Has anyone used one of those vibration collars?

[mrslaughan]

Not the shock ones.....not interested in those at all.

The background is we have a young male giant breed, his recall was 100%, but as he is maturing, it is getting less and less reliable around other dogs......it doesn't matter how tasty the treat, he gets fixated and we can't get his attention. He has always not liked getting too far from us, but in the past week this has changed.

I hAve done clicker training and this has worked to get him to focus on me, however it is slipping away when it comes to other dogs.

I often meet up with an elderly gentlemen who has used one to great success with his rescue westie (also quite a stubborn breed) , he now doesn't need to use it. I have to say he is a huge fan, and I was really sceptical...plus the clicking and treating was working so well for us......

My understanding is, that you use them to get your dogs attention, and treat when they come back.....the reviews are mostly positive.....

Anyway I wanted others experiences...I am on the fence.....but also after my walk with the sodding dog tonight where he completely bloody ignored me and took off over a Feild ( he did come back- but the distances are getting longer) I am faced with only on lead walks, (which he will hate)or finding another way of getting his attention.

I can't see how they're not unpleasant for the dog...I'd go for a longline and more recall training around dogs using it so that he can't actually choose to ignore you.

They go through a teenage phase where training goes out the window. I wouldn't resort to any form of electronic collar. Harness and long line and persist with the recall training til he comes out the other side. And there is no such thing as a stubborn breed, just a dog that isn't motivated or doesn't understand what is being asked of them

He's 56 kg - a harness doesn't work, he would just tow me. (believe me I have tried a number of harnesses.....)

Not all harnesses encourage pulling, this one doesn't Perfect Fit, used in conjunction with a double ended lead and loose lead walking training. There is no such thing as a magic wand when it comes to training tools.

What Lilcamper said. And everyone else, really.
Don't use a "vibration" collar. They're not ethical.
Invest in "Total Recall" (the book) instead, and some training classes.
You don't say how old your dog is but he may be going through a fear period. Things he was previously cool about may be a little scary for a while.

Using positive punishment (shock collars, which is what an E collar is) and positive reinforcement (click, treat) is a pretty confusing method of training for most dogs. There's enough academic material support my statement but you can find that for yourself (might be useful in winning this guy over if he ever insists you're missing out by not using his methods).

Returning to training classes. I think you might find these really useful. If your dog is going through a fear period maybe 1-2-1 until he's feeling more confident as it might be overwhelming but seeing as you are soon going to have a teenage large breed on your hands, too much training isn't an option. And a large breed who's reactive with other dogs is a bloody handful (which I suppose you're sort of finding out).

A front attaching harness should help you physically manage your dog without any discomfort to him (like a head collar or e collar would cause). I use a mekuti but it's personal preference. Anything that attaches to the front and doesn't tighten when the dog pulls. Google "Donna Hill Opposition Reflex Video" and hopefully he video will come up which explains how this reflex works (thus how front attaching harnesses don't encourage pulling).

Whilst his recall is dodgy invest in a long lead (attach to back of harness obviously). You can buy them online pretty cheap.

Good luck! :)

Vibration collars are used for deaf or hard of hearing dogs as an alternative to visual commands when they may be too far away to see you.

If your dog can hear, but ignores vocal commands he'll do the same to a vibrating collar. Electric collars are unethical.

Try whistle training.

Ok guys - I expressly said I was not interested in a shock collar. As vibration collars are used on deaf dogs - I would assume it does not cause pain, just grabs their attention.

I asked about vibration collars - on which doinmecleanin, has the only relevant piece of info - which is if he is ignoring his call he will ignore it (the collar).

He is a teenager, I am aware of the teenage phase, but I am trying to find a way that he can still have his off lead romps, when we are not walking with another dog. (when we are with other dogs it is not such an issue), while he works his way through this phase....which could last 6 months.......

he is not aggressive, just overly friendly, and no matter how much I bounce around, I am to as fun as another dog. Sometimes I can hide from him (which trainer suggested), but I am not comfortable with this as all 56kgs of him goes bouncing toward a dog and person I don't know (and before you all jump on that band wagon, I have so far managed to prevent this happening with dogs on lead, I am expressly talking about off lead dogs)...his body language is clear he wants to play, but people don't read that they just see a bloody massive dog approaching them. Those who know him, I am happy to disappear , as I did today - gave him a little bit of a fright, and stopped him from going all the way across the field. But I feel this is only appropriate in a very few situations.

So he is back on the longline.

Pretty much any aid to training which is physical - be it a harness, or vibrating collar or whatever, is just a plaster to slap on top of the training problem. It doesn't actually fix it.

Your boy has learnt that it is OK to ignore your command, and as dooin said, if he has learnt he can ignore you, he will also learn he can ignore the collar.

I see you're back to the long line - make sure you only command once and expect a response. Don't stand calling and allowing him to ignore you - you're only teaching him he can. 10 minutes on the line a day, every day, will show results in no time at all.

Make sure he understands that if you ask him it do something, the only acceptable response is to do immediately. That it is non negotiable.

Offer his most favourite thing - food/a ball/a squeaky thing - when he does and don't praise if he doesn't. He'll be reminded of what to do in no time at all!