Earlier this morning, my Bear and I were out in the backyard, doing some
agility practice.

I had my clicker and my treat bag, as I always do, (Hint: you can buy
carpenter's nail pouches at your local home store that are a lot better
than the ones you find at the pet stores. They're more solidly
constructed and they have quality spring-steel clips instead of flimsy
plastic so they are far less likely to slip off your belt.)

I also had the remote for Bear's remote training collar, which he was
wearing. I have him wear the collar a couple of hours every day, and he
always wears the collar when we're working off-leash in an unfenced area.

I'd started using the collar back in July, because I'd been unable to
develop in Bear a reliable recall in the face of distractions. I'd been
trying for over a year, using positive methods, and it simply hadn't
worked.

This morning, when I took off the leash, Bear started wandering over to
the neighbors to check out the smells where the rabbits had been browsing
overnight. But he came to heel eagerly when called, and worked
enthusiastically.

At the end of the session, I walked over to where I'd dropped the leash,
and squatted down to pick it up. I'd not commanded Bear to follow me, but
he did so, and when I squatted he sat, just out of arms reach, staring
over at the damned rabbits.

I called "come", and he did nothing.

We've trained "heel", "side", and "front" to mean take up precise
positions. We've not trained "come" to mean take up a precise position.
Bear only needed to move a foot for me to put the collar on, and I expect
he thought he'd already "come".

So I backed up a couple of feet, repeated the command, and he came
eagerly.

Never gave a correction at all.

Which means it's now three months of using the remote training collar for
recalls since I've needed to actually give him a correction with it.

And because I can trust him off-leash, I can do things, like do agility
training in the backyard, that I could not have done.

I'd never recommend one without two qualifications - 1st, it's only one
tool of many, and it's role in dog training is rather narrow. It's not of
much use in teaching a behavior, it's role is in reinforcing behavior
that's already been learned. And second, it's a powerful tool that can
cause real damage if misused. Find an experienced trainer to get you
started. It's critical that a dog's first introduction to the collar is
done properly.

I won't say that every dog needs to work with a remote training collar.
But if you're dealing with a dog that seems to be deciding not to obey
commands when you know he knows what he's supposed to do, it may be an
appropriate approach.

--
What, me .Sig?