How to use an E Collar properly - Dog Training with America's Canine Educator 

"Because he is a great dane, he's going to lay down everytime I ask him to do something." A truer statement has never been made! Hahaha

As much as I wish I had sent my dog to Brandon for training before bringing him home ru-vid.comUgkx1_veP7CApJK_GWy_TczaMciuG64PqJeU I am so grateful for this down-to-earth, practical guide. His training techniques and tips really work. Thank you as well for dedicating your life's work to rescue dogs, and to rescuing those of us who want the very best for our 4-legged family members.

Dude you helped solve my German Sheperds attention span problem so fast. Zak George’s methods and a lot of others were using puppies. My dog is 110 pounds, and your videos saved my relationship with my dog. I was running out of options. I hope you understand how many dogs you’ve helped because you’re the most underrated trainer EVER!!!!

I was using the e collar completely wrong! Your video has been so helpful to communicate with my dog. My dog is so much happier, now that I understand this tool. Thank you.

"It's not a correction, it's a communication!" This is why this guy is the best trainer in the world!!

You have changed my mind with reward based training only to balanced training with my dog after watching your videos over the last few weeks. I think some dogs are fine with reward based training only but some are not. Different tools for different dogs. I have seen such a big improvement with changing to a prong collar with the techniques you have shared but his off leash is really bad. He is a husky shepard so he has that pray drive with anything that is moving, he does not listen even if i had chicken or steak in my hand. Once he zones in on a person, a dog, nothing I can do to get his attention until he decides to give it to me. I have been doing reward based training only with him since day one and it has made a good foundation but I have run into a wall with effectiveness after almost a year and half. An e collar seems like one of those tools I have been misinformed on just like with a prong collar. Thanks for sharing. I can't wait to see what we can do together.

Am I the only one that sees a photo of Dwight in the background? Cool video!

“This is land line dial up...and this is Wi-fi” ...and I don’t believe I will ever look at a leash the same way

You’ll also notice I’m not making him go back into a sit after he downs. Why? Simple this a young Great Dane that really has no desire to work and I’m okay with that. They main focus in this training to help this dog understand the ecollar communication to enjoy a safe off leash life. So if he downs when I say sit, I’m okay with that with THIS dog under these circumstances!

Tom-isms: Uncomfortability=discomfort, unobedient=disobedient, reluctancy=reluctance.

You changed my whole perception of e collar. I will be utilizing it on the lowest setting with my dog. She’s easily distracted regardless of the professional trainers I paid for.

We had gotten the mini educator et300 e collars for our shepherds and when we got them we received the more old school training method. Since watching your videos we have made great strides in how we use them and our shepherds are responding very well. Our female full bred (guard dog line) is quite stubborn sometimes and hasn’t quite gotten it to the same degree as our Czech shepherd but she’s progressing

That dog is so mellow I love it! What a beauty

Love the way you approach and explain this. Looking into starting with an e-coillar and dread using it the wrong way.

Thank you so much for your videos! We just got an ecollar and I am watching as many videos as possible before I start using it. Your explanation is wonderful!

The e-collar is brilliant! I originally thought the shock collar had just been renamed.

I appreciate your videos! I know this video is four years old now, but I just wanted to share if it helps anyone, on my mini educator, momentary is a single stimulus, and no more until you press the momentary button again. Holding it down will not produce more stimulus. Continuous is a steady series of pulses until you release the button. Also if you hold down vibrate it will pulse vibrations, but it's not a continuous vibration. Keep up the good work!

This is the most helpful info I’ve ever gotten on e-collars. Thank you so much!!

the end summary should be in the beginning too. That's a good point. you never just trying to figure out a CHAINSAW or E-collar.

Excellent. helped me understand the two separate personalities of my pitfalls.

Great work!!! Truly a fantastic explanation of what the e collar is and how the process is supposed to work. Thank you

You really help explain what you use and what it does for the animals..

Thank you for explaining the different modes at 09:53, super helpful!

Thank you for responding to my question.

