Anyone have a recommendation on a Ecollar? Just got a Lab of color who needs a bit of Ecollar training. Been a long couple weeks working with her but she needs one. As Woodrow said “I will not tolerate rude behavior”. In her case rude will most likely result in her death which I would truly regret.

I have a Garmin Sport Pro ($249) at Gun Dog Supply. You can run up to three dogs on it. I occasionally run one. Works up to 1/2 mile they claim.

Tell the dog what he should do so he knows it, then train with the collar when he blows off a command that he knows...

Good Luck!

I have a Sport Dog 425. no issues, works great with my Field Bred Springer. Good range of "power".
water proof . do a lot of woodcock hunting and she is a swimmer.
I use low setting, just enough to tickle her and she knows the correction.
I call it my "Mollie Remote". but I rarely have to remind her. when she has the collar on, she knows!!

I used to use Garmin exclusively for field trails, Sports Dog for marsh and upland. Now I train and hunt two black labs and have gone without any issues to Dogtra. 1902s for two dogs and the Dogtra 1900 for one. They have half mile range. Dogtra so far is the best system for me. For my pointers, I used Garmin but have gone to all in with Dogtra. Easy to get parts and batteries.

I hold with the Trashbreaker(Tri-Tronics), even though I got into a heated discussion of how far a one watt signal would travel......


Cheers,

Raimey
rse

Sport Pro. I've used the predecessor for 9 years without issues. Gil

I switched from a Dogtra to a Garmin. Much prefer the Garmin, but it is all about the ergonomics of the controls. I hated Dogtra, but they may have updated their stuff. Range is not an issue as far as I'm concerned. Being able to hit the right button instantly without fumbling around, that is critical.

I use a DT Systems H2O 1820 and keep it on 8 or 9 (out of 16 levels) and she knows she needs to behave when she has the collar on. She's very high spirited and a real sweetheart. So nobody gets the wrong idea - I'm talking about my setter...

Remember NEVER to use it as a punishment, only as a training aid when she disobeys a known command.

Oops... duplicate post.

Garmin/Tri-Tronics, Dogtra, Sport Dog, DT, they all make good collars. I used a couple Dogtra collars with integrated beepers for years without complaints. I moved to a Garmin-Tri-Tronics Pro 550 just for something different last time and it's also been trouble free.

Check out Gun Dog Supply's website. Lots of e-collar videos that explain the features of the various models.

I've stuck with old Tri-Tronics stuff. I've found it to be very reliable, and I've picked up spare parts from people who've moved on to more modern systems. I live in grouse and woodcock country, which is also wolf country. The experts claim that a beeper works to deter wolves. The TT beepers are loud, which I like because I don't hear as well as I used to. I don't want my dog beyond beeper range in the woods. The transmitters are very simple and easy to use.

With a Lab, since you're going to want the dog to stay within gun range, I'd think just a very simple system with stimulation from barely a tickle to hot enough to deter chasing deer and other critters would do the job. And you don't need much range either.

I've had good luck with Sportdog products. I usually figure the range listed is half that in reality. The models I have used have a tone and enough power levels to get up to "fry". I consider it a great dog hearing aid. :-)

Garmin/Tritronics Pro 550 Plus. I love the GPS feature when grouse hunting. So many times the dog is out of sight I still know where he is. Not cheap, but trouble free and great range.

Jim

I have had several tritronics models and currently have a discontinued pro 200 as well as a Garmin Alpha 100 GPS collar with training stimulation, and a DT Systems 2420.

The tritonics/Garmin hardware is the finest execution of good designs.

The DT Systems 2420 is the best feature system (all their 2400 systems). No other system I'm aware of has as fine of incremental stimulation control. No other system allows you to have 2 separate buttons for any selected range of stimulation as well as a third button for "rise", for a runaway, which ramps up continuous stimulation from the lowest to the highest over a few seconds, or stops when you let up on the button. No twisting knobs where two hands are needed. Just instantly available control. But their execution is just OK. Still, I consider the DT Systems 2400 series the best for training, especially in the yard training. I use mine with a new dog then move them to tritronics or Garmin once they're fairly reliable. For training to be effective, the timing of the stimulation/correction needs to be within a couple seconds of the act the dog is being corrected for and needs to be able to stop the behavior or its meaningless. The 2400 series beats all the other collars in this regard.

