January 25, 2012

Shock Collar Update

I got the collar and Kaytu wore it throughout the day for 3 days. It's important for her to become desensitized to wearing it before it's used so that she doesn't relate the collar itself with the shock. Tonight I took her for a 5 mile bike ride then about 30 minutes later decided it was time to turn the collar on and do some training with it since she was nice and exhausted. I want to make it as fair as possible for her. I'm not tricking her. I'm not trying to encourage her to walk away so I can give her the stim. Setting the dog up to succeed is crucial with any training. Tiring her out first was a major step for her to be able to succeed. Eventually I will try it before she's had a good workout, and eventually I will expect her to be able to perform at greater distance and with greater distractions. Not yet.

I was ready. Apparently, so was Kaytu. She was basically glued to my side for the entire 10 minutes we were outside. She wouldn't even get to the end of the line before she'd spin around and come back to me. I was using a flexi-lead so she would have the option to go ~15 ft away from me, and also because it's very lightweight and I wanted to encourage the feeling of not being attached to me. Since she kept coming back on her own before she got to the end of the line I didn't even have a chance to use a command 90% of the time, and when I gave the command she instantly turned and came to me- no stim used. Good dog!! I know that the positive methods I've been using are working with her. I am still going to work with the collar to teach her what the stim means as I do believe it could one day help save her life.

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