Hi Husky lovers,

We have a 2 year old Siberian Husky who we rescued from the Middle East when we lived there and bought her back to the UK with us. She loves the long walks and adventures we can now give her.

We took her off the lead once when we were in the Middle East. This was on an island that had one access road (so there was only on direction for her to leave and which we made sure was blocked off to her) and she ran and ran….and then ran some more around the island until we had to get in the car to get her as she had ran so far.

Once we bought her back to the UK we took her to an enclosed field (at least we thought it was enclosed) and started to train her with treats to come back when off the lead. She was great and came back every time….until she was distracted by other dogs and people and found some gaps in the fences. We really love seeing her off the lead  but can not trust her anymore, especially as the field is next to a road. We have seen a number of different husky owners out for walks with their huskies off their leads, and they come when called. Everyone of them has trained with an e collar.

I appreciate that not everyone likes the idea of e-collars, but given the choice of a lifetime on the lead or some, well thought about, and targeted shocks to allow you to be safe and run off the lead - I know if I was a husky what I would choose.

We want an e-collar that is suitable for her and would love to hear from people who use these and get their advice on the best type to use and the training techniques that have worked for them. Bali is a small Siberian Husky and is around 15kg. She has such a lovely temperament, excellent around other dogs (just very playful and friendly) and children. We want her to be able to be a little freer, but also safe, so come back when she is called. Please help.

Thank you.

Check out: http://www.loucastle.com/

I could not be happier with the sportdog field trainer 425! http://store.sportdog.com/fieldtrainer-425
I live in a rural area in the mountains and keeping my dog on a lead is just not feasible with the activities we do as well the fact that we are often with other dogs doing those activities. Plus I want him to be able to run free with the other doggies at full speed, jump in the water and swim and be himself. Before the collar, he was pretty good already, but his only issues were that would take off after deer, or harass horses or livestock and all the calling in the world wouldn't break his attention from those things. I considered those things extreme circumstances that needed correction. I can happily say, those are all things of the past. Now, if a deer crosses our path he sometimes doesn't even pay attention to them, or if he does start after them, all I have to do is yell "no". Since I got it over a year ago, I can count the number of times I have used the shock feature on my fingers. Usually it's a one time correction if used correctly, (verbal command, tone, shock, in that order)

Some may think it is cruel, but I know it is not harming my dog or I wouldn't be using it. What it does is get his attention since they seem to get tunnel vision sometimes and tune out everything else. I and a few other folks I know with the same units love our dogs as much as life itself, so if we thought it was cruel or harming the dog, we wouldn't be using them.

The one I linked above that I have is totally waterproof and submersible to 25ft! That is crucial because I have a dog that loooooves to swim. So I can attest to it being waterproof, trust me! It also works up to 500yrds. It has a tone feature that you always use after your command and before a possible shock correction. Also a vibrate setting instead of a shock. And lasts 20+ hours on one charge.

The only downside I see is the huskies fur is so thick in the winter time, the shock feature doesn't work! Luckily you probably wont need it after one usage, and can get by with just the tone.
Good luck with your decision! Only you know what's best for your doggie.

I use the Dogtra 2300 series. It has been amazing. My husky is so happy now that he gets to run off leash with his sisters, instead of being restricted to a leash. Before I got the Dogtra, I tried a cheaper brand off Ebay - It was absolutely terrible. Get a reliable, reputable brand. It is well worth the money. The Dogtra does not have the tone option, but does have the vibration and nick. I rarely have to use the collar any more, but I keep it on him because he does have his stubborn moments! Though I have been able to call him off of pheasants, 8 deer that ran right in front of us, porcupines, rabbits, and squirrels.. all with just my voice command!! The vibration is all I usually need to use to get his attention again if he is " in the zone"

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I agree with the other posters. we use the sport dog also, battery operated, in time we will upgrade to chargeable one. At first I fought my husband on using it, but Miya like any husky gets stubborn and one track minded. In west Texas we have many predator animals around, hogs, coyotes, cougars, as well as ranchers who could mistake her for a coyote. She has taken off a few times, chasing bunnies, squirrels and voice command just didn't work out in the middle of nowhere. I will say this is not to be used to train simple commands like sit, shake, etc. We use it strictly for recall after voice and vibrate doesn't work. Took her out at dusk for potty the other night and off she went to chase a cat, she put the brakes on at our properties edge and stayed on her own. She has that freedom to chase and knows where to stop without us saying a word, or the use of the shocker, a remarkable tool if you ask me. I don't remember the last time either one of us has had to use it. We put it on her and she knows she's going out to have fun, and I also love the fact that it's water proof.

We use dogtra. Amazing collar

So it looks like I have to go the ecollar route - or the big boy loses his house and backyard priviledges. Or I lose a husband  

Parameters: since I am getting one, I might as well be able to use it in the "back 25" which is heavily wooded and 3-6% grade. Maximum distance is about 1000' but I doubt I can tolerate not seeing him that far.

