■ Above: High-drive dogs such as Dutchies need a significant amount of exercise. A daily run or
bike ride with the dog can help him discharge excess energy and prevent negative behaviors.
and inappropriate have gone a long
way toward reducing this unwanted
behavior and keeping the peace, to
some degree, at home.
Mary Davis replies: A bark collar is
similar to a remote collar in that it
delivers a correction via electronic
stimulus for a certain behavior
(barking). The difference lies in the
fact that it is not versatile. It can only
correct one thing. The beauty of the
collar is that you do not have to monitor the process directly and the dog
does not associate you with the
picture.
A remote collar (e-collar) can be
used to correct unwanted behavior.
However, it requires an operator (you)
to work it.
Both collars feel the same to the dog:
they have about the same weight and
pressure on the neck and they deliver
similar sensation in varying degrees.
I think the question you are posing
is a concern about confusion on the
dog’s part as to what exactly he is
being corrected for when wearing the
two different collars. Can you see that
it is incumbent upon you and your
trainer to ensure that this confusion
does not happen? In a perfect world, I
would introduce the remote collar to
him first. He has to learn how to “turn
off” the stimulation by complying with
a variety of different commands. Once
he understands, then the bark collar
will only represent a different circum-
stance for him to figure out the be-
havior that will stop stimulation. If
you do the introduction in the oppo-
site order (bark collar first), then I
think you may run a slight risk of
confusion when you use the e-collar in
training. I don’t think it would be very
severe. By using the right controls and
techniques, the dog should quickly
grasp the remote collar concept
without too much stress involved.
Another point in your favor is that
dogs attach meaning to the environ-
ment and context in which they are
learning and are capable of differen-
tiating the training field from the
home kennel.
