When in training should the e-collar be brought in?

[Cajun Casey]

What should a pointing dog in training be doing before an e-collar is brought into the scenario?

[poudre river gundogs]

In a nut shell? An e-collar is used for correction for a concept that is completely understood. All of your fundamental concepts should be solid before you collar condition. The best way to think about a e-collar is that is does not teach or train a dog to do anything. It is used for correction.

Gary

Poudre River Gundogs

[Don]

Let your pup start wearing it as soon as it will fit, just leave it off and the transmitter in the house. It will condition the pup to it.

[Ricky Ticky Shorthairs]

Let your pup start wearing it as soon as it will fit, just leave it off and the transmitter in the house. It will condition the pup to it.

I agree with leaving it off, but I carry the transmitter just so they are used to seeing it.

Doug

[kninebirddog]

The e collar in the method I use I start by teaching the dog points of contacts and that is a cue to do something and use it like an invisible check cord. I like a dog to respond to the e collar not react to it

this is the link to how I approach the E collar UNDERSTANDING THE E COLLAR

[Cajun Casey]

Cool. My question got picked. With a little star, too.

[Hattrick]

With all that said 5 months of age is about right

[Carl Porter]

I agree with poudre river gundogs. IMO never use an e-collar on any dog at any age unless it understands without a doubt the command before you even put it on the dog. All training should be learned on a check cord first . You have to earn the right to use an e-collar on a dog at any age. It is an extension of a check cord used in the same manner with the same point of contact. I transition the dog from the check cord to the e-collar by letting the dog drag the check cord with the e-collar on and used with the same amount of stimulation so the dog doesnt know if its the check cord or the e-collar. Once he is used to the e-collar stimulation remove the check cord.

[Ryman Gun Dog]

Cajun Casey,
There is not universal age, each individual dog matures at different rates, depending on the breed and socialization of the pup. How smart the individual animal happens to be, can vary greatly from breed to breed. The young dog must be mature enough to understand commands and smart enough to understand what the master
requires him to do. There are many different training methods being used with the e-collar, George Hickox has an entire stimulation command training program that he has developed.
Others use the e-collar as a breaker only, I use the collars beeper as a command tool in our training program, to both locate and recall our Grouse dogs. The dogs are trained to understand that the number of beeps they hear from the collar mean different commands. Smart dogs learn these commands very quickly, when started at the proper age. Learning to judge all this take a trainer a life time and the education really never stops, this is why its so important for a young trainer to have a mentor that
helps him mature as a trainer, giving him insight that would take him many years to learn on his own thru trial and error.
RGD/Dave

[4dabirds]

I agree with everyone that says there is no age requirement. The dog needs to understand the command before you can use the e-collar . A good reference point would be the dog is 80% reliable on the command and is generalized on it as well . The only problem with this is , does the trainer really understand what the dog understands. You need to understand that dogs do not generalize well, so go slow and be sure you are not correcting the dog when the dog does not understand. This can be as simple as, you taught the dog a command and now you are standing on the other side of the dog .This is enough to confuse the dog and you may not pick this up and correct the dog. Now your dog is apprehensive during training . A lot of people make this mistake then just assume that they spent to much time or put to much pressure on the dog during training.Try to keep in mind that it is far more effective to reward your dog for something that the dog does right than to allow it to fail and correct. There needs to be a balance between reward and correction but this does not mean for every reward there needs to be a correction. Set the dog up for success and correct using an avoidance method .This means the dog complies with the command to avoid the stimulation.