Fantastic instructional video with clear explanations, Thank you!

Is there a collar you recommend?

Have you thought of doing a book on the use of the e collar

All forms of correction are aversive. You can condition what the response means but it is still technically considered aversive. Overall this was a great instructional video.

Hi Tom. Dogs feel lower levels then we feel as their skin is much thinner then ours. The epidermis of a dog is 3 to 5 cells thick where ours is 10 to 15 cells thick. So for us to feel what the dog does we need to triple the level for us. Very informative and used correctly I have no issues with using remote collars when required. Thank you :)

yeah about the food. when we're outside my dog doesn't give a shit about any treats: liver, chicken, beef, you name it I've tried it. i don't want him to always wear a longline too he trips on it, it catches on things and it's not very practical. i just ordered an e collar I'm so excited to use it.

Great video. Thank you.

Lol i couldn't help but laugh at the guy in the chair letting out a big yawn at the beginning 😂

My Pyrenees/Newfie is going on 3 years old. Rescued him at 3mo from being dumped into a shelter. Seems the female who trained him was being force to give him up. She had a young son to care for & from the way the dog acted I think a male was aggressive towards him. He walked with her without a leash on, sat beside her, slightly leaning against her. She put a leash on him, told him to stay, then handed me the leash and left. He was very clingy the first few weeks, skittish and jumpy at loud noises, hid behind me when my sons or any male was around. He didn't like yelling, but with teens playing video games, that's not always possible. He was very anxious. I gave him a safe space, took him with when I went to PetSmart. If another dog came around he would come sit beside me. I would praise him. If I was speaking to a clerk, he's wait, he'd not go toward the shelves, but was very well behaved. When I had to take him to the vet, I had him boarded so he could get a bath & grooming the next day. They said he was well behaved & wouldn't go potty till they took him out. Not even in the outdoor kennel. Unfortunately, my knee joints were not doing well, in fact, I was having trouble walking. The pain was getting worse. Someone told me I should take him to a training camp since I was having trouble walking him. On collar/leash he would pull a lot. That was dangerous as I could easily fall, so I got a harness for him. He liked it better and improved immediately. I'd wanted to take him to puppy classes and see if he would be able to travel or go with me. I'm legally blind, but still have some sight. My mobility was getting worse and I've fallen a few times, unable to get up. I'd feel safer if I had him with me. But I wasn't able to take him out after a few more weeks. My daughter had moved to NC so I no longer could take him out with me. I understood why he was getting a bit naughty, he wasn't being stimulated enough or walked or played with as much as he needed. So I had both of us taken to the camp, I thought they wouldn't take him when I saw there was a 5mo min. age for entry. But the woman seemed to think he was smart. That he'd be fine. It was a 3 week camp. The woman showed me a collar with a box. I held it and it vibrated, she said that it was to get his attention when he went into alert mode. So I thought it was fine. I was anxious, but the videos she sent showed him doing really good. So when I went to get him with my daughter who was visiting, he came running up all wiggles and happy. We sat down to listen to the girl and she called him. He was sitting beside me. She called him again and he shook his head. Then she firmly called him to come again and he cried out and tried to go under my chair! I asked her what was wrong with him. She said he was resisting because I was there. She commanded him to come and he finally came out and went over to her and sat down. But the look in his eyes was heartbreaking. She calmly stated that since he's a big boy and was being stubborn that she had to go up to 33 on the collar. Now I didn't know what that meant & I was upset because he was upset. She went over how to use the box in her hand, which I'd not paid much attention to before. She said not to lock it and turn the dial until he listened. She said to walk with him on the leash and get him to go across the room. I told him to heel and he walked with me. But when he dropped back a bit she ordered me to correct him cause he wasn't staying next to me. I pretended to do it, but I think she knew. She went to grab the leash and I refused to give it to her. I told her I'm taking my dog home now. She handed a box to my daughter as we left and glared at us. (My daughter told me she looked pissed.) I took the collar off at home. I put a throw blanket on my shoulder and put the collar with the box on top... I couldn't see the numbers well, but I put it on 33 and then pressed the button. The pain wasn't as shocking as the realization of what they'd been doing to my pup! When I watched the videos again, I saw the twitches, the