The answer
He will if you use it the way most people do, and that is the honest answer - the trainers here name this failure themselves rather than waiting for a critic to. It has a name, collar-wise, and it has a cause: the collar only goes on when something is about to happen. Put it on when you are annoyed, take it off when the dog has been good, and what he learns is that the collar is the thing that does it. One trainer walks an owner through it as a thought experiment - I fetched this, I put it on you, you behaved, I took it off - and then asks her where the power is. "You need it to be not this, but you."
The fix is procedural and it is counter-intuitive: "the way that you get to him listening better with it off is to have it on a lot." The collar goes on in the morning and comes off at night, worn on outings where it is never used at all, so that wearing it predicts nothing. One trainer says the collar is on for every outing and used on about one outing in ten. Another puts it on and leaves it switched off for whole sessions, so that when the sensation eventually arrives nothing about the equipment has changed and the dog attributes it to what she just did rather than to the hardware.
The second half of the argument is that the dog cannot tell your gear apart anyway. "He don't know which one the gear is. They're all gear to him. the harness is gear, the leash is gear, the flat collar would be gear, the e-collar is gear, whatever he's wearing is gear." If everything is on most of the time, nothing is a signal, and the only thing left that predicts a consequence is you.
Three rules follow, and they are the ones owners actually break. Never fetch the collar because you are frustrated - what he learns from watching you go and get it is that the collar is the bad thing. Never show or wave the remote: keep it on a carabiner or in a pocket, say the word, and tap it unseen. And never give him a command while it is off in the first week home, because the mirror failure is just as real - he learns he only has to listen while it is on, and that, in the trainer's own word, makes him miserable.
The collar is 'just a seat belt', worn every day, all day, for the first weeks (Max), and put on unused from a puppy's first walk so he habituates to it (Thor, Pepper). Don't come home, wait for her to act up, and then put it on: that is how a dog becomes 'collar aware' (Lunna). A dog who only wears it when it is about to be used thinks 'oh crap' as it goes on (Marvin). One owner describes the failure without knowing its name: she takes 'the zapper' out when he gets jumpy and he straightens up at the sight of it (Thumper). The same idea is taught in Spanish: it works 'cuando tu voz tiene poder en vez de el control', when your voice has the power instead of the remote (Sofia). And the hand can become the tell as easily as the collar, so it rests on the remote all the time (Zeus). Maverick's file asks the same question about food: a dog trained only with treats holds out when there is no treat.
The September lessons (30 Sep update) repeat the rule and add one more prohibition. Boog's family are told to leave the collar on all day in the first week home, off only while he sleeps so it can charge, because otherwise it is 'a night and day difference' between a trained dog with it on and an untrained one with it off. Kali and Kane's trainer uses no beep or vibration as a warning, because a warning 'ties me to the tool': the dogs end up 'paying attention to the collar not me'; their remote hangs on his belt like a piece of clothing and they have never seen it. Boog's trainer drops the beep too, for a plainer reason: marker, beep, then button 'turns into like a math formula'. At Lunna's refresher a trainer explains the failure to camera and prescribes the collar every day, all day, for at least the first month home. And Whiskey's lesson shows the end state the rule aims at: she still wears it, but its use is being faded - 'we're not using it'. Older lessons say the same: 'collar aware' named and the fix 'just have it on most of the time' (the German Shepherd puppy Shadow), the collar put on in the first day or two before it is used (Callie), worn 'for a long, long time' without being part of every command (Hattie), and, at one Bernie lesson, most of the time for the first five or six months before it is relaxed.
(Inferred, not said on film: these two failures - the collar predicts trouble, and the collar is the only time obedience is enforceable - are the same mistake seen from two sides, and both are prevented by the same rule, which is that the collar is simply always there.)
Angier K9 is a family-owned, play-based Board & Train serving Angier, Raleigh and the Triangle, with three full owner lessons.
