Don Sullivan's command collar

[Leigha]

Nettle is absolutely right though. When I stopped worrying about my dog being "friends" with every dog he meets our life became much less stressful. I'd put my dog in situations that would bring him near dogs that weren't well behaved and I'd expect him to "play nice" and be friends. All it did was cause stress there that translated to stress and bad behavior at home.

When I stopped putting my dog in those situations we stopped having so many issues at home too. I don't like every person I meet, there are some people I meet that I not only don't like, but don't want to breathe the same air as them. Why would I expect my dog to like every dog he meets? When I changed my outlook on that and my perception about my dog being friends with everyone we (my pooch included) became much more happy.

[emmabeth]

You are really twisting Nettles words there - and she clearly did not say, and does not believe that all dogs that live together will be outright enemies given she has several dogs. As have I, as has Mattie, Leigha, Melissa and other users on this forum.

What she is saying and I will say it too is this - if you do not firstly manage the problem so that there can be no accidents, ie, increase the security of your fencing, if you get another dog you will either have two dogs who get out and cause trouble, OR two dogs who dislike each other (and may still get out and cause trouble!).

You can wonder and ponder on WHY your dog likes to get out and send other dogs away and start fights until the cows come home - but once your dog is dead under the wheels of a car or truck, or put down by a vet for injuring someone, or when you have someone taking legal action against you because your dog caused a horrific accident - WHY is really going to be pretty unimportant!

Manage the problem - THEN ponder why.

My new dog Ellie reacts to thunderstorms by hurtling about the house trying to open all of the doors. We discovered this by accident when she escaped twice (via different doors!!!).

My FIRST priority is that it does not happen again, so now all the doors to my house are locked in a way she cannot open.

NOW she is safe, I have the time to figure out why and see if we can change it. Maybe we can, maybe we can't but most importantly she ISNT going to get run over whilst running loose!

[Leigha]

You are really twisting Nettles words there - and she clearly did not say, and does not believe that all dogs that live together will be outright enemies given she has several dogs. As have I, as has Mattie, Leigha, Melissa and other users on this forum.

I'm in a situation where I have a house divided... I was irresponsible with my choices, and because of it my dogs aren't a harmonious unit. I have two camps of dogs... I have the weenies who are small and old (14 and 7) and I have the "big dogs" a beagle and 5 walker hounds. The weenies get along great with each other, and the big dogs get along with each other, but the two camps don't care for one another. I brought a tiny 6 week old beagle puppy into my house because I wanted one, not because it would fit in well with what I had. The weenies don't like dogs that are bigger than them, my beagle grew up to be bigger than them. On top of that Bruiser, the beagle, has some of his own issues so there's a rift there. Then my husband brought in the walker hound because her story tugged at his heart strings. We introduced her and Bruiser the right way, and they adore each other and really compliment each other--she kind of helps level him and he helps bring her out of her shell. But, the weenies don't like her at all. Then there are the puppies that were part of the package with the walker.

On the best of days when we have everyone in the house the dogs practice avoidance and ignore each other. On the worst of days I play the dog shuffle and every move is a calculated military event or I'll end up with a fight on my hands and I generally get injured in the mix. Mostly it's just easier to keep the big dogs outside most of the day because it's nice and the weenies stay inside because they don't tolerate the heat well. They stay separated almost all of the time; they're either outside/inside, inside/in the kitchen, or crated.

Dogs don't "fix" other dogs. We were incredibly lucky with the chemistry between Bruiser and Dixie. I think part of it had to do with they're similar in size, age, breed and she's a girl. If it had been a boy it wouldn't have worked out that way.

I love every one of my dogs, but I really do feel like we made very selfish decisions when we adopted Bruiser and then again when we adopted Dixie. It wasn't fair to the dogs we brought into our homes. They were too old to have puppies to deal with and we didn't make sure that the puppy was well behaved and had manners. We stupidly thought the old boys would help us train the young puppy. It doesn't work that way. If I had it to do over again, I probably would.

[forkin14]

Everyone can certainly learn A LOT from that "hound rescue" Leigha is running over at her house and her experiences during the past few years

Leigha, I know that can kind of be taken in a sarcastic way, but I of course am being serious. Reading your posts about bringing new dogs into the household was one of the many reasons why I've decided to wait a long time before getting another pup! But you've done great with all those hounds

[Leigha]

I did not take it sarcastically in the least I'm glad someone can learn from my mistakes

[Mattie]

Leigha, every dog I brought into my home was a mistake, it was me who had to deal with it so like you I adapted and got on with the job, I haven't done what you have though, given so many dogs a good chance of a healthy life.

You took on Dixie in very poor condition, then found she was in pup, you got on with it, researched as much as you could, built Dixie up in the right way so she could cope with the pregnancy and pups then gave the pups a good chance by rearing them properly and giving them lots of experiences.

