# E-collar vibrate



## gvalenti (Feb 3, 2014)

I recently bought and educator 300ts for my 3.5 yo GSD. I have read and read and read and read about e-collar training and have watched tons of videos. Tonight we put the collar on him and attempted to find his working level. I could feel it on myself at 15, and it was 'uncomfortable' at 20. (it feels like a TENS unit, for anyone that has ever seen a PT or chiro that uses those). When we got to 25 and Jackson wasn't feeling anything, we decided to try the vibrate instead. The vibrate makes him respond perfectly. 

So, long story short, is it ok to just use the vibrate option? Everything I've read talks about using the vibrate after the dog learns with the conventional electric stimulus. Will I be doing any damage/need to back track training later by starting with the vibrate?

Thanks!


----------



## volcano (Jan 14, 2013)

my girl has the same issue. Its her thick fur that makes the shock inconsistent,so I just use the vibe function and she knows. They have a new stretch collar that may help?


----------



## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

This is probably your issue.

"After putting the Ecollar on the dog there’s one last thing to be done. Grasp the box and gently press it into the dog’s neck, wiggling it back and forth a little bit, as you do. Think of using the contact points to part the dog’s hair and get it to sit directly against his skin. This is especially important with long haired dogs, especially those with an undercoat. It's not as important as dogs with short hair or those that don't have an undercoat. The idea is to get the contact points to make good contact with the skin of the dog's neck."

This could also be part of the problem.

"If your dog has a very long coat or a double coat as some breeds do, you may find that you need to get longer lengths of contact points from the manufacturer of your Ecollar. They need to be long enough so that they can penetrate through the dog's coat. If they don't, you'll never get good contact no matter how much you tighten the strap."

Fit An Ecollar


----------



## Bob_McBob (Nov 15, 2012)

I found with my dog when I follow the normal instructions about how snugly to fit the collar, it often ends up too tight and sits at a slight angle on his neck bones and makes unreliable contact. It's also incredibly hard to find his lowest working level if there's no clearly obvious muscle twitching. He will only respond to a test stim with the usual ear flick, air lick, etc. exactly _once_. I have to wait a few minutes to try again and confirm he's actually feeling it.


----------



## gvalenti (Feb 3, 2014)

Thank you both.

We do have the extra long attachments on him because although he is short haired GSD it's obviously quite thick. It feels as if it's against his skin, but of course it's impossible to tell.

We will keep working with him tomorrow! The vibe gets him to jump up immediately, which makes me think it may even be TOO much for him.


----------

