Electronic Collar Questions ?

[C908]

I'm hoping those of you with electronic collar experience can help me. I have never used these collars in 30 years of dobie ownership. Our boy Preacher is getting bad about jumping on us and my normal training methods are not working as good as I would like. I thought an electronic collar might be a good training tool. I would appreciate your thoughts and comments. Thanks.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Before using an ecollar, he must understand the commands you are giving him. Once he knows the commands they can be reinforced when he decides to blow them off with use of an ecollar.
I would start back with the basics of training. Don’t engage him when you first come home or baby talk them. This is usually when they get excited and want to jump. They have to learn to stay in their crate when you open their crate door and not come out until you release them.
I started with making them wait and then I would attach their leads and calmly walk them outside. Jumping would get corrected immediately, a command and quick snap of the leash.
When they are in an excited stage they don’t listen, their brain is everywhere but on you. You have to calm them with a brisk walk and stopping and giving them the sit, down, stay command or whatever exercise you choose to get their focus. Be patient because if you get frustrated with them, they become confused and anxious. Repetition is key in training. Once it’s learned then they will understand why they get a correction and will learn to respond to your commands.
The jumping is excitable behavior. Take away the excitement and get them focused and you will see a huge difference.
I’ve seen people use the down command for jumping but I use the Off command because the down command is for the down position, at least for my pups that is how I do it.
Calm and assertive.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Also wanted to add before ever using an ecollar find a trainer that is experienced in training with ecollar and learn how to properly use one. You can mess up a dog with one if used incorrectly. Leerburg has videos on how to use them as well.
Just always remember to train them to voice commands first and make sure they understand what you are asking of them before ever using the collar.

 

[Ddski5]

I am with you....

I would get very frustrated because nothing I said or trained seemed to work and when it did work, it wasn’t long that Ragnar did as he pleased anyway.

As Bri said, calm and assertive with commands and expectations. It took a lot of time and commands over and over and over.

Some are more crazy and excitable as others and their focus is not their priority.

Good luck with this and I really hope your patience is better than mine.

Using the ECollar would work but as Bri said, if he does not know the command and he’s too young to understand the fault you can do more damage than good.

How old is preacher again?

 

[C908]

I am with you....

I would get very frustrated because nothing I said or trained seemed to work and when it did work, it wasn’t long that Ragnar did as he pleased anyway.

As Bri said, calm and assertive with commands and expectations. It took a lot of time and commands over and over and over.

Some are more crazy and excitable as others and their focus is not their priority.

Good luck with this and I really hope your patience is better than mine.

Using the ECollar would work but as Bri said, if he does not know the command and he’s too young to understand the fault you can do more damage than good.

How old is preacher again?

He will be 6 months tomorrow, is Ragner 1 year old next month ?

 

[Ddski5]

Yes, Sept 5th he will be 1y/o.


Ragnar at 6months.

He was really rambunctious at this age. I waited until 7.5months, until ears out of post, and sent him to 2weeks of ECollar training. He came home subdued and accountable for his actions. Took about 7-10 days and he was back to his old antics but with ECollar and more reading/research, I was able to manage him better within our household.

Looking back at it now, I think it was too young for him. I always felt he was extremely independent and really didn’t care if he pleased me or not. He did what he wanted to do. I think sending him off prolonged his uncertainty of me and my role. But then again I was not his first owner either, don’t know how much that plays into it but I think it does.

I don’t know, Dobermans are so much different to me and he is my first Doberman. I most likely did a lot of things wrong in his younger days.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

He will be 6 months tomorrow, is Ragner 1 year old next month ?

Have you tried a prong collar? If not look at the training videos of how to use them or get a trainer to show you the proper use and corrections with a prong.
It’s the difference of having power steering after months of driving a vehicle without power steering.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

But then again I was not his first owner

Wait...I thought you got Ragnar straight from the breeder at 2mo of age. Did I get confused here?

