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Trixie's E-collar Journey


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As a follow up to this, I emailed Steve/K9 Force recently to update him on Trixie's progress and he suggested I post here for anyone else who might be interested ...

I know I said I'd put in the hard work, but I was kinda slack and only took her out for training once or twice a week [if even :o]. However, considering the minimal effort I put in, the results have been quite significant. Even MonElite was surprised when she saw the improvement between her first and second training session.

I'm kicking myself now that I didn't video her at the start :rofl: We've had her since Anzac Day and she came to us with no manners whatsoever. She lashed out at me, OH and the other dogs regularly. We got that under control pretty quickly, but the pack was a mess for several months. We went to obedience and turned the house into a boot camp for unruly dogs :) It was no fun, but in time they all settled down and Chopper and Angel went back to being the dogs they were before. Cheeky, but no serious issues.

Trixie's fear aggression remained, although her critical distance became much smaller. Her basic sits, drops, stays and recalls were rubbish. We knew she knew them, cause she'd do them for food, but if you told her to sit without presenting a possible reward for her compliance, she'd just look at you. Even if you tried to help her by pushing her bum, she'd resist and push back! A drop could take a good 30 seconds to achieve and even then, it was only to a point where she was up on her elbows so her delicate stomach didn't touch the ground :laugh:

Now, after only a handful of training sessions, her sits are solid, her drops are solid, she plays really nicely with Chopper and Angel. When I take her to the park on a long lead her recalls are brilliant :D In the garden, without the collar she's a bit slower, so we need to keep working on that. Generally, everyone who met her when we first got her and meets her now comments on what a different dog she is. She's happy, she's fun and the chip on her shoulder is getting smaller by the day :)

I've also been using the e-collars on Chopper and Angel and their general behaviour is HEAPS better too :) No more leash pulling or running up to other people or dogs :eek:

Regarding her fear aggression, I'm not really sure how much or little that's improved as she hasn't been around many strange dogs. She's met our neighbour's GSD a few times and the last two times she rolled over and submitted to him. We went for a walk with *deelee and her dog a few weeks ago and they were fine together. I can walk her around Centennial Park with bucketloads of dogs around with no dramas at all. The last two spazz outs she had were when we were walking and there was a puppy looking at her and carrying on excitedly [samoyed first time and then a staffy the second time]. It seems to me that she's ok with strange dogs if they're calm and introduced carefully, but she doesn't like any kind of high energy. Maybe that's a high prey drive thing?

Soooo, we've a long way to go still, but yeah, e-collars changed my life :p

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Even MonElite was surprised when she saw the improvement between her first and second training session

Yes I was.

I had been there for the first session and the second session and only after the second session found out that you did nothing with her in beetween, you slaco! :rofl:

She is a smart dog, she needs guidance and support, its good she is improving. And you my dear need improvements as a hadler too! Ill video you next time.

I wonder whats next :eek: - Trixie and Divani running off lead together?

There - thats a challenge for you :laugh:

GREAT, can I bring Desmo over for you to work on for leash pulling?

You can always consider joining us for some training on Wednesdays. :)

Edited by MonElite
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Excellent Ruth!!

She was SO well behaved on our walk and I was amazed that she was so good about Evie having a sniff of her!

She is such a gorgeous thing- wouldnt it be lovely if you "fixed" her one day?

Yay for the E-collar! Yay for Trixie!! :)

(Wish Santa was bringing me one... :laugh: )

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grest work Ruth!

Pix - ermmm on a side note - judging by Desmo's demo of drive, can you not use that to stop him pulling?

i got my e collar a few months ago now and whilst i love it - again really havent spent the time utilising it to its full potential, im hoping over the christmas break things should improve - i long for the day i can take Rogue to the beach and have a 100% recall...just to prove that its not impossible for an Akita!

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Congrats on your progress Ruth! :) Yay Trixie! I've never seen a e-collar being used before but obviously it gets some results. Someone will have to explain to me how it works.

Trixie sounds quite similar to Zero - he was fine if another dog walked past him without a reaction but if they were overly friendly (even if they were on the other side of the street straining to get to him) he would react to them with aggression. Now he'll only react to anything if he's surprised suddenly by it and even then it's getting better. Your comment about her being a different dog and happier sounds exactly like what people have said about Zero. Have you noticed your bond with her getting stronger too?

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I wonder whats next :p - Trixie and Divani running off lead together?

I'm not sure if Trixie can run as fast as Chopper! :rolleyes:

Have you noticed your bond with her getting stronger too?

Yeah, but I put that down to the total clown side of her personality starting to shine through!

I have a friend's husband who could do with an e-collar to get him off the lounge, do you think they come in human sizes too? :laugh:

You might have to ask Steve that one :)

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grest work Ruth!

Pix - ermmm on a side note - judging by Desmo's demo of drive, can you not use that to stop him pulling?

i got my e collar a few months ago now and whilst i love it - again really havent spent the time utilising it to its full potential, im hoping over the christmas break things should improve - i long for the day i can take Rogue to the beach and have a 100% recall...just to prove that its not impossible for an Akita!

I'm the same as you, just haven't had the time to put into it after working and doing drive work with Montu.

I want to prove I can get perfect recalls on two huskies at the same time :D

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BP works hard :D BP works hard :D :)

I had perfect recall on two offlead GSPs in 6 weeks :laugh: .

Get off your bums and get to work!

Ecollar has been invaluable during our flood a few weeks ago. And the other day when the footpath attacked me and I dropped both leads.

Get to work :laugh::laugh::laugh::rofl:

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Yeha, both sibes got out yesterday so I am very keen on getting going again, gizmo has a perfect SAD but I didn't want to use it in case he ignored it. I just want my calender to arrive so I can create a reward system for myself :D

Edited by Lord Midol
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Ive got news.........

Ruthless let Trixie off lead yesterday, and we walked pass a flock of ducks and Trixie didnt want to chase them :D to test how good her recall really is.

Oh and not to mention (this is goin off topic) Chopper got a good lesson in a release comand v's stay command.

Ruthless seemed happy :) I bet I now spoiled her opportunity to brag, but oh well, tough :D

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K9: Well done Ruth, it really makes me happy when all these people are getting such great results in a short time with my programs, sounds like your reaping the rewards of your hard work, I am sure your dogs will be happier for it!

Thanks so much for sharing...!

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