Vibrating Collars?

[MarkF]

Hi guys my boys are doing quite well together, I've seen some people locally using vibrating collars to break the distraction of there dog when they can't get there attention. On the whole the boys are getting better and I feel more in control than before, though trying to walk a 2yr old and 6mnth old boxer can be a little farcical at times.

I was just curious about opinions on vibrating collars, are they considered a positive training aid? has anyone used one and if so good or bad results?

Apologies if this subject has been discussed b4

Regards

Mark & the boys

[emmabeth]

I wouldnt go down that route, in all honesty.

Even if the vibration of the collar IS just a distraction, rather than an aversive, you still have to train and make it mean something, if your dog is ignoring a recall command, and you dont change whatever it is you are doing, hes going to ignore the vibration as well (maybe not at first as it will be new, but very quickly he will).. hten where do you go, to something that IS aversive such as a shock or spray collar?..

Its a shortcut, and not a particularly effective one - I would recommend more work with your dogs individually to really proof your cues and their behaviours against distractions.

[Sweetie0202]

Hi guys my boys are doing quite well together, I've seen some people locally using vibrating collars to break the distraction of there dog when they can't get there attention. On the whole the boys are getting better and I feel more in control than before, though trying to walk a 2yr old and 6mnth old boxer can be a little farcical at times.

I was just curious about opinions on vibrating collars, are they considered a positive training aid? has anyone used one and if so good or bad results?

Apologies if this subject has been discussed b4

Regards

Mark & the boys

Hello,

If you are thinking of using one of these be sure to use command words each and everytime. Why? Well this will help when you have stopped using the collar i have heard of them and yes they do work, and can be used with pairing, and positive method. Just my two cents on what i have heard of them.

[Mattie]

Sweetie these are not positive training, there are times when they may be useful like with a deaf dog but for normal dogs they are usually used by lazy owners who can't be bothered to put the work in to train their dogs. Dogs trained with these are never as reliable as dogs trained positively.

[MarkF]

Sweetie these are not positive training, there are times when they may be useful like with a deaf dog but for normal dogs they are usually used by lazy owners who can't be bothered to put the work in to train their dogs. Dogs trained with these are never as reliable as dogs trained positively.

"Sweetie" I ain't a lazy dog owner if that`s what was being implied

[Salomé]

Sweetie these are not positive training, there are times when they may be useful like with a deaf dog but for normal dogs they are usually used by lazy owners who can't be bothered to put the work in to train their dogs. Dogs trained with these are never as reliable as dogs trained positively.

"Sweetie" I ain't a lazy dog owner if that`s what was being implied

Mark, I believe Mattie was responding to the prior poster (Sweetie0202), not to you. She wasn't implying that you were lazy.

[Sweetie0202]

Sweetie these are not positive training, there are times when they may be useful like with a deaf dog but for normal dogs they are usually used by lazy owners who can't be bothered to put the work in to train their dogs. Dogs trained with these are never as reliable as dogs trained positively.

"Sweetie" I ain't a lazy dog owner if that`s what was being implied

I am not saying anyone is lazy if they were to use one of these collars. You asked a question about whether they work, and i simple said yes they do and that i have heard of them. Any type of collar can be used in a nag way, it's not the collar that makes it nag, but the person who is using it. Anything can be used positive if used right and anything can be used nag if in the wrong hands.

Just my two cents and that i wanted to clear up that i was not saying anyone is lazy and no matter what kind of collar you do choose it all takes time and training.

[MarkF]

apologies i missed your post and read mattie's i thought "sweetie" at the beginning of there post was talking to me...lol so sorry......and was inferring i was a lazy dog owner..sooooo sorry.....my post wasn't aimed at you but mattie.....lord i hate forums sometimes....Apologies to all i was busy and missed one of the posts..........its my age promise not to ask anymore questions....lol

[Mattie]

Sweetie these are not positive training, there are times when they may be useful like with a deaf dog but for normal dogs they are usually used by lazy owners who can't be bothered to put the work in to train their dogs. Dogs trained with these are never as reliable as dogs trained positively.

