[linktrek]

We lost our pug this week and my 3 year old Gabriella needs a sister preferably
3 years or less. But my rescue needs to be a female.
I live in the Melbourne-Palm Bay area of Central Florida.There is no rush but Gabriella is missing her brother.
We have, I like to say, Perfect Home for a Golden. We have a good sized fenced in backyard. We also live at the end of a CT with is a col de sac. The next house from us is the end house. The new neighbors have a very friendly and playful boxer and there is tons of room in their backyard and undeveloped land for the dogs to run free and hunt, play, or do whatever they please.
I can let Gabriella run free because I have her on an Ecollar.It has a buzz mod that signals her to run back and sit next to my right side from wherever she is.But I always have her in sight.
But She Needs A Sister!
Please email me at [email protected] . I read the email pretty frequently but don't visit this site too often. I suppose I will be here more frequently.

 

[AquaClaraCanines]

Does the collar shock her? I would not be comfortable placing a dog with someone who would shock train it under most circumstances, however the rest of your situation sounds okay.

 

[mylissyk]

...It has a buzz mod that signals her to run back and sit next to my right side from wherever she is.But I always have her in sight....

I hope this means he just uses the tone setting that does not shock.

 

[AquaClaraCanines]

Me too I am okay with that for sure.

 

[Pointgold]

Search his past posts for those on the subject of "training" with an e-collar... I remembered them.

 

[fostermom]

I personally would not place one of my fosters with someone who uses an e-collar as a shortcut to training. If you are fine with it, fine. But when someone won't even take time to properly train a dog and ensure that the dog has the commands down completely and instead puts an e-collar on to accomplish whatever they are looking for would not get one of my dogs, that's for sure.

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/showthread.php?t=46776&page=6

Yeah I use my collar to keep my dog's attention so she will keep near me.I trained her to stay on the front yard and play instead of running out the front door and running away for an hour and risk being hit by a car,stolen,or even being bit by an alligator in the local canal.So I did use the collar to train her by zapping her just in the way an invisible fence would work.Plus I do plan on using it to make her feel uncomfortable when she starts digging a hole in the backyard.When I catch her in the act and she feels the collar,she will not dig anymore.But to use it to teach commands is a big no no.That's what treats are for.But if she obviously knows how to do a command and she doesn't listen then the collar gets her attention and teaches her to always be aware that my voice is the number one thing she should always tune in on my voice no matter what she is doing.And it has worked.I also used the buzzer mode to teach her to come.She already knew how to come.But when the buzzer goes off,she knows that she is supposed to come to me even if she is out of sight.My collar has a 300 yard range when the batteries are strong.
Don't worry about creating the hornets nest.It is always good to discuss this topic to keep people from making the mistake of using a collar the wrong way.Basic commands should only be taught with treats I believe.The collar keep her tuned into your voice if you call out a command.Also people shouldn't be so scared that they don't try a collar.You will be able to tell if your dog will respond the right way in the first five minutes you use the collar.It could cause a dog that doesn't respond well to go into a confused state and be a very bad experience for the dog.I knew right away that my dog responded well to the collar.The first thing my dog did when I shocked her the first time was to look at me to find out what just happened to her.That is a very good sign that a dog is going to respond well to the collar. I also think that it is a good idea to hold the probes of the collar and press the shock button just to remind yourself what it feels like.The dog doesn't like it and either do I,but I have one advantage.I know when the shock is going to happen.When a dog has the collar own,it has no idea when the shock is going to go off.

 

[AquaClaraCanines]

No I am not okay with shocking. A vibrating collar is okay with me, though.

 

[linktrek]

Does the collar shock her? I would not be comfortable placing a dog with someone who would shock train it under most circumstances, however the rest of your situation sounds okay.

As far as the shock collar, it is the dogs personality that dictates whether a shock collar would be necessary. Some dogs do fine with the plain positive reward training. Some dogs need a mix to know when they do something right or wrong. A simple negative tone in my voice toward the dog would be enough to let the dog know that it either wasn't paying attention or had not obeyed some thing correctly.
Gabriella needed the shock collar because when she got out of the front door, she used to take dangerous adventures that led her into a canal with alligators in it. Also Gabriella knew her commands very well, but like most humans, she only works for the right amount of money. In her case it was the right reward.No food or reward,no obedience unless she felt like it. She responded very well from the get go with the collar.It took her about 10 minutes to get an attitude change. She learned that if her buzzer goes off, she is knows that she is being instructed to get back to me and sit as soon as possible. She also knows that when her buzzer goes off, she need to pay immediate attention for some verbal command.
Again, if it simply takes a verbal command , even if it doesn't obey the command because of the need for more training, as long as my voice is enough to get the dogs attention, then I believe a dog like that has no need for an e collar. We have a few GR's around the neighbor hood that have been trained conventionally and you can see it in their personalities. Gabriella needed the collar and responded well to it in the first 10 minutes
I can imagine giving a shock to a dog that was very sensitive to how their owners act towards them. A shock would send them into a word of confusion and frenzy.
The pug that I just lost was very sensitive to my reactions. If I so much as yelled at him for doing something wrong, he would get so sad that I would have to go over and reassure him that I still loved him and that he was in good standings with me.

