On this forum, we don't condone use of devices like this. The dog decides what, to him, is aversive or not. But these devices ”work” by creating a noise or vibration that at worst the dog finds as an annoyance; or at best is meaningless because it doesn't do anything to tell the dog what you do want. In fact I remember reading about one used on a young dog. The dog freaked, ran to escape it, and was hit by a car and killed.

A vibration collar can be helpful for deaf dogs, to get their attention for the handler to give a hand signal, provided it is properly introduced. But outside of these circumstances there are far better and more reliable ways of training. If you want to say what you are trying to achieve, perhaps we can help.

 

This is very helpful and great insight, thank you! I was researching about dog training methods and came across smart collars with sound vibrations, geofencing, gps etc. and wanted to know more from fellow dog lovers to widen my knowledge and how/if it can be beneficial. Any and all advice is welcome!

 

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Invisible Fence, electric fences

Please read this. Perhaps this may common sense to some but for us, we learned the hardest way. We have an electric fence installed. My Soft Coated Wheaten ALWAYS respected her boundaries. We learned a very difficult lesson last night. When a dog wants something it will go after it. Our 1.5 year...

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Not a fan of these collars. A good dog whistle or clicker would be my choice.

 

I got my dog from someone who was rehoming her. They lived in a apartment complex, that only had a small strip of grass. The owners realized it was not good for her. She is a 65 pound mix breed, and very energetic. I'm 74 years old, and live on the edge of the woods. The previous owners had rescued her. I don't think she ever really saw any wildlife. I was unable to control her on a leash as she wanted to chase everything.
So I did get what they call I guess a training collar, Shock/vibrate/beep. I disarmed the shock aspect! When walking her I would use the beep, but she would look around and not pay attention to it. Using the vibrate she wasn't happy with, but would listen to me. this one won for a day or two. Then I started to use the beep followed by the vibrate, . another two days went by. Then I started using The beep only, for three days. She now runs free, and returns when I call her.
My daughter can't believe the change in her. She lived in a development with a lot of dogs being walked. And the occasional deer were fox in her yard.
So now it is rare that she's on leash. Oh and by the way, no training collar.
My method worked, with no harm to my baby girl

 

That's wonderful that you were able to give this dog a better life and the freedom to enjoy being off-leash while still staying safe. That is a great outcome for any dog.

The advice to avoid promoting aversive techniques is sound though, especially without guidance from an excellent trainer who can assess if this tool or method is the best option for that individual dog. I am not against the use of punishment, but the potential fall-out from using punishment ineffectively is far greater than using rewards-based and management techniques.

I have trained my share of dogs to be safe off-leash around wildlife, all have needed slightly different techniques, so my "toolbox" if you will of tricks and tips for how to achieve a bomb-proof recall has grown a lot over the years. As of yet, I have not needed anything other than a long-line and taking the time to really understand what motivates that dog.

I have found that behaviors taught with motivation, instead of avoidance of consequences, even if that consequence is something as innocuous as a beep or a vibrate, tend to be much stronger behaviors for the lifetime of the dog.
If you haven't already, I would incorporate some sort of reward for your girl when she comes to you. Not just praise, but a food treat of some sort, or the opportunity to do something she really loves like chase a ball or frisbee. This will ensure that the behavior of coming when you call stays strong.

 

This is a non-aversive forum. Promoting or recommending devices like this is in breach of forums rules, for the reasons given above.

Your dog is complying with your cues in order to avoid something she finds unpleasant - the vibration. Most of us would prefer our dogs do what we ask because they want to, or want to earn the reward of doing so (and that might just be praise, we aren't just cookie pushers) rather than to avoid the consequences of not doing what we ask.

 

Well with all due respect!
My dog Does not leave my side (her choice) and we love each other unconditionally! My training did absolutely nothing to harm her!!
Maybe the forum should consider revising the rules???
Maya run free And enjoyed every minute of it.

 

Using the vibrate she wasn't happy with

Maybe the forum should consider revising the rules???

Thanks, but no. The forum is based on a LIMA approach to dog training, it's the reason why many members are here.

We can always make recommendations on training methods that don't use aversive tools or methods, I hope you will stay and perhaps learn some alternatives. But in the same way as you would expect to follow the dress code rules in certain establishments, we ask you to respect the training rules here. You don't need to agree with them, you just need to not break them.