Any experieneces with dog training collar?

[idaho04]

I think I may need a training collar for our dog. We have a Pyr puppy, he is seven month old now, and we also have three other large dogs. The Pyrenees is kind of hard to control but the biggest problem is that he will chase a deer, not listen, and in no time he'll be miles away. He comes back all right but it is illegal here and he can be shot for that just like his older brother was last spring.

What kind of shock collar do I need, what features should I be looking for, how much to spend? What are your experiences?

[Pat]

I have never owned one but been around them. My observation is that you want a good one not a cheapie. You need a good reliable range and for a large dog with a heavy coat you need some decent disciplinary output.

Another important facet is positive reinforcement. Praise for getting it right is much to be preferred over a shock for doing wrong. I am in complete agreement with proper use of training collars but not such that negative feedback is overused.

Pat

[idaho04]

Well it is three month later now. Our Pyr puppy is huge now (10 month old). He still chases deer or whatever but I think he is doing it a little less as he will gradually realize that he will not catch it.

We got a shock collar for him, Tritronics, nice product, but even if we shave his neck it is not working all the time. His coat is like a carpet. We solved many of his problems using the collar just by using the beep.

We live on 85 acres in the mountains of northern Idaho and we have state forest on two sides. Our property is not fenced which makes it tougher. Other neighbors are so far tolerating our dogs but they may be afraid of the big Pyr at times. Our biggest problem is slowly becoming their 'roaming'. All four our dogs will disappear about every other day for 2-3 hours and roam the forests around us. They go through other people properties which may become a problem. Frankly, we do not know where and how far they go, it is impossible to find out. I may try to track them down when we get fresh snow. A GPS locator would be nice, but $500? The problem really is that we did not teach the dogs when they were little and now it is more difficult. it was not a problem until the big one started to scare our neighbors.

If you have happen to have an idea how to stop a pack of dogs roaming let me know.

[Bird]

I'm afraid in my part of the country your dogs would be shot. Packs of dogs are so dangerous that most people won't tolerate them at all. If you value the dogs, you really need fences to keep them on your property.

[speedbump]

I think I'd be looking into a chain link fence instead of an electronic one. I know you mentioned a training collar, but there is also an electronic fence than you can trench around the area you want the dogs to stay in. You have to do a lot of training with the collar and a leash, but is is effective if done correctly. It's probably that or the chain link. The third option is the dead dog.