What to do
Put it on in the morning and take it off at night, every day, whether you use it or not - and charge it overnight. Wear it on walks where you never touch the button. Never go and get it because you are cross, and never hold up the remote as a threat: keep it on a carabiner or in your pocket, say your word, and press where he cannot see. In the first week home, do not give him a command while it is off. Once you have gone two or three days without needing it, try a day without it and see.
What the trainers say
cuz that's what you want, right? Um, but paradoxically, the way that you get to him listening better with it off is to have it on a lot,
good. Um, and so then it can't be that he listens because he has the gear on. He don't know which one the gear is. They're all gear to him. the harness is gear, the leash is gear, the flat collar would be gear, the e-collar is gear, whatever he's wearing is gear.
go for a walk." And you guys go for a walk. Does that collar have any meaning at all? Zip, zero, natada. It means nothing. It doesn't mean anything bad. Doesn't mean anything good.
attached to the tool. So what that means is the dogs get what's called collarwise.
they they learn that when you put the collar on, uh oh, right? Um, and so I have a lot of people that will tell me like, oh, like all I have to do is like show him the e-collar remote and then he'll listen, right? I do not want that.
people will uh wear, you know, things that would be illegal to wear in competition while they're practicing, but it's because it improves them.
most of the time anyway. And so then when you use it, he doesn't think, "Oh, it's that collar. It's the e-collar." He's just like, "Oh, I should have
I had this collar and then I asked you to do something you didn't listen to and I went and got this collar and I put it on you and I asked you to do it again you didn't do it and then kept it on for 30 minutes seems like you were doing good now and so I take the collar off and like that's it what are you gonna think about this yeah and also you're gonna going to know. This thing. This is what does it. Not me. This. So then, where's the power? Here. Not here. You need it to be not this, but you.
That's why another really important thing is, because this is a really bad habit a lot of people have, don't do this. Rock take. Grand take. Grand take. Don't do that, right? Because this, now now you're taking the power that should be you and giving it to this
That's why I have it clipped here on the carabiner, or I have it in a pocket like this, and then I say eh, and I tap this, because they don't even know this thing exists, ideally.
This means nothing to them, right? They never see it, they never think about it. Ideally, they think you're like, you have like, demigod powers, and you can go eh, and they're like, oh my god, how did you do that? That's what you want to have them feel, right?
Roxy does too, but she needs reinforcement every once in a while, especially with you guys, she's gonna need it. So just have her, I would have her wear it throughout the day, every day for a while.
Well, the association that's made there is, if the e-collar's on, I better not screw up. But if it's not on, I can do whatever because they can't obligate me to.
you shouldn't make a show of it to the dog. You don't want them to think anything, you want them to think this is just like a paperweight. It does nothing, it means nothing. Same thing with the collar, it does nothing, means nothing.
Another thing too is I would recommend having the e-collar on pretty much during the day.
for the first week, don't give him a command unless the e-collar is on
And so he could become like collar aware, which is where he'll learn that he only has to listen to collars on him, which then makes it really miserable because any time the collar's off.
I have the e-collar on her I will not be using it this whole session in fact it is not turned on I just have it on her because I want her I just want her to be used to wearing it
so if it's on her right now if she feels nothing in the next session she feels it she's like well nothing changed so i guess it must genuinely just be this behavior that like causes this uh chain reaction and she doesn't suspect it's the collar
the other one is only putting the e-collar on when you're about to use it because you're upset. Just let them wear it.
to the point where I've started going like really hard on it and telling people like you must do this, you will fail. I like being pretty blunt about it. is you you will fail if you do the following things.
what happens then is what do they think when they see you go get that collar and put it on?
So, obviously, I don't just want to hit the button to test it out cuz I don't know that I I can't do it. It just feels really wrong to be like, "Let's test it out and just hit both of them."