 

[linktrek]

Oh Just another thought.A shock collar is not and instrument of torture.When we get an electrostatic shock form waking on a rug, it really gets our attention.Adjusted properly, it need not cause a dog any pain. It causes discomfort.If a dog like a GR as intelligent as they are, very quickly learn that it is much more beneficial to listen to the buzzer. She learned that ignoring the buzz would escalate into a zap 'I think there needs to be a better description than a shock to the dog. A shock is not an excruciating pain.I am positive that when I am upset with her and yell no at her , it is much more painful than what comes out of the collar."

 

[linktrek]

I personally would not place one of my fosters with someone who uses an e-collar as a shortcut to training. If you are fine with it, fine. But when someone won't even take time to properly train a dog and ensure that the dog has the commands down completely and instead puts an e-collar on to accomplish whatever they are looking for would not get one of my dogs, that's for sure.

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/showthread.php?t=46776&page=6

I hate to go bolistic on you but you have to understand that some dogs just need it to train them period. Before I used the collar and she ran out of the house for one of her 2 hour galavanting ,which included a canal with alligators, once she got out, I could hold out a prime rib and call Gabriella come. I mean she knew she had her freedom and no prime rib steak or saying "Good Gabriella" "Come Gabriella", even when she knew those commands when in our fenced in backyard, was going to turn her head around for a second. She knew she was free with no one to stop her. My dog absolutely would not obey if she ran out.Also I spent like 3-4 months training with her day after day with short lessons. All I had to do is have her hotdogs there and she was willing to do anything I said. But no hotdogs, her attitude was, well let me see how I feel. Yeah .. I suppose I can sit. But no fetching and dropping the ball.
So as far as my owner is concerned, if he doesn't have my rewards than I'll be obedient when I want to.
She had the perfect personality to respond to the e-collar. Now I don't know what the heck everyone thinks about ecollars, the are not an instrument of pain. It only takes a little static electricity to do the job. When was the last time you accused the person who put in the shag rug that causes a spark on your finger when you walk across the touched the door. of abuse and called the police on them because they could no longer take the pain. Well the shock from an e collar is the same type of shock. Gabriella is a very secure dog. She is unafraid to approach other dogs. When it thunders, she sort of says," I wonder what that was." and just continues on doing what she was doing.
My e collar has made Gabriella a well trained and naturally behaved dog. She is not walking around with all kinds of anxiety disorders because she needed a shock collar to help train her. She knew her commands. She just needed to know to know that she had to take her commands seriously.
I have me own verbal command that substitutes for the buzzer in the collar. If she is within reasonable proximity and I want her to walk beside me on my right side, I yell "Let's Go." Let's go means she need to come to me and sit at my right side. But it doesn't tell her that I want her to walk by my side. So I say a strong "uh" command and she know she has to correct what she is doing or look to me for what I wanted her to do. When I start walking she may start to walk ahead of me or even want to run away. But if I start walking and I go "Uh" then she slows down and waits for me so to walk beside me. "Uh" replaced the buzzer when she is close.
I use the buzzer people. There are just a couple times when I have to give her a zap to get her attention.The Zap is set at just the right level as not to startle her. Sometimes for one reason or another, I lose sight of her. It might be because she chased after another dog or even one time she took off after a deer. When she is no where in site and doesn't respond to my call, I start buzzing her to let her know that she need to haul ass back home. If it's been more than a minute that I haven't heard anything, then I add a zap and then the buzzer. And how do you like that. The next thing you know is she is running full blast back to the house where then she receives the biggest praise I can give her.
So you must understand that there are just some GR that responded real well to ecollars. And have you even fallen on the ground in pain and anxiety, when you got zapped by a door knob on a door from a rug. If so, then I definitely believe that you are the type of person that would respond to an e collar. Now my wife is a different story. The only reason I haven't tried it on her is that she has that kind of personality that if she gets shocked, she had the potential of turning very viscous. She may even have an even worse reaction and get in the car and go shopping at the mall to get something that she always didn't need.
So I am one of the ones that do believe in E collars. But it needs to be used by a person that really knows their dog, and actually has a dog that needs the collar in the first place

 

[linktrek]

Oh And as far as http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/showthread.php?t=46776&page=6 is concerned. that was 20007. Two years later, Gabriella is a mature well balanced and obedient dog. To go back in my history and try to throw Dog Crap
in my face is just plain outrageous.
I'll tell you what. You go back and dig up all the crap you want on me and I will throw
Gabriella at you and you would see a very content, loving, and gentle dog whom the whole neighbor hood adores.
You guys have made me so angry tonight that I don't even feel I should ask for a rescue
dog here. You so called "experts" need to keep and open mind. You may feel like you know GR's perfectly. But I'm willing to bet that you believe in your heart that you know GR's so well that only your way of doing things is the right way. Wrong.
Just like people, GR's are individual dogs all with unique personalities.You may have their
basic behavior down like the back of your hands. But just like people, I be you won't find any two GR's that react the same way and have the same personality.