E collar for police dogs? - Page 2

What LE ?

Many. I am not going to be specific.
Prager Hans

LOL.......

I haven't heard this locally or seen it, but I could ask around.

I know a couple of people who train k-9s for law enforcement.
One is with a major metropolitan department as well as being their trainer.

I dunno, not really in the mood to debate you tonight.
If you say so thats good enough for me.............................................................................:)

Moons, depending on where you live you may not see it.  Not all agencies do use them.  In my state they are much more prevalent on the west side of the state than in the more rural south and eastern parts.  It depends on the program and the ability of the dept. trainers.  I observed the dogs from a couple depts in my state that use them and the dogs work happy and motivated with out looking like they want to crawl off in the grass.  I needed it to train the recall for my young dog (now three years old), when he measured out and collected the long line I needed something else.  I haven't used it for the basic control work yet and haven't needed it but I will be using the vibrate for tactical recalls during searches.

LAV-K9, there really is a huge difference in the quality and reliability of the collars from my first one that I had in the '90's, an innotek and the one that is about 18 mo old, a dogtra.  the dogtra has so many subtle levels, I can't even feel it until it gets to about level 10 and that is pretty mild, but it can go up to level 115.  By contrast the old innotek had sevel levels and the lowest setting was stronger than level 10 on the dogtra.  The vibrate feature feels about like my cell phone.  Old school handlers may have tried one of the earlier collars and were not impressed by them but the technology has really improved.

That being said Prager is correct in that the potenial for abuse is much easier and potential damage much greater.  It is a tool that some are more comfy with than others.  I also like my clicker for marking precise responses, it is easier for me than getting verbal praise out or throwing the toy at the exact right second when I am tired.  Like the clicker the e-collar can be faded so that the correction feature in as Hans says properly trained dog is not really needed.  In our state for certification you have to have the transmitter turned off or not on your person for the test so there is the good chance of weeding out the not properly trained animal.

Slam, what kind of collar piece do you use on your e-collar?

This topic always brings about interesting opinions and debate,

C. Neubert

Actually,
I only know only what the two trainers I know personally, and those PD's have been doing and I haven't seen them used in the field or off duty with the officers who handle them.

My only problem with these devices are when inexperienced amateurs use them.

I don't see the need for them 24/7 on any dog.  That would suggest a problem with the dogs training to me.

No matter, this is only my opinion and I am not working with these types of drives.

No you are correct, and most don't leave them on 24/7 (or shouldn't as it will ulcerate the skin).  As always training is training and if you don't have the fundamentals down it doesn't matter what you use you will still have a crappy dog.  ;)

I agree.

GSD SchH3v- I remember the Innotec...man those sucked!! I had one and sold it to a client.He couldn't blast his dog like I knew he would cause the settings were so low on mine even the highest one i could hold on to and not flinch.That is why i don't think that they should be used by people (like my old client) that don't have a clue or think they know what they are doing. Most the other people I knew had Tri Tronics.The guy I knew that had a hunting dog used it. Level 3 with the boost button....NOT GOOD!!! I felt it and just about jumped out of my skin but couldn't let go of the collar to do so!!! I have an e collar and barely use.Battery doesn't hold a charge anyway. Just like a gun...in the hands of the educated and sane...it is ok but put it in the wrong hands and someone is going to get hurt.jmo

LAVK-9 glad I'm not alone in my opinion of the innotec, I think worse than the drastic jump in levels (of course you had to open the transmitter and mess with the stupid itty bitty switches to do it) was the horrible inconsistency, sometimes it transmitted and sometimes it didn't.  I like dogtra over tri-tronics because you can get more subtlety in the levels but I don't use it as often as it probably sounds.  I love your gun analogy, that really sums it up.