With every collar I've ever used, I've always had it on my neck and turned it all the way way up and use it. Because I want to know before I put it on my button, right?
don't have to use the e-collar at the time okay right so will he need to wear it for the first couple weeks pretty much every day all day i tell people like no matter what it's just a seat belt
then be like oh e-collar is going on because a dog what we call becoming collar aware right
they'll be like oh crap right you want them to go i wear that all the time nothing happens
want this to be what they respond to the sight of this you want them to respond to your voice
es cuando tu voz tiene poder en vez de el control
because what can happen is they can become like collar aware where they realize they have to to listen when the collar's on and the collar comes off and they like act a fool again and it's like a night and day difference of like trained dog with the collar on completely untrained with the collar off
exactly then they're paying attention to the collar not me and like i want it to work if the collar isn't on sometime so then i don't want anything to be attached to the collar ever
so then wearing the collar means nothing no meaning right it's not a predictor right because that's another mistake people make is they like never go for the collar and then they only put it on when they are annoyed and they're intending to use it right away
when the dog isn't using it often um then they associate the collar with obedience and when they don't have the collar on then they're not obedient but when they have it on they're obedient
like in the beginning we obviously had to use it more you know now we're we're fading off more and she wears it but and she's doing we're not using it
called collar aware where you only get obedience if the collar is on so instead just have it on most of the time
How it looks, dog by dog
Bo
The owner had reasoned her way to the opposite conclusion for sensible-sounding reasons - he needs to get used to not having it on - and the trainer argues the paradox at length: the route to a dog who listens with it off runs through having it on most of the time. His version of the mechanism is that the dog cannot sort your equipment into categories at all; everything he wears is gear, so if all of it is on routinely, none of it predicts anything and what is left as the predictor is your voice. He puts the practice-gear analogy underneath it - athletes train in things that are banned in competition because it improves them - and closes it with the collar that means nothing at all: "Zip, zero, natada." The rule he attaches is the one owners break: never fetch the collar because you are frustrated, because what the dog learns from watching you go and get it is what the collar is for.
On film
when you don't have it on, he'll listen better even when you don't have it on
So if you think about it like in his mind, um if you use it on a regular basis for everything else, um and it's just on all the time, he doesn't think of it as a thing.
He don't know which one the gear is. They're all gear to him. the harness is gear, the leash is gear, the flat collar would be gear, the e-collar is gear,
what happens then is what do they think when they see you go get that collar and put it on?
Roxy
The handover lesson where the argument is delivered as a question the owner has to answer for herself. He walks her through fetching the collar, putting it on, thirty minutes of good behaviour and taking it off again, and then asks where the power ended up - "Here. Not here. You need it to be not this, but you." The schedule follows: on in the morning, off at night, worn all day whether it is used or not, and never fetched as a consequence. The remote is never to be shown or waved - a visible remote becomes the cue and the dog starts checking for it - so it lives on a carabiner or in a pocket, and the correction is the verbal marker plus an unseen tap. The aim is put as a joke that is also the point: ideally the dog never registers the device at all and experiences you as the cause. The exit test comes with it - once you have not needed it for two or three days, try a day without.
On film
This thing. This is what does it. Not me. This. So then, where's the power? Here. Not here. You need it to be not this, but you.
That's why another really important thing is, because this is a really bad habit a lot of people have, don't do this. Rock take. Grand take. Grand take. Don't do that, right? Because this, now now you're taking the power that should be you and giving it to this
This means nothing to them, right? They never see it, they never think about it. Ideally, they think you're like, you have like, demigod powers, and you can go eh, and they're like, oh my god, how did you do that? That's what you want to have them feel, right?
Roxy does too, but she needs reinforcement every once in a while, especially with you guys, she's gonna need it. So just have her, I would have her wear it throughout the day, every day for a while.
Deuce
The mirror failure, named at the go-home lesson with its cause and its cure attached in three consecutive sentences. Give the dog a command while the collar is off and he learns he only has to listen while it is on - which makes him unusable the moment it comes off and, in the trainer's own word, miserable. The prevention is procedural rather than philosophical: keep the collar on through the first week, and give no command at all without it. It sits inside the same lesson's harder instruction, which is that every word gets backed up every time in that first week; the discretion to let something go comes later.
