Before we left Wisconsin I was concerned about Shadow’s hearing and sight. Last year before we left Deer Lake he kept loosing me on walks and would panic because he didn’t know where I was. So I needed to find a way to keep him safer.Then with Shylo being new to us plus trying to prepare him for the whole Ranch scene with 12 miles of land to chase deer, and roam; I was concerned about being able to call him back from ANY tempting situation.
I didn’t ever want to feel the way I felt the day I took this photo!
When he took off for more than a half hour and I cried my eyes out! Because I wasn’t sure I would ever see him again,
So we worked really hard on off leash training. I tried several different techniques and e-collars. So with a dog going deaf and blind (very hard words to type) and a runner my work was cut out for me.
I purchased an older Tri Tronic E Collar
that worked “too good”, the first time I corrected him on LOWEST setting, he yelped. I put it back in the case and never used it again. I also had an Innotek Basic Remote Trainer. It had much lower stimulation and worked great for yard training and the dog park. Its range was only 300 yards. I started researching other e-collars, GPS devices that could work on dogs, storm whistles and anything else I could find that might work in our situation.
After weeks of research I came across E Collar Technologies. (Click the link to see their brochure). Several things sold me on this product, but the fact that they are made in the USA and the remote light is a totally awesome feature for tracking your dogs at night!
They also offer a 60 Day Money Back Guarantee with free shipping both ways PLUS a 2 year warranty!
The collars I selected were the K9 Handler 802 TS a two dog unit.
I chose to go with the Tapping Sensation (similar to vibration) with a stimulation mode. The Tapping sensation is the first thing I trained both dogs to understand. The collar was on each of them for several days before I did anything, to let them get use to the weight and feel of it. The next step I took was loading my pockets with dog treats; I proceeded to teach both dogs that one tapping means come, and two means sit, rewarding each success with treats. Now for Shadow not hearing so well, I put him back on a long lead and guided him back to me when I wanted him to come (one tapping) not sure how much he hears but I know he still hears some things so I just always said, “one means come” then gave him the treat.
Then I’d say, “two means sit” (two taps) then I would gently lift his head all the way up (this naturally causes a dog to sit), and it works much better than pushing on their butt. My thought with teaching the sit was for his safety; if coming to me would put Shadow in danger, I could get him to sit instead.
This was a very easy to teach both dogs and has been a real blessing so far at the ranch. When Shylo runs after a deer, I can do one tap for come, if he doesn’t come I use the stimulation feature -- if he doesn’t respond to that -- I use the boost feature. I love the fact that I can let him know that I want him to come to me even when he is too far away me to hear me yell, before I need to take a corrective measure.
These collars have a mile range and are waterproof and VERY durable, they are the greatest! I will have to do another entry in the future with more information and photos of how bright the remote lights are! The dogs can be a mile away and I can turn on their lights! It makes tracking them at night a breeze!
The customer service is totally awesome, I don’t remember the last time I bought something from ANYONE who had better customer service. I always feel more comfortable buying right from a company than a dealer of a product; I was pleased when I asked if they would match the dealers price they did.
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Adventures of Shadow the RVing Dog.