I attended and E-collar demonstration by a professional trainer a few
days ago and came away from it a little bit troubled. The troubling
part was not the electrical stimulation the dog received--because
afterwards when I pressed my hand up against the collar to see how much
shock the dog had received, I could barely feel anything. No, the
troubling part was how tightly the collar was fitted. Initially the
collar was so tight that the dog had a difficult time swallowing a
treat. Because my dog was being used, I (much to the dismay of the
trainer) loosened the collar one hole. Even then, when the dog barked,
the sound was not normal. The bark was very raspy sounding. I believe
the collar was still too tight if the dog would have been expected to
wear it for more than a few minutes.

With an E-collar fitted properly, shouldn't a dog be able to swallow,
bark, eat, and drink-- without distress? I feel the need to use an
E-collar because my one year old, very high drive dog exhibits a
behavior that is very damaging and potentially very dangerous to herself
when she is out in the open countryside, away from me. However, if the
collar must be fitted so tightly, it seems that the E-collar needs to be
refined before it can be of any real use. (I understand that the collar
must be fitted more tightly than a regular collar.) scott