Does your dog only listen to you whilst wearing the Training Collar?

Product Help Centre and Remote Training Collars

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minutes read

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17 Apr 2024

Don't Let Your Dog Become 'Collar-Wise'

A remote dog training collar can be an extremely effective tool for modifying a dog's behaviour. However, there's no real point if your dog only obeys commands when he thinks he has to. This is known as having a 'collar aware' or 'collar wise dog'. The whole idea of using a remote trainer is to modify the dog’s behaviour on a permanent basis whether they're wearing the collar or not.

The First Mistake

The first thing most people do when getting a remote training collar is whack it on their dog as fast as they can and attempt to give their dog a correction to get rid of the unwanted behvaiour! Unfortunately, in this case, the dog quickly understands that the collar is giving him the correction. What we want, is the dog to correlate the correction with the unwanted behaviour with or without the collar. So how can we avoid this situation arising?

The Solution

Step 1. Put the remote training collar on your dog and leave it on like a regular dog collar

We recommend putting the collar on your dog before you leave for work and taking it off when you get home. Doing this makes your dog think that it's just another collar. We even suggest putting the collar on before walks, feeding or playtime. The more days you can leave the collar on without correcting your dog, the better. This might be a struggle for some dog owners, however, it will be worth it.

Please note: The collar must not be left in the same position for more than 8-10 hours a day.

Step 2. Use the remote training collar

If your dog has been pulling washing off the line, place the collar on your dog early in the morning and then just before lunch, expose him to the washing and get ready to activate the collar. Make sure the dog can't see you during these training sessions - if your washing line is outside, stay inside, and vice versa. When your dog begins pulling the washing off the line, use the remote trainer to stop them.

Keep it out of sight

Keeping out of sight and correcting your dog when they're doing something wrong will ensure your dog associates the correction with their behaviour rather than you or the collar. When your dog stops pulling the clothes off the line, do not reward them or acknowledge their good behaviour. Leave the collar on your dog for an hour before removing it. Repeat the training for however long it takes for your dog to learn that they can't pull the washing off the line.

This training method is also suitable for dogs digging holes, scratching on fences, jumping on windows, stealing food on the bench and more.

If your situation requires you to be in the same area as your dog, e.g. they're jumping on you, pulling on the lead or eating your food at the dinner table, you will need to be discreet as possible during training. Hide the remote trainer in your pocket or behind your back if possible. Don't point the remote trainer at your dog when giving a correction, don't yell "OFF!" while correcting them at the same time. Simply give them a correction when they're misbehaving and the stimulation itself is enough to train your dog to stop what they're doing.

Final Note

By putting the training collar on your dog well before using it and leaving it on well after you've finished training, this makes it difficult for your dog to identify that the collar is causing the correction. If you put the collar on your dog as soon as you receive it and start correcting your dog immediently, you can imagine that your dog would figure it out quite quickly! You should also continue to put the collar on your dog when you're not doing any training at all - it just becomes part of everyday life.

Important: The collar must not be left in the same position for more than 8-10 hours a day.

We hope that this article has answered a few questions for you about using remote training collars for dogs and how to get the best out of them.  If you have a pet dog, then consider one of these pet dog training collars, if you have working dogs, please look at these remote dog training collars. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions!