#ecollar training

[sheepdog-and-fakegoldenretriever]

[feralhound]

Guess who had an awesome focused offleash walk? This girl! She was so confident and intune with me!

[sheepdog-and-fakegoldenretriever]

[slobbermonsters]

Cats and rabbits.

Naiko's caught/eaten 3 rabbits this week (ew). Since he's had a lot of reward from chasing stuff outside lately, I decided to implement some pretty harsh adversives with the e-collar when it comes to chasing cats outside. Naiko has never seen cats outside here so i know he would be very tempted to give chase. Normally i would never use such a harsh method, but Naiko has a history of positive reinforcement when ignoring the cats inside and i doubt the experience would harm his opinion on cats in general. I also don't want him chasing Wylie - who is too old to escape and could be easily injured - or Merle -who is too fat and nice to defend himself. Or any other cat we might come across for that matter, as we are often places with feral/barn cats that are so fun to chase. Naiko has the ability to easily catch and kill a cat, whether it is intentional or not. Rabbits/squirrels/birds are okay to hunt. Never any cats. I want to make that as clear to him as possible. I had them all outside together for the first time yesterday and used a moderate vibration level. Enough to be a distraction so that I could redirect to a toy and praise him for turning away from the cats. First session worked out very well! Tried it again today, but had to increase vibration because Naiko was being a total spaz and I think the collar was too loose. I finally used a low/mid level shock once he chose to ignore the higest vibration and it was an immediate success. Lots of praise and some playtime with a special toy after that. I may have to repeat the lesson once or twice more, especially when it comes to a running cat, but we're on the right track. I dont use my ecollars regularly (usually for emergency recall with Maya when hiking). There are some situations though where I do not allow any mistakes: like chasing cats, putting paws on the counter, or running across busy roads. I would rather have to give ONE unforgettable lesson than risk my pets or someone else's pets getting hurt.