beeper just seemed too artificial for me. jmo

[birddog1968]

I love the beeper as much as I love people "singing' to their dogs

[Calisdad]

I use the SportDog 1825. It has nick, tone (which I can hear at about 40 yards in heavy cover) and vibrate. I like the vibrate because I can get his attention quietly without using a nick he didn't deserve. You can program it a multitude of ways. Trap whistle trained easily and now I can give whistle commands with the tone function. There is a demo on GunDogSupply.com.

regards-
C-dad

[ezzy333]

I have the DT 3 dog system and find it is just like the other collars. I do like the vibrater and find that is what gets used all of the time. As far as quality, it seems to be just as good as the TT but maybe I have been lucky. I did have a wire break on the plug in for the batteryand had to send it in to be repaired and the service was great. They said to allow two weeks and I had it back in one. They replaced one of the collars that had the tip broken of at no charge while it was there. They were nice people to work with.

I don't think you can go wrong with a TT except for price. And I have no experience with either Sport Dog or Dogstra but hear good things about Dogstra and the Sport Dog is cheap and may not be as good. But you will find a lot of satisfied customers of every brand and always a few that don't like them. Just the way it is.

Ezzy

[RayGubernat]

jimalbert -

There is no question that there are waaaay too many choices out there for someone starting out.

One really needs to examine what your needs and desires are and purchase accordingly. However, when you are just starting out, I understand there is no way to know if you are servicing all those needs. So there are two ways to proceed. One is to by the simplest system that will do the jobs you are certain that you will need and build on it if you must. The other is to buy the most capable system and have all the options, even if you never use some of them.

Here's my take, FWIW.

My principal reason for buying an e-collar is for training and maintenance in the field. Soooo, I am concerned mainly with ease of use. Training with an e-collar is all about timing and getting the stim to the dog at precisely the right instant. I don't want a lot of bells and whistes and options and buttons on my training collar becaus that will invariably mean i have to look at the transmitter so I can hit the right button. I want to be able to use it...instantly...without taking my eyes off the dog.

I do like to use a beeper collar when hunting my dogs on a preserve in the typically thick cover they have. My dogs do tend to reach out a bit and it can be a real chore to find one buried up in a tall milo strip, especially when there are three or four of them that the dog might be in. For those times I have a separate beeper collar(Lovett's) which works well. It can be set on several modes, including point only.

I personally have never used a vibrate mode to signal my dogs, but then I do not hunt wild birds much anymore, so silence is not a big issue with me. Range is more important.

You may question why an e-collar needs a one mile range until you see your dog taking off over a hill into dense cover after a deer. Then you will know you need all the collar you have.

My personal preference is a TT Flyway Special, but if one wanted a vibrate mode, the Pro 200 would be essentially the same unit. I suspect that the price for the latest generation TT might be a bit more than the DT unit you are considering, but if you wanted to buy the previous generation TT it might be considerably less money. I have a TT that is several "generations" old(an EXP) and it does just fine for me.

I personally would not hesitate to buy an "older generation" TT collar, especially if the price was attractive. They last forever with battery replacements every five years or so.

Hope some of this helps you to make a decision that works for you.

RayG

[jimalbert]

Well The DT i am currently looking at is about 425.00 so i dont think that a couple bucks either way for a tt would make me go running...... But from what TT told me the vibrate function wasnt available with any of their beeper compatible collars. The Dogtra 2500 has to be the best beeper collar made because the beeper is built into the stimulator, and no big droopy beeper on the top of the dogs head.... tooooooooo many choices.

Jim

[RayGubernat]

jimalbert -

A quick word about beepers...again, based on my experiences...

YOU most definitely DO want the horn of the beeper to be postitioned on the top of the dog's head, behind their ears. This way the sound will carry up and away from the dog's ears, minimizing any auditory damage and at least as important, the sound will not be muffled by the dog's chest as it would be if carried low on the neck.

I had a beeper that was mounted low on the neck and the only time I could hear it clearly was when the dog was headed straight back to me...which of course is when you need it least. The time I could the sound was the weakest was when the dog was headed straight away from me, which is, of course, when you need it the most. It was often very difficult to get a fix on the dog because, if it turned, the sound volume(and the pitch) would change so you could not use the sound volume to tell how far out the dog was or even which direction the dog was heading, at least not right away.

Again, good luck with your dog.

RayG

[tdhusker]

The DT's I've owned were junk. Maybe they'r ebetter now but I'll never find out. The dogtra I own now is the best I've ever had, including a couple Tritronics.

[jimalbert]

yet some more food for thought. Never thought about the beeper not being on top of the dogs head. And it seems as though my thoughts on buying the dt collar because of it having all the features i wanted are slowly diminishing, just because of the fact that people said they had problems.

Jim

[kninebirddog]

The other thing that DT and Dogtra fixed to the collar beepers are notorious for is they set the beeper where one can not get the collar to fit the dogs neck properly...everyone we got we had to send back in to have them move the beeper where it would fit pointer setters and brittanys not thick necked labs

the new idea with beeper facing down that have the few people i know that purchased them are not happy at all can't hear the beepers