Importance of eCollars?

I posted this when my pup was 11 weeks old. He's now almost 4 months. While I selected a bloodline for hunting, this is most hard-headed Golden I've ever come across in my 50 years of training! I can see him having a mind of his own, especially in the field. I recently introduced him to feathers (pheasant wings), where he went nuts for them. Didn't want to give them up, despite having a really, really good fetch/release with other toys!
 
IndianaRose said:
I posted this when my pup was 11 weeks old. He's now almost 4 months. While I selected a bloodline for hunting, this is most hard-headed Golden I've ever come across in my 50 years of training! I can see him having a mind of his own, especially in the field. I recently introduced him to feathers (pheasant wings), where he went nuts for them. Didn't want to give them up, despite having a really, really good fetch/release with other toys!
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Not wanting to give up a bird or wing when a pup is introduced is what you want to see. That is not being hard-headed, that is a dog with strong prey drive. Dogtra Arc is a great e-collar and very inexpensive. Retail is under $250. That is less than 3 bags of dog food. As far as importance, I could not imagine ever owning and training a dog without one.
 
here's a good reason to use ecollars: fall harvest is going strong. farm equipment and grain trucks are roaring up and down the roads. you've knocked down a bird and it fell or died on the road - and here comes a grain truck doing sixty. can you stop your dog without an ecollar?

another reason: silent hunting. an old timer (describes me now) told me decades ago that when the phez population is down the birds are spookier and far flush. matches my experience. with an ecollar (vibrate mode only for a well-trained dog) and hand signals you can manage your dog afield in total silence.
 
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BritChaser said:
another reason: silent hunting. an old timer (describes me now) told me decades ago that when the phez population is down the birds are spookier and far flush. matches my experience. with an ecollar (vibrate mode only for a well-trained dog) and hand signals you can manage your dog afield in total silence.
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There's really nothing like silently hunting with your dog. You and them both on the same page and communicating in complete silence. It's a real zen moment to me haha
 
"Silent hunting" is exactly why I really like to use ecollars on my dogs. I've hunted with folks that jump out of their vehicle and start whistling, tweeting, yelling and whatever trying to get their dogs under control. If you don't think pheasants take notice, you haven't hunted wild pheasants much. I also enjoy my peace and quiet. I can hunt all day with my dogs and not say a word. I use collars that have a "tone" on them, and the dogs quickly learn that means a command, most often "come in". I'm old enough now to simply avoid those hunters that act like maniacs trying to control their dogs.

All this said, I also can control my dog at any distance, and do it with meaning if necessary!
 
westksbowhunter said:
Not wanting to give up a bird or wing when a pup is introduced is what you want to see. That is not being hard-headed, that is a dog with strong prey drive. Dogtra Arc is a great e-collar and very inexpensive. Retail is under $250. That is less than 3 bags of dog food. As far as importance, I could not imagine ever owning and training a dog without one.
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had excellent service from DogTra collars
 
Munster927 said:
There's really nothing like silently hunting with your dog. You and them both on the same page and communicating in complete silence. It's a real zen moment to me haha
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I think zen is the right word.
 
IndianaRose said:
I posted this when my pup was 11 weeks old. He's now almost 4 months. While I selected a bloodline for hunting, this is most hard-headed Golden I've ever come across in my 50 years of training! I can see him having a mind of his own, especially in the field. I recently introduced him to feathers (pheasant wings), where he went nuts for them. Didn't want to give them up, despite having a really, really good fetch/release with other toys!
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Pheasant hunting is about having fun, these people who are real real serious about it, are actually missing the point of pheasant hunting. You should never shock your dog, using some kind of a sound is okay, but there's going to be a karma event coming down if you shock your dog.
 
Goosemaster said:
Pheasant hunting is about having fun, these people who are real real serious about it, are actually missing the point of pheasant hunting. You should never shock your dog, using some kind of a sound is okay, but there's going to be a karma event coming down if you shock your dog.
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Says the guy who loses more downed dead birds than anyone on the forum. How much fun can it be constantly leaving birds in the field?
 
KEOutdoors said:
I heard something today that made me think of this thread. A guy told a new trainer "an e collar is a 600yard long hand smack"
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This is exactly correct. Dogs quickly learn they are never "out of reach" with an e-collar. It is too late when your dog takes off after a rabbit across a busy road. My dogs know they are on an invisible leash. I haven't used any electric stimulus, other than snake avoidance training, elimination of bad habits like digging, incessant barking, etc. in my training. My dogs respond to the collar "beep", rather than my yelling and whistling. Before e-collars we used all kinds of "fixes" including tying two tennis balls on strings to their collar, long running lines, etc. It was not fun. Do what rattles your chain, but I thank heaven for the advent of the modern e-collar. Life for the dogs and I is so much simpler. And no, don't shock your dog when he/she is trying to do right, particularly anything with a bird.
 
