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Sport Junior Dog Training Guide
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Sport Junior Dog Training Guide
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first. You want both forms of learning so
use the two-step process.
COLLAR-WISE DOGS
A collar-wise dog is one who believes
that wearing the e-collar is a cue to be
obedient even if you don’t nick. This
knowledge has its flip side which is
something you don’t want, namely
that not wearing the e-collar means he
doesn’t have to obey.
Since you want your dog eventually to
obey whether the e-collar is on or off,
don’t let him become collar-wise.
Avoid creating a collar-wise dog by be-
ing sure you have the e-collar on him—
and the transmitter with you—any time
you might give a command. Don’t put
yourself in a position where you give
a command you cannot reinforce with
your e-collar. It’s that simple. This ad-
vice refers not only to formal training
sessions but also to daily life. Have the
e-collar on your dog even after you’ve
completed his formal training, so you
can use it to back up your commands
while hunting over your dog or in daily
living situations.
If you never give a command that you
are not in a position to reinforce, then
your dog cannot learn to compare what
happened when the e-collar was on with
when it was not on, and he won’t become
collar wise.
DEVELOPING A DOG’S
E-COLLAR UNDERSTANDING
As your dog proceeds with e-collar work
on each command, you should follow a
certain sequence in how you apply com-
mands and nicks. In the early part of
each session, you should nick each time
you give the command. Later in that ses-
sion, sometimes nick with the command,
but other times give a “freebie.” A “free-
bie” means that you give the command
but don’t nick. A dog who needs more
control should have fewer freebies and
more repetitions where you do nick. The
Lesson plans in this booklet will also
give you more pointers about when to
nick with the command and when to give
a freebie.
As the sessions on each command prog-
ress, your goal is to be able to give the
command with no nick at all, and have
your dog respond the way you want. To
work toward this goal, give the com-
mand without a nick but if your dog fails
to respond correctly, repeat the com-
mand with a nick. If you find that he is
often failing to respond without a nick,
then you need to return to nicking with
each command for a while.
There’s a reason for a two-step process
in training e-collar commands. If you
nick with each command, dogs associ-
ate the nick with what they should do
about it. This is what you want. But after
they have that idea, their understanding
deepens and becomes more permanent if
you give them one “free” chance to obey
