# new ecollar: training tips



## emilycn (Jul 30, 2013)

Happy festivus, everybody!

For christmas, Lua and I got a garmin delta collar, and I'm really looking forward to training with it. But since I've never used one before, I've been furiously searching for how-to's. I haven't found anything I'm completely satisfied with yet, so I figured I'd ask you forum users if you have any advice or tips you've picked up while training with these things. I haven't put the thing on her yet, since we're currently working on learning an invisible fence while we're up at my mom's place (where Lua escaped from back in October), and I don't want to confuse her or myself.

My ultimate training goal is to have a well-mannered off-leash hiking dog, which to me means that I can recall Lua from afar, have her stick close to me in heel when passing by other people, and sit/stay while I catch up to her down the trail. I plan to use the collar to give Lua commands from afar (i.e., sit/stay or here) and have them followed, and to halt potentially dangerous behavior (i.e., don't you dare touch that rotting animal carcass, or leave that wild animal to his own space). I was attracted to the garmin delta because I want to train the tone and vibration to mean sit/stay and here so that I don't have to shout at her from across a field to do those things (like a silent communication), and I plan on using the nicks as corrections for when she ignores known commands or gets into precarious situations and needs to stop or come back to me. 

My plan of attack, thus far, includes making a habit of wearing the collar for a week or two without turning it on, to prevent collarwise or collarwary behavior. I get the finding the baseline training level part (and I've already tried the nick levels on myself to see exactly what kind of sensation I'd be working with), but beyond that, I'm a bit overwhelmed with the endless training approach possibilities. What I've seen the most in my research is using the collar to provide negative reinforcement (i.e., the annoying nicks stop when I do this behavior---the removal of the aversive stimulus is the reward), along with classic positive reinforcement (good dog, pats, treats, play). Then it seems like once the behaviors are solid, the nicks are phased out, and they're re-introduced as positive punishment (a correction like a pop with the leash) in order to regain the dog's attention when a command is ignored. 

So what books or videos do you recommend? What helped you when you were learning how to use the collar? And what general advice or tips do you have based on your user experiences?


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Em - got the same collar 4 PIKE a few months ago after the last one died 
#1 I would not start the pup until at least a year old 
#2 here is not easy - but you train with a check cord - whoa is easy with a whoa board 
#3 you only use the collar after the pup fully understands his commands- then it is just a long range correction
#4 I love whistle & hand signals
#5 having a invisible fence will get confusing 4 the pup
#6 I whistle 1st - with eye contact PIKE should do as told 
#7 if not - he gets a vibrate - if no response he gets nicked - every time without 1 lapse - it works !!!!!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Just put the collar on her (turned off) when you are going to take her to do something fun. She should start to get excited every time she sees the collar.
I would do this for at least two weeks, longer if she is not excited by the sight of it. During that time start running her on a check cord, if your not already. 
Here, and then a tug on the check cord to bring her to you. Just do it at different times throughout your run. Later when you start the ecollar training, she will already have a understanding of what will be happening, and the nick, and tug will be at the exact same time. 
Wait until she has recall down perfectly with the ecollar, before you start using it with other commands. Teach one at a time, so you don't overwhelm her.


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## charliecoyot (Nov 26, 2012)

I'm no expert. Purely a practical amateur. I too researched and read a bunch - 'mixing' many things I read to what seems to have worked well so far for Roothee the V and myself. Everything I note below was accumulated from that reading, coupled with Roothee's and my experience.

I have the Garmin Delta too - which has the wonderful, tone/vibrate/nick option (T/V/M (tone, vibrate, momentary setting) - 3 buttons, 3 separate collar functions.

First item on your list should be - read the manual front to back and then again. Know the remote buttons well - so well you can operate the remote in the dark. Reason I think this is important is many times when you're truly using the collar - you're looking at/near your V or something else and do not look at the remote - let alone you don't want to hit the wrong button and the wrong 'correction' comes to your dog - you may nick your dog when that's the last thing you wanted to do.

Roothee wore her e-collar everyday for various times from 4 months to 8 months before I ever turned it on while she wore it.

Then - I 'test shocked' myself to make sure the collar was working as it should - only to shock level 2 or 3 - that was enough for me! Felt like a 9 volt battery shock.

I set the base 'voltage' using a single 'voltage' test session after Roothee was used to the collar and she was about 10 or 11 months old. Put collar on her - let her roam around the yard - hit the momentary 'nick' for no reason and no voice command (or any voice after the 'nick') to see her reaction (setting was on 1 to start). No reaction at all? - moved voltage up one notch - did this over a 1/2 hour period until I saw her shake her head and 'jump' just a bit as if she wondered 'what the heck was that'. That's the setting for everyday hikes (7) - in the field I have to run the setting to 15 as she gets SO excited in the field. Before doing above test - make sure collar is snug to dog's neck and 'contacts' are touching your V. I secure collar so I can still fit 2 fingers between collar and Roothee.

Be careful doing a 'shock' test like this - next is a synopsis from something I read on the shock test: given how delicate some Vs can be - if you experience a serious adverse reaction from the V on a shock test, stop and wait a week still letting the dog wear the collar turned off and make darn sure you don't do anything to allow your V to associate that bad reaction to the collar. Your reaction can become their reaction forever and end up never wanting that collar on them again.

After I knew what 'nick' settings worked for Roothee - I then worked on 'pairing' a 'tone' with 'here' command - when on long runs/hikes/basic field work - and using 50ft. check cord - I'd call 'here' when I knew she was focused on a scent of some kind - knowing she wouldn't pay attention immediately - I then said 'here' again, tugged on the check cord AND hit the 'tone' button twice (2 beeps) all at the same time. Worked on only this for a few weeks - to the point where I could simply hit 'tone' w/ 2 beeps and Roothee comes to 'here' position (sitting at my left).

Now - when she's stubborn (getting more rare) - she gets the vibrate ('pay attention'), then 2 beeps - still nothing - then the 'nick'/'juice' (she's been 'nicked' about 10 or 12 times total - usually when a deer gets up nearby on a hunt - or porcupine 'leave it' was needed). 

Then using other tone combination for 'stay' (one LONG tone holding top button down for about 2 seconds). The 'stay' w/ tone was worked on in living room with cheese for about 5 or 6 nights in a row - and she has that down pat now.

Be sure the commands are well known by your V before ever using the collar for any correction or 'layering' of command to collar function.

Take your time - avoid V getting collar smart (as in put it on a don't use it more often than not) - and work on the 'little' things at close distance. Extreme consistency and watching how your V behaves with any correction or 'layering' of commands and collar is very important I think. I layered the 2 commands with the collar tone function simply as personal preference.

Hope that helps some, best of luck. BTW, I did replace the black vinyl collar w/ blaze orange (and 'glow' stripe) simply for visibility in field and at night.


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