I started out with Dogtra years ago but eventually went to a Garmin Alpha. Now I will not put a dog on the ground without a tracking collar. And I hunt flushers also Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers. Tollers like to do things their own way and can be a handful, usually a lot more so than labs. But I like my dogs like my women, just a little bit naughty.



Worth every penny even for a another collar for a second dog



Just one time that the dog takes off chasing trash before being broke you will be glad that you did. I hunt the Mn. Arrowhead which has the highest density of wolves in CONUS but worry more about a logging truck coming along at the wrong time than a wolf. Although could do without the bastages in the woods.

Will also second Steve Snell and his wife at Gundog Supply. Not sure of your experience with ecollars but when you get your collar also get Basic Obedience Ecollar Training by Robin MacFarlane DVD that Steve did with Robin.

Highly recommend you get a collar with vibration. When your dog gets old enough that it can no longer hear you or a whistle you will be glad that you did. My dogs have been conditioned enough by vibration first before correction stim that I almost never have to use stim just vibration.

Another advantage of Garmin is the availability of the watches to visually see your dogs location without lifting the handheld to look at it.





Sounds like you may have a rescue? Been there and done that more than a few times. Wish you the best that is often a lot of work. On the other hand have a 15 week old pup now and swear it is my last puppy. But is a blank slate. Has been sitting on demand and delivering to hand since 9 weeks old.



If you have a pup highly recommend Bill Hilman method to begin with starting with training a retriever puppy

After that you can go several ways but this time will stay with Bill including hold instead of traditional Force Fetch.

But as it sounds like you already know it ALL starts with basic discipline. Sit means sit and stay until released none of this stay stay stay BS. And here means here now, not when you feel like it.

Good luck to you and the new member of the family!

I've been in the woods and had a hiccup or two with my Astro 320 which I bought from Steve Snell at Gundog Supply years ago. Operator error, not anything wrong with the unit. On the occasion it has happened, I've been able to get someone there on the phone to set me straight. Good folks to deal with for sure. As for the tracking collars, I have a bevy of DC40's, a DC50 and the latest iteration. I run two dogs, but turn on a spare collar which I hang from truck rear view mirror. While the handheld will give the truck location if you Start New Hunt and mark truck location, it's nice just to look at the watch for truck direction while in the woods. Gil

You can say that again. 12 years ago I was hunting a large area on the MN/IA border and my young Drahthaar and I got totally turned around in a white-out snow storm which turned into an ordeal that I never want to repeat. The one bright spot was I took my only MN hun which was probably as turned around as I was.

I have used a Garmin Alpha tracking unit & watch for the last several years and I always mark the truck. It's especially nice with pointers in heavy cover now that my ears no longer hear beepers reliably. That said, it's overkill for yard work and daily runs, so for that I use a regular e-collar.

"Tollers like to do things their own way and can be a handful, usually a lot more so than labs."

That made me laugh. I understand about hard to train dogs. I use to run Chessies. Would never have thought about a electric collar unless you could have found a 220 volt version, 440 volt better yet. Well to be honest, e-colars had not been invented until the last Chessie I had. Chesapeakes train themselves as much as anything. Had one who use to bite your boots if you missed more than one bird. Brute was so tough he would bust or even bite ice to get to birds. You could not wear him out. The harder he worked the happier he was. I miss that old dog.

I am most interested in a vibration stimulus with GPS location. Most of the shock training I have seen is so poorly done, I vote for the trainer to wear the collar. Just like yelling is not a training technique, I do not think lighting a dog up as one. I want attention, not instant compliance. Give the dog time to figure out what I need by giving her a bit of extra reminder. After all, it is my job to teach her what I expect and to put her in the best position to achieve it.