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Unboxing Follow-up: DT H2O 1810 eCollar

What is Unboxing?: Unboxing originated with Unboxing.com, a site dedicated to helping people show off their new techie toys, favorite gadgets, consumer electronics, and more. As their tag line states "Vicarious thrills from opening new gear."
DT System Dog Training eCollarThe DT H20 1810 ecollar works as advertised and that is such a comforting thing. It did not over promise nor did it under deliver. You will recall we posted an Unboxing story on the DT H20 1810 ecollar a while back. While using the collar--and yes to answer your question, I did try it on myself. I thought I had a duty to understand how the ecollar worked. A slight nick on the lowest setting had my complete attention. And I thought this might not be such a good idea, so while we experimented with the ecollar we also tried an alternative training method positive reinforcement. The ecollar was obviously negative reinforcement. I had many conversations with trainers who are devotes of the ecollar and think they are the best invention in the world--even better than ATM cards, sliced bread, and canned beer. On the other end of the spectrum are the trainers who believe in positive reinforcement, e.g. give the dog a treat if he performs as directed. The positive reinforcement trainers abhor the use of an ecollar and think it is cruel and inhumane. The negative trainers wonder what the dog will do if you run out of treats. Regardless which side of the fence you are on, I really wanted my money back on the DT H20 it worked so well in such a short time with Cooper when teaching him to "come" and to "leave it." I never turned the power intensity past 2. As Cooper has grown from a long legged pup to a muscular adolescent, he tests his boundaries and judicious and prudent use of the ecollar has produced excellent results. But back to the actual collar. The controller comes with a lanyard, which can be convenient especially if you have a check cord in one hand and a wand in the other to teach "whoa." The nick button does just that, a quick zap that's designed to get their attention. The continuous button provides stimulant for a longer period, no more than a few seconds and then turns off. Use this if your pup thinks the neighbor’s cat is lunch. We used the DT ecollar in the land trust where there are streams and beaver ponds, steep hills and deep gullies and never once did we loose a signal. We used the tester, which is included in the kit, just to be sure. The collar strap is actually the antenna and is stiff since wires are sandwiched inside the plastic covering. Waterproof and definitely shock proof--Cooper proof would be more correct. It holds a charge over days and weeks depending on use. To recharge, pull out the rubber stoppers and plug in the charger. Both collar and controller can be charged at the same time. The DT ecollar definitely convinced me that gun dog training can be easy and safe. And yes, we still give positive reinforcement with treats as well.

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Comments

I've been debating using an e-collar on my dog for training, but I think I'm going to give it a whirl. I'm all about positive reinforcement, but I think there are times when the negative reinforcement has to be used in order to really get a dogs attention.

Very informative post. I'm going to check into the e-collars a little further.

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