Dog E Collar Advice

[WBouldin]

Hey guys,

As I posted on another thread, I am getting a GSP pup. Though I know the e collar is down the road, wondering what is needed and what is excessive.

A friend bought a Garmin Detla for $300 but I also see Sport Dog has some more cost effective options. The difference can be read on the box, but as a novice dog trainer I want to know what is actually needed and what’s excessive?

If anyone has thoughts on other brands or specific collars, I’m all for that too.

Thanks!!

 

[VikingsGuy]

Your mileage may vary, but we had a Garmin that only lasted a year. After that we went with SportDog 1825 and it has been rock solid for almost 3 years and still going strong.

 

[Walkathon]

I've been using SportDog for many years- I've never had any issues with them. I have used 3 or 4 different SportDog models over the years.

 

[Addicting]

Try These guys out. I bought my Dogtra from them reconditioned and have had no issues with it. Great people and a good price. https://www.collarclinic.com/about-us.html

 

[maxx]

Dogtra and Tritronics have always been the top two collars. Garmin bought Tritronics so I know a lot of guys have said the quality has slipped.

The first Dogtra I had was the lowest level and it was solid. I was tossing a Decoy in and it caught my transmitter and ripped it off and went into the water. I went through a few batteries on it, had it long enough.

The next one only made it 2 years, the battery went and I replaced the battery and it wouldn't work.

I am on a Garmin right now. It is a lower level one and it is pretty solid, good battery life. The only thing I will say is that it isn't very hot, IE I have to put it close to max all the time with my dog.

I would run not walk from Sportdog. I have heard way to many bad stories on it.

I bought a Garmin a few years back and it has been pretty solid.

 

[icebreaker12]

I have a Garmin Delta XC. Only issue I had with it was the antenna falling off after being to rough with it. I have had it since 2011. You can get it for about $170.

Personally, whatever you get, you want good range, half mile minimum. And you want many different levels of intensity. The Delta has great range for what I’m looking for (1-18 levels). Make sure to have quite a few. Also I personally like push button adjustment for intensity change rather than dials.

 

[VikingsGuy]

Good "buyers guide" at this site http://www.gundogsupply.com/

 

[Hunting Wife]

We've had a Dogtra that's going on 6 years old now and it's worked great. We replaced the batteries last year when it couldn't hold a charge more than just a couple of hours, and its good as new.

One feature that I really love is the buzzer/pager. Granted, we don't have a pointer so maybe this doesn't apply - not sure how the pointer guys usually work. Our dog has what we call sensitive days, so during training it was nice to have the option to give a correction or get attention without having to resort to a shock every time. Now she's trained to look to you for hand directions or recall depending on the duration of the buzz. Hunting Husband grew up hunting without a dog, so he's a firm believer in stealth mode, especially for pheasants. That pager is really useful so you don't have to make a bunch of racket and spook every educated rooster within earshot. Plus it can just be really irritating sometimes to listen to some people yell and whistle at their dog all damn day

 

[Arcola]

I'm a Garmin guy. Garmin bought Tritronics a few years back. Tritronics has a lot of years in the game and I've used their products for 15 years or so. I run a Pro 550 so I can control multiple dogs from one remote, but from what I've heard from other NAVHDA members, the lower end units are pretty impressive too. My current two dog setup is three years old, with at least 40 hard days in the field each year. Plus day to day use to keep our GSPs on their best behavior. The three biggest factors for me are battery life, range the unit with work, and fine tuning the amount of stimulation provided. I like that I can use the lowest amount of stimulation necessary, rather than having a gap from dog didn't feel it, to dog squealing and trying to hide.

 

[406LIFE]

I am running a DT Systems for 8 years now. Replaced a battery in the remote a couple years ago. Had zero issues, can do multiple dogs. I train multiple dogs, all labs for waterfowl and upland.

Some thoughts:
-The more variable level shock you can get the better.
-See what distance they are advertising and what guys are actually getting in the field. A GSP is going to roam.
-Look at collar desgin and materials. I prefer coated nylon.
-I like the vibrate option for training, turns in to a warning or you can train for return on buzz.

 

[Redside]

I use Sportdog. I only had to warranty one of them and it was within the first year and they had great customer service. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them again.

I mainly hunt pheasants/upland. If that's what your plan is go with a ecollar/beeper combo like the sportdog 1875 Upland. The beeper is priceless when you can't see your dog in heavy cover and its locked up on a bird. Last thing you want to do is zap the dog in that situation thinking that its off running around and not listening to your "here" command.