On film
Another thing too is I would recommend having the e-collar on pretty much during the day.
for the first week, don't give him a command unless the e-collar is on
Sage
The owner rule given at length in the in-program lesson, with a ratio attached: the collar is worn every time the dog goes out and used on about one outing in ten, so wearing it carries no information. Kelton states the failure in the dog's own logic - collar on, I had better not; collar off, I can do whatever, because you cannot make me - and then the rule that follows: never show the remote, because the dog should believe you have the power rather than the box. The same lesson carries the other half of his practice around the tool, which is that he has tested every collar he has ever used on his own neck, at full, before it went on a dog.
On film
Well, the association that's made there is, if the e-collar's on, I better not screw up. But if it's not on, I can do whatever because they can't obligate me to.
you shouldn't make a show of it to the dog. You don't want them to think anything, you want them to think this is just like a paperweight. It does nothing, it means nothing. Same thing with the collar, it does nothing, means nothing.
With every collar I've ever used, I've always had it on my neck and turned it all the way way up and use it. Because I want to know before I put it on my button, right?
Lola
The earliest point in the sequence, and the cleanest demonstration of why it works. Lola wears the e-collar live-off for whole sessions - not merely unused but switched off - purely so that wearing it becomes ordinary. The trainer says out loud what he wants her to conclude when the sensation eventually arrives: nothing changed about the collar, so it must be the behaviour. Its ethical sibling appears at her handover, where he refuses to press the button on a dog to work out which channel is which, and maps the transmitter by putting the dogs in commands instead.
On film
I have the e-collar on her I will not be using it this whole session in fact it is not turned on I just have it on her because I want her I just want her to be used to wearing it
so if it's on her right now if she feels nothing in the next session she feels it she's like well nothing changed so i guess it must genuinely just be this behavior that like causes this uh chain reaction and she doesn't suspect it's the collar
So, obviously, I don't just want to hit the button to test it out cuz I don't know that I I can't do it. It just feels really wrong to be like, "Let's test it out and just hit both of them."
King
The bluntest version, because Kelton has decided owners need to be told they will fail rather than advised. Two named ways to fail, and this is the second: only putting the collar on when you are about to use it because you are upset. Just let them wear it. The first is the other half of the same habit - for the first month home, tap the collar every time you say 'eh', even at a level too low to matter, because that is building your reflex rather than the dog's. And the hardware follows the same logic: buy a transmitter you will actually carry, a finger button on a carabiner, because a tool that is awkward to have on you is a tool you will not use.
On film
the first month that he's home, every time you say uh, you should tap the eco, even if it's on a relatively low level, not for him. his charged for you, right? Because you need to develop a habit and you need to develop muscle memory that you back up your penalties or your negative reinforcement.
the other one is only putting the e-collar on when you're about to use it because you're upset. Just let them wear it.
I always put my keyring on, and then I put a carabiner.
Max
Given as policy at go-home: for the first couple of weeks the collar is worn every day, all day, like a seat belt, and after that it stays on around the house so he does not become collar-wise. The trainer tells the story of clients who did the first weeks, then only put it on for outings, and called later upset.
On film
don't have to use the e-collar at the time okay right so will he need to wear it for the first couple weeks pretty much every day all day i tell people like no matter what it's just a seat belt
dog wear it around so that they don't become collar wise okay right so what happens sometimes
and i've had clients do this and then call later and be upset because they go well i did the first
Lunna
At the go-home the family are told not to come home, wait for her to act up and then put the collar on, because that is how a dog becomes 'collar aware'. Whether Lunna herself had become collar-aware is not said.
On film
i will say about that with the e-collar is that don't come home and wait for her to act up and
then be like oh e-collar is going on because a dog what we call becoming collar aware right
when the dog isn't using it often um then they associate the collar with obedience and when they don't have the collar on then they're not obedient but when they have it on they're obedient
thing is by keeping the e collar on especially when the dog goes home for at least the first month like every day all day long and just maintaining that that obedience at home
Pepper
The collar goes on unused so it stops being new before it means anything; for Pepper that took more than two days of scratching at it.