Powderhorn Jim said:
This is exactly correct. Dogs quickly learn they are never "out of reach" with an e-collar. It is too late when your dog takes off after a rabbit across a busy road. My dogs know they are on an invisible leash. I haven't used any electric stimulus, other than snake avoidance training, elimination of bad habits like digging, incessant barking, etc. in my training. My dogs respond to the collar "beep", rather than my yelling and whistling. Before e-collars we used all kinds of "fixes" including tying two tennis balls on strings to their collar, long running lines, etc. It was not fun. Do what rattles your chain, but I thank heaven for the advent of the modern e-collar. Life for the dogs and I is so much simpler. And no, don't shock your dog when he/she is trying to do right, particularly anything with a bird.
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Yes, e-colors are nice, I never use the shock mode, and I don't use that e-collar very often. It is true. I have lost a lot of birds lately, but I'm getting older er and my shooting isn't as good, and my young dog doesn't track wounded birds very well.
 
I don't know how important an ecollar is. However, I know my dogs go absolutely batshit crazy when they see I'm getting out the ecollars.

They absolutely love their ecollars because they know what we're about to do.
 
Here's an e-collar story, my 1-year-old black lab Jones disappeared into the woods one time. I thought he might have been chasing a wolf. He was gone for 15 minutes and it kind of freaked me out, so I kept hitting the e-collar tone, and eventually he did reappear from out of the woods.
 
Goosemaster said:
Here's an e-collar story, my 1-year-old black lab Jones disappeared into the woods one time. I thought he might have been chasing a wolf. He was gone for 15 minutes and it kind of freaked me out, so I kept hitting the e-collar tone, and eventually he did reappear from out of the woods.
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I talked to some of the wolves about that incident. They referred to the ecollar tone as "The Dinner Bell".
 
Goosemaster said:
No wolf is taking my dog down.
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Unless you own an Irish Wolfhound, your dog doesn't stand a chance. Wolves hunt in packs too.

Statistically speaking the chances of running into a pack of wolves is about as good as winning the lottery or getting struck by lighting. There's far more common risks in daily life to worry about.
 
gim said:
Statistically speaking the chances of running into a pack of wolves is about as good as winning the lottery or getting struck by lighting. There's far more common risks in daily life to worry about.
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Depends on where you are and what you are doing and how far away the dog is. If true, I got struck by lightning 2 times in a 9 day span, in two completely different forests, last season, and came very close to losing my dog. I should buy more lottery tickets.

People should know the risks and be rightly cautious in wolf country.

Close working labs, probably not a problem. A dog 50 yards away, in thick cover, (my situation, and I was not being quiet) apparently a problem. 100+ yards away, very risky.
 
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Limitless said:
If true, I got struck by lightning 2 times in a 9 day span, in two completely different forests, last season
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I and 9 of my hunting friends spent over 50 years hunting in wolf country for days on end every November and not a single one of us ever even SAW a wolf. I saw old tracks in the snow a couple times, that's it.

I'd say lightning did strike in your case, twice. But that doesn't mean it's common. Actually it's the opposite. There's a much higher chance of getting into a car crash on the way to your destination.
 
gim said:
I'd say lightning did strike in your case, twice. But that doesn't mean it's common. Actually it's the opposite. There's a much higher chance of getting into a car crash on the way to your destination.
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Not common, but I'd rather have a fender bender than lose my dog.

There are more wolves now than there were those 50 years.

I've seen one deer hunting about 50-70 yards away a few years ago too (yet another forest from the 2 incidents last year). And that was several minutes after two shots from a deer rifle that a youth missed on. I have also captured them on trail cams there.

You may not have seen them, yet they could have been near. I only saw them because my dog was followed and chased back toward me.

The problem is there have been too many years without a hunting/trapping season (Minnesota), so they don't have a fear of humans. I am not concerned about a wolf attacking an adult human. But they don't seem to move off when they hear a person coming, and they don't tolerate other canines in their area.

And although I hope you are right, I am not willing to risk it with a ranging dog now. It completely changed where and how I will hunt ruffed grouse. I hunted opener and one other weekend in Wisconsin this season (still wolves, but hopefully fewer), and only hunted in Minnesota where there is more human activity than the other areas I encountered them.
 
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