You can use ecollars for pretty much anything imaginable. One of the main things I love about ecollars is how versatile they are. They’re totally impersonal vs something like a prong or voice correction, and you have a wide range of correction options. Vs with withholding rewards, where you have far less option for tailoring consequence - you essentially can immediately withhold the reward, or put the dog up, lol. Ecollars are much more black and white, and allow for significantly more precision - you can tailor the number, and you can use them as precisely as a clicker. I use a low stim (say, a 15 out of 127 - something which I can barely feel) to “activate” Happy sometimes. If you’ve ever seen a video of someone working on heeling by gently and rhythmically popping the prancing, happy dog with a prong, it’s the same concept. Not so much anymore, since her heeling is well established. And I use stim of varying levels for all sorts of behaviors - sometimes for more complex behaviors on a fairly low stim (say, mid-20s), like trying to “escape” heel position, so Happy has to work very hard to stay IN heel position. The stim makes it crystal clear when she is correct and when she is not. Megan often follows her “back” cue in heeling with stim; there’s a lot of options here. The sky’s the limit. But I would say the 3 biggest things I use the ecollar for are the out, the platz, and blocking behaviors. The first two have been emphasized enough at this point that she doesn’t frequently need corrections, but it still happens. Sometimes whatever is going on is more valuable than the ball. With blocking behaviors, I mean both BS in the crate - like if I hear her going all escape artist, or if she’s barking for the joy of it - and for competition stuff. An integral part of PSA is performing obedience around decoys. Happy had no issue with this till recently (many more bitework sessions under her belt), and then she started releasing herself towards decoys instead of the ball 😂 Using the ecollar tremendously sped up the process of getting her to play with a ball despite wanting to bite her BFF the decoy. For Happy, there is no higher reward than getting to bite someone. Using the ecollar helped communicate to her far more quickly HOW she can get the reward she so strongly desires. I know people often think of ecollars as creating a “have to” mindset in the dog, but I don’t agree with that at all. Even when Happy has gotten some major ass corrections, she doesn’t get a sullen or slave like mindset. In the right hands, ecollars are a tool of clarity: helping the dog get the reward faster. That’s absolutely how they’ve functioned with Happy, circumventing a LOT of confusion and frustration in the process. What I’d want to tell someone who’s never used an ecollar before is first and foremost, go above and aboard to make sure your dog won’t be collar smart. I’m talking put the collar on for a couple days before ever first switching it on and finding working level, put the collar on well before you ever plan to actually use it, and be careful about the dog watching the behavior chain of you grabbing the remote. Also, the collar probably needs to be tighter than you think to make consistent, even contact. Do not waste time teaching your dog the tone or vibrate function as a “warning” for a correction… with proper training for recall, out, and other high stakes behaviors, your voice is what should be functioning as a warning that stim is imminent without compliance. Don’t let other people make you feel guilty for using an ecollar - there’s a lot of misinformation about ecollars out there, including from people who’ve never picked up a remote. I get the vibe that a lot of balanced trainers feel pressured to say they ONLY use ecollars for emergency situations, or for gentle proofing, or whatever. I don’t! 🤷🏼♀️ I use ecollars for a melange of stuff, and my dog is perfectly happy and thrilled to work. She prefers correction to having rewards withheld or being put up. I have much more respect for balanced trainers who use more pressure than I do, but who are fair and thoughtful to the dog, than I do for anyone who is anti aversive, but interacts with their dog out of anger.
Ultimately, as long as you’re actively being considerate of your dog, an ecollar is a fantastic tool which can greatly increase clarity in training, as well as open up a lot of opportunities for your dog.