On film
just going through and i'm kind of getting her accustomed to wearing it even if i'm not using it for anything, I just want her to get used to wearing it
Alright, stop itching the collar.
Thor
A young dog gets the collar from the first walk so he habituates to it whether or not it is used.
On film
young so I am gonna put the e-collar on him because even if I don't use it very
Josephine
Owners who say all they have to do is show the dog the remote are told not to: the dog should respond to the voice, not the sight of the device.
On film
account that they'll do something like this they'll uh they'll be like well uh all i gotta
want this to be what they respond to the sight of this you want them to respond to your voice
Marvin (Giant Schnauzer)
At the handover: fit it high behind the neck, and have him wear it most of the time so he does not become wise to it, because a dog who only wears it when it is about to be used will think 'oh crap' as it goes on. Never at night, and the same for the prong.
On film
Here, that's where they feel it, right behind the neck, up here.
i would have him wear it most of the time okay um one of the reasons for that is you don't want them
they'll be like oh crap right you want them to go i wear that all the time nothing happens
Thumper
The owner has found collar awareness without the name: when the dog gets jumpy she takes 'the zapper' out, and he straightens up at the sight of it.
On film
I'll take the zapper out with me.
That's where he sees that thing and he's like.
Sofia
Said in Spanish to the family: if the remote has all the power, what do you do without it? Nothing. It works when your voice has the power instead of the remote ('cuando tu voz tiene poder en vez de el control').
On film
a pensar que este tiene todo el poder y si no tienes, ¿qué vas a hacer? Nada. No puedes.
es cuando tu voz tiene poder en vez de el control
Zeus (March 2026)
The hand is another version of the remote: if the handler reaches for the collar only when the dog will not do something, the dog learns that the hand on the remote predicts the correction. So the hand rests on it all the time and the word carries the power.
On film
line so I can use both of my hands here you'll see a lot of people use the
right and then the dog starts to learn that like every time your hand is on the
Maverick
The same question asked about food rather than the collar: a dog trained entirely on treats knows the cue and holds out when no treat is present, and the handler waits it out.
On film
I will say, this guy has been claimed entirely on treats. So that's also part of his grief here, is that I'm working with him for the new treats.
Boog
He also tells them not to use the beep or vibration with Boog: a marker, a beep and then the button is too complicated when a dog is not listening.
On film
first week they come home you pretty much want to leave the e-collar on all day not when they're sleeping because that's like a hazardous
because what can happen is they can become like collar aware where they realize they have to to listen when the collar's on and the collar comes off and they like act a fool again and it's like a night and day difference of like trained dog with the collar on completely untrained with the collar off
if you do the beep and then it's followed by the e-collar but i find for most times if your dog is not listening it is way too complicated to say a marker hit the beep then hit the button that like it's yeah at some point it turns into like a math formula
Kali
Their trainer has never let either dog see the remote - it hangs on his belt 'like a piece of clothing' and he uses a finger button - and uses no tone or vibration as a warning, because then the dogs would be 'paying attention to the collar not me'; the warning is his voice. In the second part of the lesson the owner asks whether the dogs know the difference between wearing a collar and not; he doubts they would stop listening, because 'they're not collar wise', and gives the reason: worn all day and almost never used, the collar 'means nothing'. The mistake he names is putting it on only when annoyed and using it straight away. The family are told on during the day, off at night, on whenever they go outside, and moved around the neck so it does not sit in one spot.
On film
the reason i don't like that is because then it ties me to the tool
exactly then they're paying attention to the collar not me and like i want it to work if the collar isn't on sometime so then i don't want anything to be attached to the collar ever
so like for both of them they've never even seen it okay like the e-collar itself like a remote i've never they've never seen it because it's always just hanging on my belt it looks like a piece of clothing
and it works and so then like they'll come back later excited they'll be like hey all i have to do is show them the remote and they'll listen
just completely not listen i doubt that they will most likely solicit because it's like they still have the pressure right yeah and they're not collar wise right
house if they wear the e-collar all day how many times are you going to be using it probably never
so then wearing the collar means nothing no meaning right it's not a predictor right because that's another mistake people make is they like never go for the collar and then they only put it on when they are annoyed and they're intending to use it right away
You don't want pressure sores on the neck or anything like that if I'm wearing it for too long.