I've read the sight recommended by Jen, looked at the SportDog450 and the Dogtra and Education (formerly Einstein) brands recommended by Lou Castle. The sport dog is $100 cheaper than either of the other 2 but only has 7 (?) correction levels but does have tone, vibrate and correction...

Basically, I want to use this to extinguish jumping at the back door to get in and scratching at the laundry room door when I leave the kitchen for a moment. Those 2 are non-negotiable and have become crisis level. Nice would to walk the back 25 acres with him off leash (on leash is a night mare - heavy trees and brush, leash gets tangled.) We are going to put in invisible fence for the bottom 5 acres that are mowed and have fruit trees and vegetable garden but the wire is price prohibitive for the rest of the property.

Any thoughts?

anymeme,

We have used the e-collar since Miya was old and big enough to use it. When we started we gave verbal command, then vibrate, then shock in that order. After we got her to respond to verbal command our next step was to give 2 verbal warnings, then vibrate then shock. Miya is stubborn at times the shock level is mid range I think a 6 out of 9 possible levels of shock due to her heavy coat. To start I personally did short distance off leash and did recall "lets go or come" and worked my way up on distance, depending on distance for collar, it will tell you in pamphlet, it also gives info on how to use. Do not use for simple commands as I said in my above post. I also shocked myself on the highest level I use on Miya to see how I would react, because I really was against using it. However, it didn't hurt, kind of like the old 9 volt battery you stick on your tongue as a kid jolt, imo. Many sportsman use these collars because the collar is waterproof, not your side though. Also for the jumping on doors I use "down", which she knows is different from "lay down". I would give 3 chance then vibrate, then shock to begin with. Verbal commands and lots of praise, should eventually be all you need.

I walk Miya down our dirt road, we have miles and miles of trails to walk and very little traffic and luckily no dogs, except her boyfriend. We always go off leash, this gives her a ton of exercise because I let her go ahead of me just so far and then call her back to me, and so on. I seriously can't remember the last time I even gave her warning with the e-collar. She also knows the difference between her 2 collars. The only downside, besides having to buy batteries, is that you can't attach a leash. So she does have 2 different collars. Also, I did have to replace after a year. Only reason is that she is a rough and tumbler, she will swim one minute and climb, jump, run, chase and gets kind of crazy when she plays with her boyfriend. It does recommend leaving collar on no more than 8 hours, I turn it off when we are inside, to save batteries, but there are times I do leave on longer than 8. My voice doesn't carry far, and if my husband works late it is on until he gets home.
I hope this helps and if you have more questions don't hesitate to ask, I believe her collar is the sportsman stubborn dog and it cost around $150 at our tractor supply, which was cheaper and easier to find than any where else. Btw, you can see the collar on Miya in my avitar.

People will cringe when I say this, but we have no fencing for majority of our yard, we have a small fence to separate our property from our next door neighbors. People ask us all the time if we have invisible fence, because she is so good about property line. She is however, never out by herself. One of us is always outside with her, if I need to grab a jacket I bring her to the door and tell her to "wait" and I run in and grab it, so she is alone maybe a minute, and she is exactly in the spot I told her to wait. Maybe I'm just lucky.
renee

Thanks for the reply - I think I'll try the sport dog first and if it doesn't meet our need, upgrade to the Dogtra - I like the vibrate feature. The way Ami responds to the dremel mini-mite, I suspect the vibrate setting will be sufficient  

We have the sd 105-s, if that helps. Ami is a beautiful guy. I was wondering what part of the finger lakes do you live? I grew up in Dryden, near Ithaca, beautiful country and nobody believes that NY can be rural, lol. Again if you have any questions be happy to help.

MiyasMomma wrote:

We have the sd 105-s, if that helps. Ami is a beautiful guy.  I was wondering what part of the finger lakes do you live? I grew up in Dryden, near Ithaca, beautiful country and nobody believes that NY can be rural, lol. Again if you have any questions be happy to help.

We pass through Dryden on our way to Greek Peak. Best deal in season passes for skiing. We live northwest of Watkins GLen w/Watkins zip code.

I'm thinking of the SD 425 field trainer - don't know if I need the stubborn dog model - I know Ami learns almost by osmosis (and weirdly, with me responds more aptly to hand signals while my husband can just whisper a voice command and get a response.)

Does the sport dog come with a nylon or plastic collar?

Nylon collar, pretty solid collar. it's amazing how intelligent husky's are, I maintain, give them thumbs and walk upright and they would be human, lol. We took her to petsmart back when she was 7 months old to see if we could sign up for classes, and she was beyond every level class they had. so i decided to retrain her with hand commands, as well as verbal.
My dad still lives up there, haven't been to Ny since 2005, I think, If you don't mind send us some of that rain y'all been having we could use some. Good luck with the collar, I think you'll be happy with it, and Ami will too. Plus, since they love to learn, it will give him something new too.

