Does anyone have any good books or articles to suggest on the introduction and beginning use of E collars?? I train with both AKC and UKC field people and there are varied training methods. I was always taught that you use the collar in a way that the dog doesn't know that it is the collar that is causing the discomfort. Now I am told that you want the dog to know that the nick is coming from the collar. I know there are many ways to train and I would like to read as much as possible before starting my next dog on senior work.
PS..I have trained a dog with an e collar in the past therefore, I am not new to using them.
Thanks for any information you all have to give.

If it has been a while since you've trained a dog to the senior level using an e-collar I would strongly advise doing so under the guidance of a reputable field pro. I good pro will teach you how to train your dog using precise and fair corrections. JMO

I've had good luck with the Smartworks series by Evan Grahm. Smartfetch and the obedience dvd both cover collar conditioning.

I second the recommendation on the Smartwork program. DO NOT use the old Dobbs Tritronics book. It uses too much high continuous stimulation. Has your dog already been force fetched? If so you can collar condition him with known basic obedience commands. I start with Here then Sit and Heel I like the dog to feel safe at my side and prefer to introduce the collar when they are away from me. Then you move on through Force fetch and pile work. If you haven't taught a conditioned retrieve AKA force fetch - that needs to be done manually first. You can pre-introduce teaching BACK to a pile of bumpers, like you would teach a go-out in Obedience - send the dog to a known target like a treat across the room from your side on the word BACK. ( I do this at 12-14 weeks) I have very soft show bred dogs and they all work very enthusiastically. Hope that is clearer than mud.

Thanks Gina. The dog is already force fetched and knows all the basic here, heel, come commands. We have touched on back piles briefly. I would never use continuous stimulation and, in fact, want to use less stimulation than all of the people I train with, but I am not sure I can get good results without it. I will look into the smartworks program to see what tips they have.

Mike Lardy's "Total Collar Condiditoning" tape is very helpful.

www.totatretriever.com

You can see his training flow chart and the tapes/CDs he has available.

MK

Just remember whatever training regimen you use to always be able to read your dog and don't correct if you aren't sure the dog understands what you are asking. Good Luck and happy training!