Whiskey
The family's 'biggest question from the videos' is the e-collar. The trainer's answer describes the fading stage: it was used more at the beginning, and now she wears it but they are not using it.
On film
the e-collar thing was my biggest question from the videos
like in the beginning we obviously had to use it more you know now we're we're fading off more and she wears it but and she's doing we're not using it
Astro
The end state described to Astro's family (published 16 May 2026): the marker has been conditioned so that he hears it and avoids the next step, and the aim is that 99 per cent of the time he simply listens to the command, with the e-collar kept for the worst case.
On film
there's always situations where maybe you have to use the e-collar but most of the time we want it
to that and the e-collar is for your worst case scenario type situation got it yeah yeah because
Bernie
At a Bernie lesson (published 26 Apr 2026) the trainer tells the family he normally has dogs wear the collar most of the time for the first five or six months, until the dog is in a really good place, then lets it get 'lazier' as long as the dog is still being reinforced and corrected somehow. It comes off at night to charge; the dog is not sent to bed in it.
On film
like okay you don't really then after a while you can get lazier and lazier with it as long as you're
it for the first while like the first like five six months just have him wear it most of the time
yeah what I do is you take it off at night and you you put it up in charges
Callie
Worn before it is used: the e-collar goes on Callie in her first day or two, while she is still in the learning phase and before it is used for commands, so that she gets used to having something behind her ear.
On film
learning phase but we just put it on the first day or two after they come in so
that they can get used to having something right right behind their ear
Hattie
While proofing a command with the e-collar on Hattie, the trainer separates wearing from using: he does not want the collar to be used forever, but that does not mean the dog stops wearing it - she will likely wear it for a long time without it being part of every command.
On film
to go way far and above, but I also don't want to have to use the e-collar forever. That doesn't
mean that I won't have them wear it. Sorry, to be clear. Your dog will likely still wear the
Milo
The same discrimination with the leash. Working Milo toward off-leash, the trainer moves from the flexi to a long line he does not hold, because dogs can see the flexi in your hand - 'they're not dumb' - and a dog who answers when you are not holding the line is the good sign.
On film
straight from the flexi because the flexi you they can see you holding it right um they notice stuff
like that they're not dumb right so they notice you holding it and they're like mm-hmm now they
Shadow (German Shepherd puppy)
At the German Shepherd puppy Shadow's handover her trainer names the failure for the family: if there is a consequence only when the collar is on, she learns either that she needn't behave with it off or that they can't back it up, and becomes 'collar aware'. So the collar stays on most of the time, fitted snug (two fingers under it, not loose enough to twist).
On film
oh I don't have to behave when the collar is off or she learns like oh they
called collar aware where you only get obedience if the collar is on so instead
just have it on most of the time I have it tightened up to where it should be so
Why it works
Said on film: a dog learns what predicts what. If the collar only goes on before a correction, the collar is what the correction predicts - so the dog's rule becomes 'collar on, I had better not; collar off, I can do whatever, because they can't obligate me to.' The counter-move is to destroy the collar's predictive value by making it constant: on in the morning, off at night, worn on outings where it is never used, so that putting it on stops being an event. Once wearing it carries no information, the only remaining predictor of a consequence is the handler's voice.
The second mechanism is discrimination. The dog is not sorting your equipment into meaningful categories - harness, leash, flat collar, e-collar are all just things he is wearing - so making all of them routine removes the whole category of equipment cues at once. That is why the argument is made from the dog's side rather than the human's, and it is the direct answer to the objection that the dog only obeys because the tool is on.
The third is attribution, and it is why the remote is never shown. If the dog can see the box, the box becomes the cue and the dog starts checking for it; if he never sees it, the consequence has nowhere to attach except to the person who spoke. Said as a joke with a real target: ideally he thinks you have demigod powers.
