My newest view on e-collars

I think it’s safe to say that e-collars (remote controlled collars that your dog wears to have no leash communication) is a hot debate amongst people, not only in the dog training industry, but also with dog owners.

I don’t think I’ve ever been 100% against e-collars but it’s definitely not a tool I rely on…or be sure to teach every client (or dog for that matter) of mine. Personally we’ve used fenceless containment systems for the past 15 years to keep our dogs on our property, but as for using e-collars for recall training, etc? I’ve always used voice and hand signals/body language to get my dogs to come back.

When my clients are curious about them, I support their decisions because I don’t think e-collars are bad and if the use of the collar helps you and your dogs relationship; then amazing. I’d say my view used to be: if you want to have long distance recall for those dogs that really need to run, or get your dog to change their mind/fixation on something, so you can then ask them to do something different: great e-collar candidates.

My view now? Every. Single. Dog. Should have an understanding of an e-collar even if the basic understanding is: you feel the static = return to the human.

How did I come to this conclusion? Tilly. Being almost 13, is now deaf. She’ll be snoozing on the couch in the morning, I’ll wake up to let Enzo outside and she won’t even stir. She definitely has a sense about what’s going on because either she feels the vibration of me walking, or mid-dream she recognizes a familiar scent that wakes her, or maybe she notices the light change through her closed eyelids - possibly a combination of it all; but it’s not sound that’s waking her up.

Prior to Tilly going deaf, her recall was close to 99% success. For real. She is a natural born pleaser, even for being a spicy terrier, so even in the moments where she didn’t want to come; she would still come. Her tail low and waggy, giving me a one-lipped sneer like Elvis, basically apologizing for me having to use my “mom voice” on her.

Tilly’s recall now? If she can see us, still 99% but with a lot of coaxing body language. If she can’t see us? 0%.

I remember the first time this year she thought she’d try her hand at running a cow moose out of the yard with the big dogs - I called and called and she couldn’t hear me so she kept it up and I thought: well at least you’ll go out thinking you’re the bravest little warrior around. There’s been moments where the other dogs have given up their efforts and she doesn’t follow their lead, still carrying on sounding the moose alarm. Now, if we know there’s a moose in the yard (or a tractor plowing snow, or awaiting the arrival of company) we keep her in the house.

Her deafness has taken away my ability to communicate in a way that we both relied on. She’s not ignoring me because she has a senior attitude, she has no idea I’m even trying.

What’s an even bigger kick to box is a couple years ago one of my sister’s dogs went deaf as she aged and I thought: huh. I should really train Tilly some recall with an e-collar while she can still hear so we don’t run into the same problems….

I really thought I had more time because overall Tilly’s in great health. I assumed deafness was a slower process - and maybe it was, maybe we just didn’t notice because we were still successful in our asks; but it felt like we all woke up one day and she couldn’t hear a thing.

Living where we live, doing what we do, I was never motivated to use an e-collar as an effective form of communication…until now.

So today I purchased Tom Davis’ e-collar training because I want to be sure my current, and future dogs, are off to the right start. I also upgraded my e-collar to a Dogtra 280C and you better believe Enzo will be the first wiener to get trained.

There’s many pros to teaching dogs what an e-collar means, and many trainers promote it for giving your dog off leash freedom; but for me, I hope all my dogs are given the gift of old age where everything is a bit slower, the walks are shorter, and their hearing is shot.

Keeping that line of communication open for the entirety of their life is now so valuable to me.