I take my hat off to you, you are special.

[vanheerden100]

Hi, I haven't posted on th is site for ages - and i'll tell you why - The posts are so often quite - as this thread misinterpretted and get a little harsh.

I very often though still look in on the site.

I do understand how this 'debate' starts though - and it has been a learning curve for me. I had a puppy who is 'friends' with everyone, is not a bother and never had to worry. I then took on a very difficult resuce Airedale and had the same expectations.

It has taken me a long tim eto realise - that it doesn't matter if all dogs don't get along - not all humans do either, My expectations had to change dramatically. Also, i spent a long time trying to understand why he was how he was - rather than just accept it and get on with it! I will never know why he acts the way he does with other dogs.

The poster of this section doesn't want to build a higher fence as it is 'giving in' to the dog and you feel that training should be possible. I understand that, but it doesn't happen over night - i think the reason that he jumps the fence is quite simply - because he can!

As far as the collar goes, I use a head coller as my dog is too big and strong for me. I would suggest, find a really good pet shop where they will let you try on a variety of harnesses/head collars etc.. so you can try befroe you buy and wak up and down the street outside. I did this and it easily saved me £££££££ buying the wrong thing.

Try not to be offended by the comments on this thread - the advice from the other posters is good and has been helpful to me; but i do sympathise it is very emotional having a dog that is causing problems when you don't know how to fix it (and when you feel no one really understands - i've been there), and it is human nature to want someone to say "don't worry - it'll be ok".

Good Luck

[Nettle]

We did exactly that. We (not just I) gave good advice and reasons for it.

Of course anyone asking for advice is at liberty to decide not to take it, but gratuitous rudeness is not acceptable.

Being taken out of an anthropomorphic mindset is a jolt for some people and a welcome learning curve for others, but there is no excuse for the rude response. However I am willing to accept an apology when offered, because I understand that some people find it necessary to lash out when they are taken out of their comfort zone.

Other than that I have no intention of wasting my time further with someone who does not want to be helped. I don't do fuzzy pink rosebuds and bluebirds - I help people and dogs with facts and accurate information.

[Mattie]

We have all been taken out of our comfort zone and reacted differently at some time or other, it is really hard when this happens and many can't cope with it, that is there problem not mine, Nettle's or anyone else's who has given advice.

I have learnt a lot on this forum and it is my dogs that are benefitting, I still remember the first time I was taken out of my comfort zone, it really was a shock but as I loved my dogs so much and wanted to help them I asked for clarification, I wasn't rude or abusive.

Often it isn't easy to give good clear information that will help the owner understand without coming across as attacking them but we don't attack people on here, we soon get our knuckles wrapped if we do, we do attack bad training methods, abuse etc. but also say why. Owners need to know the whys as well so they can understand their dogs.

[Christie]

Upon reading your post I had not heard of the command collar before, but after a quick search online it looks like some sort of prong collar. I have personally had a VERY bad experience using a prong collar per the recommendation of the trainer we were using at the time. You may "get away" with it with many dogs, but on the other hand it could seriously backfire as it did with my GSD, Annie. People will try to convince you that it mimics a mother dog, or that it really doesn't hurt ("she's just frusturated" is what I was told). Please do not buy into this.

It's quite ironic...as a horseback riding instructor I always ask my students "how would you feel if somebody did THAT to YOU?" If only I had placed a little more trust in my own instincts and my own advice instead of trying to convince myself "they're the trainers, they MUST know best." Instead, take a moment to look at the device and ask yourself, "Would I want that thing on MY neck?"

Stick with this forum and you'll find all the help you need...I'm just learning myself. In the short time I've been hanging around here, Annie's confidence has improved by leaps and bounds and continues to grow by the day

That is a regular 30 minute Ad that you usually see on a cable channel I am not sure if that will work or not but I don't like the price of that.

[waterskijunkie]