head shakes and the frightened looks and cursed. He'd spent 3 weeks in a nightmare. I felt terrible they'd traumatized my fluffy baby. These people should not be allowed to do this. I discovered later that a number of these franchises had been closed, fined & sued (they'd killed animals in their care or during training) - Yet I know several are still open... including the one who had my pup. It took a few months, but no more collar. I found out it was an outdated model too, only shock. There was no vibration or beep, just shock. The buzz I'd felt was the test to see if it was powered up. My older son started to work with him, he's not familiar with the giant breeds but there is a bit of Belgian Sheepdog in our pup I found out. Plus he is very food motivated. (Just like my sons...lol) He will sit, lay down, give a paw with vocal or sign commands. Stay is still not cemented since he doesn't like me or my sons out of sight or out of reach. I was able to take him to Starbucks, inside... he stayed beside me. I even gave him his own puppachino. We went to PetSmart, Lowes and had no issues. In the van, he would look at the door, put his paw up on it by the window and then look back at me. (It meant he needed to go do his business.) But then after all our progress, COVID happened. No going out. Then my knee/joint condition got worse to the point I couldn't walk. If I could have afforded a wheelchair or scooter I would have. But I was stuck, not able to go very far without help. The pain eventually got so bad I could hardly sleep. I got desperate. I asked for help from a friend. Now, today after several months, thanks to an eastern medicine/treatment, herbal mixtures & enzymes I'm walking again. But my dog is now partly reactive to cars, people, animals... just about everything. Yet not all cars, not all people... most animals outside, but not our cats inside, though he likes to mess with them and lick them. (They aren't too crazy about it.) But I'm sure the cause is that he's bored, not stimulated enough or a combination of things. Some of the people he reacts to, I'm a bit suspicious of too. Others I think he just wants to say hello to. Shoot, when the pizza guy showed up early while my fluffy giant was outside, he ran up to the guy and hugged him. Then stuck his head into the empty red case as if to say "Where's mine?" The guy laughed and said "Sorry, it's already inside." I held the collar as he walked away, appologizing for him getting jumped up on. The guy just grinned and said he had two big dogs at home. When a medium (up to the knee size) dog came running into my yard, he went straight for my dog with teeth snapping and growling. (The kids he was with had no leash on him.) I called my older son, who came out and tok hold of our dogs collar. Telling the kids to get their dog, they just stood there as it lunged and clamped onto the neck of my fluffy boy. He was confused, he tried to pull away from the dog. My son grabbed it and held it up, tugging on it to get it to let go... it had a mouthfull of fluff, not my dog... but still wouldn't stop attacking. My son finally yanked it off and tossed it. It got up and tried to come right back. When it snapped at my son, that's when my big boy started to growl... he didn't attack, but he wasn't going to put up with that crazy dog much longer. We got up the stairs to the porch, my older son is 6'4" and wasn't putting up with the other dog, blocking it with his booted foot. One of the larger kids finally came over and grabbed onto the smaller dog, long enough for us to get ours inside. I took him to his room while my son dealt with getting them to deal with their dog. There's a leash law for a reason. I was surprised & proud of my big fluff, he hadn't lost it - he didn't attack, only growled a warning. Sorry for the book, but wanted to give you enough to get a picture of how things are going. Is there any suggestions, any videos you'd recommend that would help our big boy reduce reactivity to the things bothering him. I can't wait to move out of the suburbia I'm in, and back out into the country. There's no sidewalks in our neighborhood area... no safe park, plus we're on the edge of an industrial park, it's not ideal. Plus I've no transportation to go anywhere. I'm still working on getting my stamina back, and strengthening my muscles again, so we are walking around in the side yard away from traffic. I'm positive we're both going to get better, it's just going to take time & patience. I just wish I had a way to get him the exercise, playtime her needs. The boys aren't around as much & I'm worn out to quickly. It would be nice if we had a doggy daycare nearby he could go to a few times a week. Oh here's a couple links to my big fluffy boy photos. cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/232072894719459328/1008810721586454609/Screenshot_20220815-145133_Facebook.jpg cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/232072894719459328/1008810917015855114/Screenshot_20220815-145405_Facebook.jpg

Another question, why not start with beeping? Like, Diesel place with beep and if he doesn't do it Diesel place with vibrate vibrate vibrate?

Extremely helpful! Very good simulation...Thanks a lot! A lot of love from Israel!🇮🇱❤️

Your video explained it so well thank you so much

You are discussing the nick and continuous features? What would you/how would you use the page feature?

I have a super active and ADHD dog - a Catahoula Leopard Dog with Aussie Shep mix. Super intelligent but also very demanding. She does obey sit and come and up... but not place or leave it, etc. On walks, she'll be fine until a rabbit or other dog shows up and all hell breaks loose. Have had a trainer get us all started now for two sessions but feel that I need an a-collar ... I just now purchased a Dogtrac 200C but need to know how and when to use it. She also is not kennel trained and have been working on that - somewhat like "place"... and also she'll do #1 on our rugs - we have no carpet. Thoughts??

Great information! Are e collars designed to be used forever, or during a training period till dog masters behaviors?

your dog is so awesome! he cracks me up

You can counter condition behavior with food to a certain extent but sometimes food won't work. The stimulus outweighs the dogs primary need for food. So the e collar comes in handy. Great explanation

For recall would you stop the sensation when the dog turns and is running back to you or once they get to you?

Thanks I ordered mine today

What an adorable Great Dane!! He looks like my Max from childhood. 🐕 ❤️ 🐕

Very well explained bud

Woah thanks man, I didn’t see a video before on how e collars actually work within a dogs brain and the thought process in there. I’m planning on possibly using on for my service dog in training. Good vid

We humans know electricity can kill. Thats the first thing in some peoples minds when you say shock collar. For a dog its just a tingle, pops the mind out of where its going, and back to safety. When used properly.

There's so much information within this video. Brilliant work , sir!

After using this tool does there come a time when you can transition away from the e collar?

So the E-collar is designed to guide instead of correct (or punish), but how would one use it to keep the dog from doing something they shouldn't do? Like chasing a cat for instance or pulling the leash?

Thank you so much for this!! So so helpful!

which ECollar do you recommend?

Do you have a recommendation for an e collar? I want to make sure I purchase the proper equipment. Thank in advance.

Are you using the vibrate settings or shock at a very low level?

tom, where do you position the buzzer ? throat? side? top?

Does this training cross over to the dog not needing the collar except for off-leash safety? It would be good to have him do what i ask by verbal command.

Thank you for such a great video!

Excellent teacher. Wish you were in my area

When and how do you use the beep button on this color

Are you doing continuous or momentary setting

lolol look at him sitting on his owner’s knee

Is it possible to use the "pager" or vibrate function for training purposes? Or should you always use very low stimulation instead?

Is the goal with e-collar training to ultimately get them to not need the collar?

good lesson!

In Operant conditioning terms the collar is used as a negative punishment (removing a stimulus to remove a behavior; removing the gentle shock and removing the behavior of standing), then using positive reinforcement (good boy or a treat) to encourage a behavior (sit) once he does the good behavior.

Outstanding Video!!! Question... Do you believe that once you have practice enough with the E-Collar that eventually the dog will learn to just listen to your commands? I do understand the risk of off leash and would use it for that, especially if the dog were to chase a squirrel or cat (things dogs do). But around the home even while indoors as this video, is it possible that you just switch to voice commands ? Or would that make the dog forget what the stimulation of the E-Collar is for? Again, I'm video I have subscribed ..