Also, get one sooner than later. Start putting it on him when it's time for fun. You want him to associate it with fun. Do a lot of research on the correct way to introduce him to the collar. If you do it wrong, it's like taking him to the gun range to introduce him to gun fire, he'll hate it for life.

 

[1_pointer]

One tip I can give, is to put a "safety rope" on the remote as a backup in case the clip comes undone or breaks. Last time out with Hank I came home without a remote...

 

[Jamen]

I use Sportdog and have never had an issue with mine. I run two labs off of it fairly hard in the fall for both waterfowl and upland. I have had this set up going on 6 years.

 

[JLS]

Here is my take on collars for your short hair. Number one I would get separate training collars and/or beeper/GPS collars. Here is why. You will use the training collar extensively for things like force fetch, recall, heeling, steadiness, and a variety of other training methods. It is a pain in the ass to have a beeper and or GPS collar on a dog when doing this because they are big, bulky, and typically the dial systems are not as conducive to pure training.

I am not going to advocate for a particular brand. I have used several different brands, and they all have their pros and cons. I would order from somewhere like gun dog supply, because they have a 30 day trial period during which you can use the collar and see if it fits your needs. It’s pretty hard to beat that for customer service.

I would look very hard at a training collar that has a dial adjustment for the stimulation. When you are training your dog, there will be times when you want to gradually increase the intensity level while holding down the stimulation button. For instance, if your dog is chasing deer you would want to press the continuous button and hold it, starting at a low level, and then gradually increase the level of stimulation until he stops chasing the deer and starts coming back to you. It is very difficult to do this without a dial setting because you’re having to push and hold buttons, some of which we may or may not work while giving stimulation.

I am currently looking at a new training collar also, because right now the only collar I have is a Garman Alpha. It is a great hunting collar, but it sucks for training for the reasons I stated above. Again, I would look hard at a company like gun dog supply and go based on their recommendations. Honestly if you need more than a half mile of range on the collar, you have severe dog training issues that need to be reconciled. My dog rarely ever ranges more than 400 yards from me, and I can’t imagine needing a mile of range for shock stimulation

Probably most important, more so than what brand you choose, is knowing how to apply stimulation. The collar should not be applied to your dog until you have sound obedience foundations in place, and then you introduce it through a collar conditioning process where the dog learns to understand how to escape the stimulation. If you don’t do this, you’ll end up with a dog that has no idea what the hell he is doing wrong and you could cause some serious hunting issues that will hunt you down the road. The training collar will be your best friend during the advanced part of the force fetch process, if you do the collar conditioning correctly.

 

[Steve Bell]

You don't really need a long range set up. Work with your dog in the yard and he will still respect it a mile away weather it will work or not. Like a wise man once told me " go cheap or go broke " lol

 

[CampRipleyLF]

I have had the same sport dog 1825 for the last 8 years, no problem with it at all. Works great for my Brittany. My dog does not wander far out of sight from me, I primarily hunt young aspen thickets in Northern Minnesota for Grouse and tall grass prairie in SW Minnesota for Pheasants. For the reason that he doesn't get out of sight often of me, I don't need the gps collar but if you dog tends to get out of sight, then a gps collar is great and worth the money. Shock collars are great in general and if you condition your dog right you will not need to shock him after a year or two. I just use the beeper and that does the trick.

 

[Labman]

If you are looking for a quality e-collar you need to look somewhere other than a brand whose parent company is Radio Systems Corporation. Pet Safe and Sport Dog are two of their brands, the difference between the two is probably packaging. I used to run Sport Dog but got tired of my yearly calls to someone in an office in TN regarding a warranty issue. Garmin does make a quality collar. If you want quality, good value, and a local rep you should look up the DogWatch dealer in your area, you won’t be disappointed.

 

[tim629]

i would agree with labman on the DogWatch collar

had mine for about a year using it with a border collie to go hiking and trail riding. doesn't have a GPS function but you can choose between an audible tone or a vibration as well as a brief and continuous shock.

 

[Northwoods Labs]

I have had good experience with SportDog and Garmin products.

Like others have said, look for collars with more simulation levels to match up with what your dog needs. Having both tone and vibrate features are a bonus. If you do a lot of waterfowl hunting the wetland hunter model from Sportdog is nice because the transmitter floats.

 

[Bowhunter65]

I would call Double U hunting supply and they will set you up with what you need, best in the business when it comes to hunting dog supplies.

http://m.dusupply.com/

Terry