Inferred, not stated: the live-off wearing period on Lola is doing the same job in advance - it establishes the collar as neutral before there is anything for it to predict, which is cheaper than un-teaching the association later. Nobody on film connects those two practices.
And it gives the predictor argument in one line: worn all day and almost never used, 'wearing the collar means nothing ... it's not a predictor' (watch 45:35).
Where the trainers differ
The two failure modes pull in opposite directions and are managed by the same rule.
One view
Too much collar: if it only appears before trouble, the dog learns the collar is the power.
On film
This thing. This is what does it. Not me. This. So then, where's the power? Here. Not here. You need it to be not this, but you.
so then wearing the collar means nothing no meaning right it's not a predictor right because that's another mistake people make is they like never go for the collar and then they only put it on when they are annoyed and they're intending to use it right away
Another view
Too little collar: if commands are given while it is off, the dog learns he only has to listen when it is on.
On film
And so he could become like collar aware, which is where he'll learn that he only has to listen to collars on him, which then makes it really miserable because any time the collar's off.
because what can happen is they can become like collar aware where they realize they have to to listen when the collar's on and the collar comes off and they like act a fool again and it's like a night and day difference of like trained dog with the collar on completely untrained with the collar off
How to read it
One file warns that a collar which only appears before trouble teaches the dog that the collar is the power; another warns that commanding the dog while the collar is off teaches him he only has to listen when it is on. Both are named from inside the method, and both are solved by the collar simply always being on, not by hiding it or by phasing it out early.
Common owner mistakes
- Fetching the collar because you are frustrated, so the dog watches the collar arrive as the consequence.
On film
what happens then is what do they think when they see you go get that collar and put it on?
Bo · Watch at 36:00 ↗ the other one is only putting the e-collar on when you're about to use it because you're upset. Just let them wear it.
King · Watch at 38:00 ↗ so then wearing the collar means nothing no meaning right it's not a predictor right because that's another mistake people make is they like never go for the collar and then they only put it on when they are annoyed and they're intending to use it right away
Kali · Watch at 45:35 ↗ - Showing or waving the remote to get compliance - and being pleased that it works.
On film
they they learn that when you put the collar on, uh oh, right? Um, and so I have a lot of people that will tell me like, oh, like all I have to do is like show him the e-collar remote and then he'll listen, right? I do not want that.
Bo · Watch at 25:31 ↗ That's why another really important thing is, because this is a really bad habit a lot of people have, don't do this. Rock take. Grand take. Grand take. Don't do that, right? Because this, now now you're taking the power that should be you and giving it to this
Roxy · Watch at 37:50 ↗ and it works and so then like they'll come back later excited they'll be like hey all i have to do is show them the remote and they'll listen
Kali · Watch at 34:53 ↗ - Deliberately leaving the collar off so the dog 'gets used to' being without it - which is the exact route to a collar-wise dog.
On film
lot, [gasps] if that makes sense. Cuz like you would think like, okay, well, he needs to get used to not having it on, so like I'm going to like do most of things without him having it on.
Bo · Watch at 24:56 ↗ - Giving commands with the collar off in the first week home, so the dog finds out obedience is optional without it.
On film
for the first week, don't give him a command unless the e-collar is on
Deuce · Watch at 24:45 ↗ - Wearing it faithfully for the first weeks, then only putting it on for training or trips out, so the dog learns the pattern.
On film
and i've had clients do this and then call later and be upset because they go well i did the first
Watch at 7:53 ↗ - Using the beep or vibration as a warning before the stimulation, so the dog waits for the tool instead of listening to you.
On film
the reason i don't like that is because then it ties me to the tool
Kali · Watch at 33:39 ↗ exactly then they're paying attention to the collar not me and like i want it to work if the collar isn't on sometime so then i don't want anything to be attached to the collar ever
Kali · Watch at 33:50 ↗ if you do the beep and then it's followed by the e-collar but i find for most times if your dog is not listening it is way too complicated to say a marker hit the beep then hit the button that like it's yeah at some point it turns into like a math formula
Boog · Watch at 14:25 ↗ - Leaving the collar in the same spot on the neck all day.
