Tips for using the electronic collar:

Justice Kennels recommends the Dogtra collar for all your dog needs.  The collars are well made, have no frequency interference are safe in the water and have an excellent 2 year warranty.  Also, Dogtra has an excellent representative right here so that you don’t have to deal with the States and border.

These collars are available through Pet Stop at 403-226-2717.

• Always make sure that when you put the collar on, it is fairly tight as the prongs have to connect through the hair, and the box is a little off to the side and not directly in front.
• Remember that the strap is not a breathable strap so don’t leave it on for days on end.
• Your collar has a ¾ mile range.  I usually keep my dog in a 30-40 yard range.
• Whenever the dog leaves the house, yard  or enclosed area, he should be wearing the collar.  If a dog has been conditioned properly, all the collar will represent to him is happy thoughts of walks.
• Your collar has a momentary and a continuous button.  99% of the time, I use the momentary button.  The only time I use continuous, is if he is bolting or chasing something.
• You will also note that there is several levels of stimulation.  Each dog is different, some tougher, some softer.  It is important that you adapt your level of stimulation to your dog.
• You should always give your dog the benefit of the doubt, one chance to listen, before correcting him with the collar.
• Make sure your collar is fully charged.  This should take about 2 hours.  The charge should last you 2-3 weeks.
• When you turn the collar on, by pushing the blue button, you will see a green light blink.  This means your collar is on.  When it begins to blink red or not at all, it means it is time to charge the collar.
• Your remote turns on by pushing the blue button as well.
• When using an electronic collar with your dog, they need to go through what is called a conditioning program.

You never slap a collar on a dog and start pushing buttons.  They don’t know what it is for and how to get out of it. That has to be taught.  Here at Justice Kennel I teach them the commands first and they just wear the collar every day when they go out.  I teach everything with a choke chain and lead and lots of praise.

Once I am confident the dog understands the command, I turn the collar on to a low stimulation and push the button at the same time as I say the command, “sit”.  At this point, there is nothing uncomfortable involved for the dog except they feel a slight tingly feeling.  What he begins to understand is that if he complies with the command, the tingly feeling turns off.  Once he understands that, you can set him up a little bit, make him a little excited, turn the collar up a bit and repeat the process.

Whenever I use the collar I always repeat the command 2X, the first time with stimulation and the second time without.  The reason for this is because, say he had his head in a gopher hole, you say, “come” and he doesn’t listen.  The next time you will say “come” and stimulate, and now his head will come up and look at you and he will give you his attention.  I then repeat the command, so there is no doubt in his mind what I want him to do and I want to make it easy for him to listen.

Here at Justice Kennels, I do a one month obedience program and during that time I also condition to the collar.

The whole point with the electronic collar is that if you are consistent for a week or two after they have gone through the course, you will rarely have to use the remote and that is what you want to get to. Where you have a one command dog, you can take with you anywhere and not worry about them pulling you, running across a highway or jumping on people.

It’s a great, safe and humane way to keep your dog alive and enjoy this precious member of your family.