When you own a powerful breed such as a Doberman, it is ESSENTIAL you maintain control at all times. Dobermans have a bite force of around 305 psi, enough to snap a bone in half in one bite. They are also highly intelligent dogs and will fight tactfully if allowed. Dobermans are capable of moving quickly and precisely paired with their packed muscles make them a dangerous enemy, or a perfect guard dog depending on which side of the door you are on!
So, how do you control a 100+ lb brick sh** house with the ability to take you down in one jump? You guessed it, E-Collars!
I know what you're thinking, shocking your dog is abuse and should be banned!
But e-collars don't produce an electrical shock, it is a stimulating sensation meant to break the attention of whatever you don't want your dog to do. E-collars function the same as a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) unit which is used to treat chronic pain in humans. The stimulation when used properly and at low levels is not perceived as pain by the brain, nor does it ever cause injuries such as nerve or muscle damage. In the dog world, the mother teaches her pups how to behave with a quick nip to the neck, not causing pain but just giving a correction. This is essentially what the e-collar does and dogs respond insanely well to it!
I had an incredibly difficult time getting Chief to pay attention and ignore distractions before sending him to a trainer. This made me RESENT my dog at no fault of his own, he is just doing what puppies do! The stress level in our house was at an all-time max trying to keep Chief from destroying our new house or hurting our kids. I knew I had to do something different with him! I sent him to a two-week board and train program with a professional trainer who taught Chief what was expected of him but it's my responsibility to maintain his training and take him to the next level.
Chief has done a complete 180 with his behavior. I no longer have to yell to get his attention and he thinks twice before doing something he knows he is not supposed to! Believe me he, still tries! My stress levels around him have diminished significantly! He walks nicely on a leash, is not reactive to other dogs or people passing by anymore, no more breaking my knees getting out of the door. You name the issue, an E-collar can train it out of your dog!
I used the e-collar on myself before putting it on my dog, it's only fair I know what I am doing to him, and I would never push it to a limit that I personally could not handle. My e-collar goes from 0-100 with 100 being the most intense stimulation that is perceived as pain but is not actually causing pain. To put it into some perspective, I use between a 6-10 which is just barely enough to feel and Chief responds very well!
The biggest concern for me and using the e-collar is if the collar is left in one place for too long, pressure ulcers can form on the skin of your dog which can become painful, infected and make your dog afraid of the collar. It's best to move the collar ever few hours if you need it on for a longer period or remove the collar for a time. In the first few weeks of Chief being home from training, we had the collar on a lot more to establish our expectations of Chief in our house. Now that he is catching on to what he can and cannot do, we don't use the collar as much except on walks or playing outside.
Head over to our Instagram to check out Chief in action with his e-collar! I will be adding more videos of collar training in the future and please leave a comment if you want to see Chief work through a specific command or issue!
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