Not Pavlovian conditioning (refers to reflexive behaviors ), it's Skinnerian operant conditioning (learned behaviors)

I have 3 boston terriers that I would love to start using this type of collar with but unsure of the best one to get for smaller dogs. What would you recommend

What type of e collar do you use? Do you suggest different ones flr large vs small dogs? What is the collar you are using on the dane? My dog is an incessant whiner every time he is excited or anxious. If i understand you correctly, youre saying i would use the collar to communicate to him that he needs to be quiet? So, when my dog starts whining, i would tell him "quiet" and then apply stimulation until he is quiet, then cease and reward? We have exhausted all other resources trying to solve this problem and ive saved the ecollar as a last resort because im not super confident using one.. but if i did understand you correctly, i think i could do that. My other question would be, what if the dog simply says no? So if you were to recall the dog and apy stimulation, what if the dog turned to look at you and then ran away anyways? What would you do then? Slowly increase the level of stimulation until the dog starts to return? My dogs whining is so excessive it seems almost compulsive but i know he has some level lf control cuz he will quiet down, if only for a few seconds, if i yell at him.. but i hate to scold him and it doesnt produce long term results or even results i can build on. So if i cue him to be quiet, apply stimulation and he continues whining, what should i do?

Very helpful!

What brand do you recommend for e collar? Is there good and bad brands?

Man you are a great educator 👌✌️

How do you prevent dog from becoming collar wise?

What kind of e collar do you use

The dude in the chair is hilarious. he clearly has better things to do lol

where did you get your e collar from?

Great video. If you haven't already (I'm a little behind in watching your more recent videos) will you address choosing the best brand of E Collar?

Trying to order a Herm Sprenger prong collar,but all they offer are 3.20, not the 3.0 that you suggest. Is the 3.2 OK? Thanks for your help

We start tomorrow with our trainer. Cosmo is great on leash obedience. Great off leash unless a perceived threat (UPS, Prime, etc.). He also shows aggression (growling) toward mostly women when I’m present. He was abused by my EX sister-in-law when he was a pup. He all out HATES her. And I share his feelings toward her. He also growls when female caretaker for my brother-in-law comes over. So I’ll be working with him on leash with the e-collar. I’m thinking the pager correction. Thoughts?

What collar are you using

Very informative video. At least now i know how to control my dog remotely. Just bought the dogtra 640c version.

Since the e collar is primarily used just to get the dogs attention, how would the dog know what to do if its' a half mile away and gets paged? Since the dog probably can't hear you from that distance, how does the dog now what command you want him to do (i.e. "come"?)

Once you use an e collar, how long does it need to be used? At what point can you remove it and have the dog understand from the training?

What brand are you using

I really would love to know at what age can you introduce the ecollar safely

This is awesome!

“That make sense”

So you're pressing pressing pressing until he does what you want? So if you said SIT and he doesn't sit, you just keep pressing until he does? Do you repeat SIT also? Or only press press press?

They work well in the right hands. Banned over here in uk.

This is the first video I have found that actually demonstrates e-collar use. All the other fake “reviewers” only talk about the device and never put it on a dog.

Considering current economic times and money being tight can you suggest some reasonably priced e-collars?

how do I know what setting/level to start with? In one video you do a 3 I think this vid was a 4. Just wing it around 1-5 or??

My dog main problem is running to the neighbors yard or starting to chase cars. How do I stop that with the e collar. We just got a collar and he took off to chase the car and I said no, pressed the stimulation, and he immediately stopped and looked at me. So I had to use it as a no (rebuke) other than a reinforcement because I know he wouldn’t have listened otherwise. What do you think about that?

Like a dr ho machine I use my e collar on my neck for my migraines or muscle soarness

What e collar do you use?

Where do we get the ecollar used here and doesn't the dog need to know the commands first? Otherwise they don't understand why they are getting the sensation.

I love the e collar for the freedom it gives a dog. I’m just confused on the idea of using it after every command like sit because ideally you’re making the dog only respond with the verbal command and the vibration. When in the end it’ll only make it harder to switch off of the e collar because that’s what we want as dog owners.am I missing something?

Much better. Like this one. What about for a Husky with lots of fat and hair around his neck?

what e-collar would you suggest?

What collar is this or should I buy?