"Sweetie" I ain't a lazy dog owner if that`s what was being implied

It was me that said it is lazy dog owners who use these Mark, I know you are not a lazy owner, you are not using one but asking if they may help, there is a difference. Many owners use these collars and the shock collars thinking they are training their dogs, they are not, the dogs are just reacting to the collars, take the collar away and the dog doesn't know what to do.

Sweetie these are not positive training, there are times when they may be useful like with a deaf dog but for normal dogs they are usually used by lazy owners who can't be bothered to put the work in to train their dogs. Dogs trained with these are never as reliable as dogs trained positively.

"Sweetie" I ain't a lazy dog owner if that`s what was being implied

I am not saying anyone is lazy if they were to use one of these collars. You asked a question about whether they work, and i simple said yes they do and that i have heard of them. Any type of collar can be used in a nag way, it's not the collar that makes it nag, but the person who is using it. Anything can be used positive if used right and anything can be used nag if in the wrong hands.

Just my two cents and that i wanted to clear up that i was not saying anyone is lazy and no matter what kind of collar you do choose it all takes time and training.

Even used as they should be they don't do as good a job as positive training, they are useful for deaf dogs.

These collars are also against what this board believes, positive training, while we can discuss them we can't recommend them which you have Sweetie.

[MarkF]

once again i'm sorry to all......offended, i've had enough now!

[Mattie]

once again i'm sorry to all......offended, i've had enough now!

I don't understand Mark, you haven't said anything to offend anyone, you asked a question, unless people ask questions they will never know the answer.

[Horace's Mum]

Mark, I hope you are still reading this, going to get it back on track. As someone who does use a vibrating collar I wanted to say that I can't honestly see how it would give any more of a distraction than voice does - I use mine as a clicker for my deaf dog, but since getting it and using it I wouldn't consider using it for a hearing dog as an aversive or as a distraction because I don't think it would work too well. I was very very careful when I introduced it to Horus given his history of abuse, there is a fair chance someone has tried various silly collars on him, but he has never had a problem with it, and it took a matter of seconds for him to accept it as his clicker. I have introduced it to several other deaf dogs, 3 of whom are exceptionally nervy and would run at the slightest thing, but none of them have worried about the collar, they all accepted it within minutes. I suppose if it wasn't introduced in a positive way then it might be slightly more worrying, but I have a feeling it is the sound rather then the vibration that they would object to. But I do think it is neither one thing or another - not positive enough to be positive (and when you have the use of sound then make the most of it! anyway you need to do the same amount of training for the collar as you would a vocal command so what's the point?) and not negative to be a particularly strong aversive, so the only thing they are useful for is as deaf clickers!! I would never use it as a recall for my dog, because I don't think even if I trained it really well it would be strong enough to break his focus if he sets his eye at something.

[Mattie]

From what you are saying Horace's Mum, the vibration collar you use just vibrates, some can give a dog quite a shock because they go quite high. The vibration is at the very low stage.

[Horace's Mum]

Well they either vibrate, or they shock, but mine doesn't have a shock facility (just in case I pressed it by mistake!!). But mine has 2 levels of vibration, the higher one is pretty strong but Horus works better with that one. It is marketed as an aversive, so it is the kind of collar the OP is referring to, assuming he doesn't mean a shock collar. The instructions that came with it actually said only to use the higher level in extreme cases, but it really isn't that scary - as I said Horus much prefers the higher level - I don't believe it would be strong enough in many cases to cause a real distraction better than sound - you would have to put the same amount of training in as teaching a recall so what is the point?

[kaceymack]

Horace's Mum,

Thanks so much for that information- I have just recently adopted a semi-blind and mostly deaf Great Dane. Can you tell me where you found just the vibrating collar? I feel like everywhere I am looking they are VERY expensive and also have a shock function and I definately don't want to get a shock option that could accidently be selected. I am willing to pay for the collar, just trying to find out as much information as I can about them and how to train with them.

Thanks!
Kaceymack