 

[Ddski5]

Wait...I thought you got Ragnar straight from the breeder at 2mo of age. Did I get confuse

When I initially started posting, amongst the chaos/uncertainty of having a Doberman in the household, I think I may have posted 2mo, not really for sure. Ragnar was born Sept5 and I received him Dec5, so I got him at 3mo.

I did get him straight from my breeder but he was a return from his first owner. The owners had young triplet girls with an Au pair and the Au pair said she had experience with dogs. Apparently, they thought they were ready for a Doberman, but within a months time, realized they could not handle him and/or provide Ragnar with what was needed to raise him. The owners were also close friends with breeder.

At that time, I had been calling the breeder trying to acquire a pup and had been turned down because her last litter and next litter all had/have been spoken for. So when this happened, she knew exactly what to do. She called me excited and said “God must be on your side son, we have a pup for you.”

I flipped my lid but realized I would be out of town for soccer tournaments, so my wife and youngest made the trip to pick him up. The rest is history.

I keep in touch with his breeder and she said it’s funny how things work out. She was glad that I stayed persistent with her because there was no way the Au pair and family with triplet girls could have handled Ragnar.

 

[Doberman Gang]

6 months is too young for any corrections collar. Not sure what your method is for training but getting by a puppy to not jump up on you is basic Negative Punishment followed by Positive Reinforcement. You must be consistent and give a clear picture of what you want.
Negative Punishment- this is not a correction but removing something the puppy wants. (If you are holding a treat and the puppy jumps up to get it, you then give your negative marker and remove access to the reward.)
Once puppy is sitting on the floor and calm you use positive reinforcement- mark with your positive marker then reward the puppy.
Negative means to remove something from the equation. Positive is to add something.
Punishment means behavior is less likely to happen in the future, Reinforcement means behavior is more likely to happen in the future.

 

[Kaiser2016]

Looking back at it now, I think it was too young for him. I always felt he was extremely independent and really didn’t care if he pleased me or not. He did what he wanted to do. I think sending him off prolonged his uncertainty of me and my role. But then again I was not his first owner either, don’t know how much that plays into it but I think it does.

I don’t know, Dobermans are so much different to me and he is my first Doberman. I most likely did a lot of things wrong in his younger days.

You're in Dober dad guilt mode

We questioned this too and recently came to a different conclusion. It's not as much independence as it is youthful exuberance combined with the dominant nature of the animal (being stubborn and smart) and the influx of hormones at that particular age. He's discovering the world no matter how much you want him to focus. Isn't their mental maturity considered to be that of a 2 year old kid?

Thinking in 6 month blocks of time, they shift gears and get better, but I believe they will maintain some of their independent thinking. At what age does a Doberman no longer require an ecollar? Probably never.

Maybe sending them away makes bonding harder, but so does working full time, so does not letting them sleep with you. Real packs are together 24/7.

To me, Dobermans feel different from other dogs because of the investment made in them. Never mind financial cost, but the time to train, researching gear, endless food/poop drama, vet visits because something seems off. It's only natural that emotional attachment results. We are raising them like children If we "just let them be a pet" that barks like crazy and plays in dog parks, life would be way simpler.

I think we owners, myself included, make the Doberman more complicated by layering our concerns on top the things that already need to be done for this breed

 

[Ddski5]

Yes, I agree @Kaiser2016.

And so continues the learning curve of having a Doberman.

 

[C908]

Have you tried a prong collar? If not look at the training videos of how to use them or get a trainer to show you the proper use and corrections with a prong.
It’s the difference of having power steering after months of driving a vehicle without power steering.

Yes I have used prong collars with previous dobies. I use to walk three of them at the same time so I would put prong collars on our two males.

 

[C908]

We really had a good day today, sometimes we forget how it is raising a pup. It's been 14 years since our last dobie pup. We know how good the end result is, it's just a challenge getting there but very much worth it. This breed is so smart and at 6 months of age their strength and beauty really starts to show. I really appreciate everyone's comments, glad I found this forum.