BY CHARLIE JURNEY WITH TIPS FROM TOM DOKKEN AND RICK SMITH 400-1131.
IMPORTANT DO NOT USE YOUR COLLAR BEFORE READING THIS MANUAL. DOING SO COULD CAUSE PROBLEMS THAT WILL MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT TO TRAIN YOUR DOG. BESIDES, YOU NEED TO CHARGE THE COLLAR AND TRANSMITTER BEFORE FIRST USE. YOU CAN EASILY READ THIS MANUAL DURING THAT TIME. 400-1131.
OK, let’s get started with turning this business of dog training into part of your daily routine. LEARNING TO TRAIN Let me emphasize right now that electronic training is safe. No harm will come to your dog if you follow the steps I set up for you. This program is built on more than 20 years of success with virtually every breed. Many people are concerned that e-training will cause their dog to dislike them or lose its happy and playful attitude.
Dr. Ivan Petrovic Pavlov taught us a lot about canine behavior. Two of his most important points, conditioned responses and substitution, will be the cornerstones of your training program. LEARNING TO TRAIN Conditioned responses to commands are mandatory for a properly trained dog. When you explain something one time to a person, he or she will understand it and quite often give a positive response when questioned on that topic. Canines are different in that they trust their instincts implicitly.
LEARNING TO TRAIN Your dog will likely exhibit some other behavior during training that you need to understand. All dogs attempt to displace themselves from training at one time or another by telling you: “Hold on, I’ll get back to you and your commands in a minute.” If you have children, this is easy to understand.
THE ELECTRNIC COLLAR 07-08 400-1131.indd 10-11 In the manual that came with your remote training system, you will find all the information you need to operate it. Please read this and know which button does what, how to turn it off, when the battery is fading and all the other essentials that pertain to this high-tech training system. You have purchased a well-tested and proven piece of equipment. Take good care of it and you will get many years of reliable service from it.
THE FIRST COMMAND: NO The first command your dog will learn is “No.” Usually your dog will understand this command by the end of its first day with you. Your dog hears this command each time it is doing something wrong and it comprehends the command by the way you say it. Your dog may have been running around the house with your wife’s pantyhose in its mouth or chewing on your prized decoy when it hears that dreadful word. Intonation expresses your feelings to your dog in a language that is universal.
A POSITIONAL COMMAND: HEEL TRAINING YOUR DOG “Heel” is a positional command that instructs your dog to assume a position beside your leg whether you are walking, standing, running or riding a horse. People seek professional help in teaching their dog to heel properly more than for any other command. These folks always explain that their puppy is a great dog but it will not walk on its leash. This means the dog feels like it is alpha and should lead its owner where it pleases.
not necessary. However, it would be good for you to know how to condition for this command if your dog struggles with remaining sitting. To reinforce sitting, apply a light amount of upward leash pressure to its collar and command “Stay” as you start to move away and toward the end of the leash. Your dog will likely get up and try to move with you. If this occurs, stop it with “No,” reseat the dog with “Sit” and repeat “Stay” with another upward tug on the leash.
TRAINING YOUR DOG A FINAL OBEDIENCE COMMAND: DOWN The next command in your obedience program will be “Down,” which tells your dog to lie down and remain in this position until it receives another command. This command is most often used around the home. For this reason, the easiest time to work on “Down” is at night while watching television. Command your dog to “Sit” and stroke its shoulder when it obeys. Face the dog, grab its front paws and pull them toward you.
Once your dog has learned the “Here”-“Heel”-“Sit” drill and understands the system of correction described before, anyone can pick up your leash and your dog will know that person is alpha. Each person in the household should take a turn doing obedience work with your dog. Not only does that make life comfortable for the entire family, it makes the world clear in your dog’s eyes. It will assume the beta position with all of your family and not mind it one bit.
The command “No” now takes on far greater power. Your dog has learned that when you say “No” it can no longer pursue an object. Coming to you provides security and the comfort of a shoulder stroke. This comfort zone you developed while your dog learned “Heel” has now become far more comfortable. You have covered a lot of obedience so far and it must never be forgotten or overlooked. This training will go on for the duration of the dog’s life, if only in small doses.
THE RIGHT WAY TO BEGIN Your dog needs to start wearing an e-collar as soon as it can comfortably support the collar’s weight. The collar should be worn from that point forward during all training sessions. Initially, you should attach the collar and do something fun such as retrieving exercises with a bumper or ball. Continue this until your pup’s tail is wagging uncontrollably.
APPLICATION OF THE ELECTRONIC COLLAR FINDING THE CORRECT STIMULATION LEVEL This will take a short period of time but without the conditioning process, your dog will be dazed and confused about the discomfort around its neck. It is easy to confuse your dog and undo a couple of months of good training in just a few minutes by overstimulating on a correction or correcting when it is not justified. No corrections should occur until the conditioning process has been successfully completed.
“SIT” APPLICATION OF THE ELECTRONIC COLLAR “DOWN” Next, it is time to condition your dog to sit and accept a correction while maintaining control in the seated position. Have your dog do a quick obedience drill and command “Sit.” While the dog is seated, nick with the collar and immediately command “Sit” again. If it moves around or gets up, return the dog to the seated position by using the leash. Reward on the shoulder and verbally. Repeat the “Sit”-Nick-“Sit” three to five times per session.
pressure and the direction it chooses may be away from you. If you have your dog on a leash, you can control its actions and show that coming to you makes the pressure go away. APPLICATION OF THE ELECTRONIC COLLAR There may be times when your dog is having a bad day and absolutely refuses to obey your commands. Leash pressure should be your first choice to correct misbehavior. If disobedience continues, you can apply direct continuous pressure with the e-collar until you get compliance.
REWARDING WITH THE E-COLLAR areas around your home and start using the e-collar in new areas. Your dog may have been a textbook case of perfection in yard drills but acts as if the collar is turned off when you stimulate in new locations. It is not uncommon for a dog to adjust its tolerance of the e-collar to the distraction. If your dog is comfortable on a level 3 in the yard, it would not surprise me if a level 4 or 5 were required to stop a deer chase.
CHARLIE JURNEY Charlie Jurney of Terrell, North Carolina, is a professional retriever trainer and owner of Beaverdam Kennels, producer of more Grand Master Hunting Retrievers and Master Hunting Retrievers than any other facility. Most recently, Charlie authored the Finished Dog training manual and CD-ROM. TOM DOKKEN ABOUT THE AUTHORS Tom Dokken has more than 30 years of training experience and owns Dokken’s Oak Ridge Kennels in Northfield, Minnesota.
SPORTDOG.COM RADIO SYSTEMS CORPORATION • 10427 Electric Avenue Knoxville, TN 37932 • 1.800.732.0144 ©2009 RADIO SYSTEMS CORPORATION® / 400-1131 400-1131.
