What Is An E-collar For Dogs & Should You Use One

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Are you having trouble training your dog? If you are an inexperienced dog owner or want to make training your dog easier, you can start thinking about e-collar. In the dog community, e-collars are a bit controversial. While some can suggest using one, others are strictly against it.

If you have problems with your dog barking, chewing, or running away, you might start thinking about getting one, but before you do so, you must understand what an e-collar is and whether it will help you and your dog without hurting the dog. Stay with us and find out all the pros and cons of using e-collar as well as how you should use it.

What is an e-collar?

E-collar stands for an electronic collar. This collar looks like your regular dog collar except for a small transmitter box embedded in it. Every e-collar has a remote that will send signals to the collar. The distance that this remote work will depend on the manufacturer and the model, but standard models can transmit signals to a few hundred meters.

When you mention e-collar, most people will think about shock collars. These two collars are not the same, and they have differences. The first and most crucial difference is that e-collar use electronic stimulation in opposition to shock collars.

Simply put, e-collars will stimulate your dog's nerves with vibration without causing any pain to the dog. However, there is no pain, but this will still not be comfortable for your dog, but it is a much better option than shock collars.

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How do e-collars actually work?

As we already said, e-collars will use electronic stimulation to alert the dog that he is doing something undesirable. When your dog starts barking or chewing, you can trigger electronic stimulation with your hand remote, which will cause discomfort for the dog.

The goal is for the dog to start connecting discomfort with his "bad" behavior and thus stop doing it. Depending on the model of your e-collar, you can even set the intensity of stimulation and discomfort you are causing for your dog.

You can even find some e-collars that only use vibrations, thus creating a much more pleasant feeling for your dog than electronic stimulation. However, your dog can still connect vibration with bad behavior.

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Are e-collars safe to use on dogs?

If you are using them properly, they are entirely safe for dogs. They will not harm your dog but only create discomfort. Even at the maximum level of discomfort, they will not hurt your dog.

If you decide to use e-collar, we suggest you start from a minimum level and work your way up if necessary. From our experience, using an e-collar on the lowest level can get things done, and your dog will understand what he is doing wrong.

WORLD DOG FINDER TIP: E-collars can be used as an help in training dogs, but you should not completely base your dog training on them. They should only be a way to correct bad behavior if you tried other methods that didn't work.

When to use an e-collar for training my dog?

If you have already tried everything else and nothing seems to work with your dog, you might be tempted to start using e-collars. They can be an excellent addition to training your dog, but as we said earlier, your training should not be solely based on them. They only serve as an addition to help you with some aspects of training.

You shouldn't neglect other training methods with your dog. Although it will not hurt your dog, treats and praises will work for many dogs.

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IMPORTANT: When using an e-collar, ensure you know how to use it correctly. If you don't know how to use it, you can create more problems, and your dog could start exhibiting worse behavior. If you are not sure how to use it correctly, consult with a dog trainer.

Pros and cons

A few studies show all the pros and cons of using e-collars for training your dog. Here are what they concluded:

Pros

• Excellent addition for training your dog
• They are safe and will not harm your dog
• They can correct different dog behaviors
• It can be used at greater distances and have different settings

Cons

• If not used properly, they can create lot more problems for your dog
• There have been many reports that after using e-collars, dogs started to exhibit anxiety

RELATED: Should You Use a Shock Collar?

Where to buy it?

E-collars can be found in most pet shops across the country, but we bring your our pick that you can use if you decide this is the correct way to train your dog.

Conclusion

E-collars are relatively unknown to most dog owners, and the ones who heard about them will mostly mistake them for shock collars. E-collar can be a great addition to training your dog if you use it right. They will not hurt your dog but rather just create discomfort, so he could start connecting discomfort with his "bad" behavior.

World Dog Finder team