In Ground Fencing and E Collars
Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2024 9:43 pm
I've read the less than glowing reviews on here about the Sportdog collars. I am curious if anyone here has experience with their Contain + Train system. I have a Boykin pup that I'm about one month into obedience training. She's my second Boykin. I trained the first as well and while he was pretty well trained I want to dial in the obedience training. Bears, tourists driving too fast on my dirt road and untrained dogs in the national forest are all issues here but I can't justify/won't prioritize the time required for rigorous gun dog training. I figured if I loiter around here and similar sites and gain some additional knowledge and employee some of the more rigorous techniques required for a good gun dog I'll end up with a very well trained house/trail dog. I'm in the woods a lot. In light of that, and in reading through the forum, I am waivering between an e collar, electric fence, combination or both. My takeaway thus far is most on here don't trust an electric fence. I understand that and do have a hard fence off of the back of my house. But an e fence would be useful when I'm gardening, chopping wood, in the shop, etc. Times when I'm outside and would like the dog to get some fresh air but the dog might slip out of site for a few minutes, as my last Boykin was want to do. That said, my other takeaway from this forum is a very well trained dog with a good e collar is probably the best solution. Questions are:
1) Am I reading general consensus of the forum correctly? E fences are simply not to be trusted and a well trained dog with a high quality e collar is far superior.
2) Is the Sportdog collar only inferior in more physically demanding or expansive environments or for more demanding handlers (gun dog handlers) or are their issues across the board that would affect all training (erratic functionality etc)?
3) Does anyone have experience with the Sportdog Contain + Train System? (The only competitor I see with a containment/training system is "Extreme Dog Fence" and I don't see any mention of them at all on here, presumably because their product doesn't fit a gun dog handler's needs.
Boiled down... Is the Sportdog product so inferior in a training capacity that I should be wary of their products despite their unique positioning in offering a contain and train system which I think probably best meets my obedience/containment oriented needs?
Separately, for instruction on training I've re read:
-Retriever Training for Spaniels
-The Art of Training a New Puppy (New Skete)
and am Reading
-The Culture Clash
-Don't Shoot the Dog
The latter get the most ink from the general public for obedience training. If I'm missing a book that splits the baby between basic obedience and some more rigorous gun dog training (or one that is just a must read) I'd love to know about it.
Thanks and thanks for having me despite not being a bona fide gun dog handler.
1) Am I reading general consensus of the forum correctly? E fences are simply not to be trusted and a well trained dog with a high quality e collar is far superior.
2) Is the Sportdog collar only inferior in more physically demanding or expansive environments or for more demanding handlers (gun dog handlers) or are their issues across the board that would affect all training (erratic functionality etc)?
3) Does anyone have experience with the Sportdog Contain + Train System? (The only competitor I see with a containment/training system is "Extreme Dog Fence" and I don't see any mention of them at all on here, presumably because their product doesn't fit a gun dog handler's needs.
Boiled down... Is the Sportdog product so inferior in a training capacity that I should be wary of their products despite their unique positioning in offering a contain and train system which I think probably best meets my obedience/containment oriented needs?
Separately, for instruction on training I've re read:
-Retriever Training for Spaniels
-The Art of Training a New Puppy (New Skete)
and am Reading
-The Culture Clash
-Don't Shoot the Dog
The latter get the most ink from the general public for obedience training. If I'm missing a book that splits the baby between basic obedience and some more rigorous gun dog training (or one that is just a must read) I'd love to know about it.
Thanks and thanks for having me despite not being a bona fide gun dog handler.