Remote "Shock" Collar

[andrea shayegani]

has anyone used one that they could recommend? I am looking for something simple and inexpensive that vibrates with an adjustable "shock". Trying very diligently to curb the counter surfing and cushion chewing and think this could do the trick. There are so many available I don't know which to choose. THX! 

[BG and Gavin]

I think I would save this type of training for only the most extreme or dangerous behaviours and only with expert advice on how to train in it. I know of one situation personally when it was used for this reason by an inexperienced trainer and the end result is that the dog is afraid (out of his mind afraid) to go in the kitchen. I kid you not, this pooch has to either be carried through the kitchen to get to the back door or they have to go out the front to get in the back. Crazy.
So like other have said, the first thing to do is train "place" or "go to your bed" because giving these smarty pants dogs a competing behaviour to perform works well. The second thing I would do once you have place down is set the dog up with the forbidden items and reward when they ignore the item. Also intervene with a disruption when they go for the item and then send to place. It takes some time, but the beauty is they are then able to generalize from one forbidden item to the next by your reaction. Also as mentioned do not let them practice the undesired behaviour by keeping counters clear or no access to the items without supervision.

[andrea shayegani]

Thank you all for your input. To clarify, I was intending on using the vibrating feature of the collar. I referred to it as a "shock" collar bc that's what I thought it was known as. I know many people who use them and trainers who recommend them. Thanks! 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I've been thinking a lot about this.  My normal feeling is that collars (including e-collars) are tools that when used effectively and safely can be helpful....they are not the answers to good training because they don't teach the dog what you want them to do...but they can help for some things.  I think it's important to think about how whether or not the way we use a tool like this is really being fair.  I was just on a no sugar/no carb diet for a few months.  The only way this would work for me was to not have candy and chips (my favorites) in the house.  If there was a dish of chocolate covered cherries sitting on my kitchen counter it would have been so difficult to resist them....and I probably wouldn't resist.  Then I think about if they were still there for me to see, but every time I went to take one I got a shock or some other thing happened to scare me, how would that make me feel....and I'm a rational human.  I do sometimes worry about using training methods that generate fear to stop a behavior...especially for some dogs who may have some fear issues already.  It just doesn't seem fair to me.  Gating the dog out of the kitchen or keeping food where they can't get to it seems like the most loving and effective way to control the behavior.  Positive reinforcement training can also do it...but it takes lots of time and often there are "mistakes" that could result in the dog eating something that might make them sick.  This is only my point of view, and I know others have used this tool and believe it was effective.  If you do decide to go this way, please consult a good trainer who has used the tool before and watch for any signs that you are creating fear behaviors that may manifest in other ways.

[Amy and Annabelle]

I am sorry if I offended anyone, it wasn't my intent. Last summer I was in a Farm store. An employee was showing this couple that had just adopted the cutest basset, from the shelter an e collar. Apparently she had a barking problem among other things. Although I didn't hear her bark. They wanted to check out the e collars for her. I was listening in. The collar had 3 modes, vibration, sound and shock. Then it had 18 levels. She let the couple check how they feel. Before she put it away I asked if I could check it out. The vibration wasn't much, it did hurt more the higher up you went, but not real painful. The shock portion I tried the first 2 levels and got quite a jolt. I can't imagine using level 18 on your dog, and not have something tragic happen. The remote seem like it would be too easy to have it accidentally switch modes or levels if you hit the wrong button. If you thought it was on vibration mode and put it level 10, but it was on shock mode that would not be good. Not to mention if it fell into the wrong hands while the collar was on the dog and the he was intentionally zapped. I am sure the level 18 is for when it dog is 1,000 feet away from the remote, but my personal feeling is there is too much room for error, considering the consequences. I agree that I would enlist the help of a trainer for guidance for anyone who goes this route.

[Adina P]

We used an electronic collar for counter surfing.  Rosco was 5 years old when he discovered the joys of counter surfing so it wasn't a habit he'd had for years at that time.  The training we did worked well, but it was limited because the moment you let your guard down and something DOES get forgotten on the counter or table or anything like that and they learn sometimes it "does" pay, it all vanishes ;)

We spent about a month (?) training him to not think about his collar.  He wore it around the house for hours and then we set up a web cam and created a trap for him where we had dinner rolls in a mesh bag and we were ready in the garage.  Clark did that part, it was too nerve wracking for me. 
The tricky part is that A) He has to have ZERO opportunities to find and steal anything on the counter the whole time you're training, B) You have to find a way to ensure he doesn't get "collar-wise" and distinguish between collar on (dangerous) and collar off (safe) which is hard and takes time and C) He has to have ZERO opportunities to find and steal anything on the counter after you're done.  I think it was actually Boca who showed Rosco it was once again safe to steal food so he took the risk and we got back to square one. 

So I don't think there is anything wrong with using an electronic collar, and it CAN be effective but it's not fail safe and the dog still can't have access to doing 'wrong' until you're 100% sure he's proofed.