I am writing to address the original questions regarding Don Sullivan’s Command Collar. I realize these questions are several years old but I am hoping those who are seeking answers to these questions will be able to see this when doing internet searches such as the one I just did. I believe positive reinforcement training (like Victoria Stillwell does on the show) is the way to go. However I am going to tell you I think the command collar is excellent for some dogs. I have two 80lb labs and I have used the gentle leader and other anti-pulling harnesses on them. My wife wanted to try the Command Collar because she saw it on TV and so I did some research online. There were negative reviews because of all those who didn’t actually ever try this exact training collar and method were disapproving of it, much like what has gone on in this forum. Because of the negativity I didn’t get it until months later after realizing- I’m not willing to hurt my dogs so I will just order it and see if it hurts me first. Well I am going to tell you #1 Don Sullivan is not paying me to say any of this. I ordered the collar and DVD’s and guess what? I was able to stop my dog from pulling me in about 5 minutes. Did it hurt my dog? I think it may have made her uncomfortable for about a second. You do it several times and my dog STOPPED PULLING. To this day several years later, I am walking my dog with a slack line. My girl lab is off leash now but my boy has to stay on and so I just have him on the command collar. He does not try to pull and very rarely I have to remind him not to and it is a very gentle tug- one that would leave no bruises or marks on your own arm. (Believe me I’ve tried). I started volunteering at my local animal shelter in November of this year walking dogs. There were several large unruly dogs there that had not been leash trained at all. Several of the staff’s arms were bruised from this one dog, Roscoe, who was so big and powerful he would turn his mouth to bit down on your when you went to put his collar on. He was also somewhat scary- not because he was going to bite you in the face but because he was so big and knew his biting would allow him to escape that it was hard to control him. He would stop on a walk and just lie in road if he didn’t want to go the direction you wanted him to. When you went to put him in the shelter kennel he flipped onto his back in the hall and made a dead weight (which was really clever of him and kind of funny). But you did have to reach down and grab his collar to get him in the kennel. Long story short I put the command collar on him and had him stop pulling within 5 minutes. He was almost immediately sitting down between my legs. I honestly know he was happier at that moment because someone else was in charge of him. From there we were able to establish an awesome relationship. I would run him, train him the basics of sit and come, and he changed into a totally different dog. The staff could not believe it. I used it on several other unruly dogs there. It is such a benefit for them. One of them Simon, could never be petted. He came in the second time I ran him with it sitting down to be petted by the staff with a smile on his face. They could not believe he was letting them pet him. It totally changes a dog. And when they say the dog has respect for you- he or she does. I only use it for not pulling on the leash and that’s it. Everything else I do is though treat training. (Except I did help some friends remove counter surfing as one of their dogs favorite habits)! Anyway, it does not hurt the dog- and it does work. The “teeth” if you even want to call them that are tiny plastic things- not like big pinching prong collars.

[emmabeth]

Except it MUST cause pain/discomfort/be unpleasant... or it wouldn't work - simple as that.

It is a punishment, a device designed to cause an aversive experience, and if you take the time to read the forum rules and ethos which is posed in the training advice section you will see that this forum does not allow the promotion of methods or devices designed to cause pain/discomfort.

I don't think anyone would argue with me when I say that certain aspects of positive punishment WILL 'work', ie, eradicate a behaviour - the problem is that it comes at a cost, that cost is at BEST.. you must do something unpleasant to the dog. At worst a number of unwanted side effects may occur, such as the dog associating the pain wtih you and redirecting onto aggressively, or they may associate the pain with another dog they saw and become aggressive toward other dogs... and the danger is, you do not KNOW until you try it, and once you HAVE that unpleasant side effect it tends to be damn hard to get rid of!

[jacksdad]

There were negative reviews because of all those who didn’t actually ever try this exact training collar and method were disapproving of it...

saying you have to use a device such as the command collar before you can have a valid opinion is like saying i have to jump off a cliff without a parachute before I can say it is dangerous or a bad idea.

Since there really isn't anything new about this collar from other collars designed to cause pain or discomfort in order to try and achieve a training goal, one only needs to be able to use critical thinking skills and analytical skills after just looking at the collar and reading what the manufacture has to say about it. This collar this is nothing more than a prong collar when you get right down to it.

The other thing people ABSOLUTELY MUST know is when a person is claiming to have a secrete system of dog training that "only they know" or "they figured out" and you must pay them money in order to find out what the "big secrete is"...be suspicious, very suspicious. And this is exactly what the maker of this collar is claiming. he has a "system"

The science, theories, concepts, etc, etc, that are behind actual training is all publicly accessible. Anyone who can perform a basic Google search, use the dewy decimal system at your local library, and has a willingness to learn can find out what the "magic" behind dog (animal) training is. There is no super secretes, there is no "special systems" etc. that is all marketing hype. The real stuff behind real training and behavioral knowledge is continually being vetted, questioned, and expanded all the time. and it's all out in the open, not hidden, just waiting to be found by anyone who has/wants to put in the time.

[Wes]

What makes me shake my head all the time is "well, I have two BIG dogs and I can't walk them without it" or "I have a difficult breed and have to control them."

I have two big dogs and "difficult" breeds at that. Sam the Doberman is pushing 90lbs and Remy the Catahoula is a lean 65lb. I'm a very small guy - 5'6" and maybe 150lb soaking wet - AND I have carpal tunnel syndrome and have very weak hands. I walk them both at the same time with no issues because they WERE TRAINED. Each one trained one on one with me using only positive methods. They choose to walk on a loose leash because it is more rewarding for them to do so. No need for anything causing them pain or discomfort at all.