Hi, I'm commenting here because I'm also interested in using the e-collar for my 1 year old husky, Brick! I've tried it before when he was younger, but he doesn't seem to feel it due to his thick coat... I'm pretty sure the collar is on tight enough and I know it works since I've tried it on myself and it's fully charged. I did a few test shocks to see if there was any reaction and he didn't move an inch. Perhaps I'm not using it properly? Do I need to shave the area?

Please don't shave your pup. Check what setting it's on, it may be too low, you also need it to the side, it fits snug there, never near voice box, we also have it set slightly snugger (is that a word?) than her normal/leash collar. My neighbor's husky is very fluffy and it works on him. Did you keep the instructions? I also know that there are some collars that are not zappy enough, we set Miya's at the mid point, and when I did a test on me it felt a little more strong than the 9 volt battery test done on your tongue, if that makes any sense. Trust me, it's enough to get their attention. It broke my heart the first time I saw it in action, a quick yelp or jump, but she immediately came to me and sat, I made my husband adjust down one notch, and I got neither reaction, but she still came to me at a sit and stay. That's when I knew it was at a good setting and I didn't feel like I was abusive. It's quite emotional at first. But it could save her life. as I said earlier I don't honestly know when the last time I used it, and she has the collar on most of the day, her recall is incredible. If you need help just holler at me. Good luck,
Renee

You should seek out the help of a professional when trying to use an e-collar. Do not shave your husky, please.

Clothing-optional, Megan B. brought up a good point. Most of us here have fully trained dogs and we simply use the e-collar for long distance recall if needed. I totally missed the opportunity to ask why you were in need of using the e-collar. when I responded to Amy, earlier in this thread she gave a valid reason to using e- collar, "out in my back 25", we use it primarily out at my neighbors back 400, lol, again have not had to use the shock part in forever.

The good e-collars have video instructions as well as a booklet that is the size of a small book. I believe if someone was cruel to their animal, the e-collar would not be cost effective, since any of the good ones start at around $200.00, I don't have a clue where you could direct this poster to a professional, would you have any suggestions Megan B?

The utmost care and love is what I want and give to my girl and in no way would I suggest something to another husky owner that could harm their dog. I also know that my girl can become side tracked with a bunny, and I would never want her to encounter a bob cat, coyote, wild hog, or a rattle snake, because she can not hear me, but a simple warning tone will make her come back to me.


This was a small hog, they are out day and night, and they will do anything to protect their piglets, males and females have tusks. I have personally seen a dead hog that was close to 700 pounds here, no way to protect your husky from that, thank goodness she can run fast, and hopefully faster than a hog.

Again I should have asked questions first then give help.
Renee

The initial link I posted has very specific, step by step instructions on how to use an e-collar, including how to make sure the prongs actually make contact with the skin, and how to start at 0 and go up extremely slowly to reach the level where the dog first feels the shock. Most likely, you are not making contact with the skin and it will not work period. Each prong has to touch skin to create a complete circuit, if it does not, then you could turn it up to the highest setting and the dog would never feel it. You most likely need a different set of contacts to actually touch the skin. Honestly, it kind of sounds like maybe you don't know enough to be attempting to use this training device. They can be a useful tool if used properly, but if you accidently shock the living daylights out of your poor dog because the contact aren't touching the skin initially and you keep cranking it up, and then by a fluke, they do touch the skin, and he/she suddenly feels the shock at way too high a level, you will do a lot of damage to your dog. I think if you decide to use an e collar, you need a trainer. You could cause a huge range of issues if you start screwing around with it without knowing anything.

edit - btw that was directed at clothing optional

Also, imo, if your dog is jumping and yelping, you are at too high a level.

All training aids have the potential to be harmful and abusive (including reward based training), however, e collars have a much greater ability to do harm and be used in an abusive way. If you are thinking of it as a punishment, already you're on the wrong train of thought.

Jen totally agree, when we first put e-collar on, my dummy husband had it on highest setting rather than lowest, she took off and that is how the jump and yelp came from. He missed read the numbers(dyslexia sux for him, that's why he has me). Once i looked at it we turned it to lowest and worked our way up to one setting below half, maybe a 5 or 6 because of her coat. That was one reason why I was so against using in the first place, I felt it was abusive before it was ever placed on Miya. That is why I mentioned the jump/.yelp, to verbally demonstrate the potential of being abused, and hurtful to a dog. I did want to express that on too little it may have no effect, but too high will be too strong of an effect. I hope I made myself clear, quite honestly I have a hard time squishing spiders and scorpions, I could never, ever hurt my girl. My husband thinks I'm too sensitive and squishing a spider is a good thing, I would rather if it didn't hurt me, to pick it up and put it back outside.
The debate on e-collars is just as big in the dog world, as guns are in our world. People strongly favor one and others strongly disagree with the other. Btw I took a look at the web site you posted, originally I thought you posted it as a place/brand to buy and not instructions, good web site that you put up. Others need to take a look.