On film
You don't want pressure sores on the neck or anything like that if I'm wearing it for too long.
Kali · Watch at 46:11 ↗ That's the other thing, like move it.
Kali · Watch at 46:14 ↗
Questions owners ask
Isn't it true that e-collar dogs only listen while the collar is on?
It is a real failure and the trainers here name it themselves - collar-wise is their word for it - but they treat it as a handling error rather than something built into the tool. It happens when the collar only appears before a correction, because then wearing it is the thing that predicts trouble. The prevention is to make wearing it predict nothing at all: on in the morning, off at night, worn on outings where the button is never touched. "The way that you get to him listening better with it off is to have it on a lot."
On film
cuz that's what you want, right? Um, but paradoxically, the way that you get to him listening better with it off is to have it on a lot,
attached to the tool. So what that means is the dogs get what's called collarwise.
Shouldn't I take it off so he learns to behave without it?
That is the conclusion almost every owner reaches, and one client in these files argues it to the trainer's face. The answer given is that leaving it off most of the time is precisely what makes putting it on an event - and an event the dog can read. He cannot tell your gear apart anyway: the harness, the leash, the flat collar and the e-collar are all just things he is wearing. Put everything on routinely and none of them is a signal.
On film
He don't know which one the gear is. They're all gear to him. the harness is gear, the leash is gear, the flat collar would be gear, the e-collar is gear,
So if you think about it like in his mind, um if you use it on a regular basis for everything else, um and it's just on all the time, he doesn't think of it as a thing.
Can I just hold up the remote instead of using it? He listens when I do.
No, and the trainers treat that as a bad sign rather than a good one. If he responds to the sight of the remote, the remote has the authority, not you. So it lives on a carabiner or in a pocket: you say your word and tap where he cannot see. The stated aim is that he never registers the device at all and experiences the consequence as coming from you. Kali and Kane's trainer adds the beep and vibration to the same list: a warning signal before the stimulation makes the dog watch the tool instead of you, so the warning is your voice.
On film
you shouldn't make a show of it to the dog. You don't want them to think anything, you want them to think this is just like a paperweight. It does nothing, it means nothing. Same thing with the collar, it does nothing, means nothing.
That's why I have it clipped here on the carabiner, or I have it in a pocket like this, and then I say eh, and I tap this, because they don't even know this thing exists, ideally.
exactly then they're paying attention to the collar not me and like i want it to work if the collar isn't on sometime so then i don't want anything to be attached to the collar ever
and it works and so then like they'll come back later excited they'll be like hey all i have to do is show them the remote and they'll listen
How often is it actually used?
Far less than owners expect. One trainer puts the figure at about one outing in ten, and describes the collar being worn live-off - not merely unused but switched off - for whole sessions early in a program, so that the equipment is already ordinary before anything happens through it. The usage falls away further as the dog simply complies.
On film
I have the e-collar on her I will not be using it this whole session in fact it is not turned on I just have it on her because I want her I just want her to be used to wearing it
so if it's on her right now if she feels nothing in the next session she feels it she's like well nothing changed so i guess it must genuinely just be this behavior that like causes this uh chain reaction and she doesn't suspect it's the collar
When can we stop using it?
The record gives a test rather than a date. One family is told to have the dog wear it through the day for a while, and then - once there have been two or three days where it was not needed - to try a day without it. Against that, the first week home is the strictest window in the whole program, and during it the instruction is the opposite: collar on, and no commands given while it is off.
On film
Roxy does too, but she needs reinforcement every once in a while, especially with you guys, she's gonna need it. So just have her, I would have her wear it throughout the day, every day for a while.
for the first week, don't give him a command unless the e-collar is on
Does my dog know the difference between wearing a collar and not wearing one?
An owner asks exactly this at Kali and Kane's lesson. The trainer doubts the dogs would stop listening with the collars off, because they are not collar-wise: they wear it all day and it is almost never used, so wearing it means nothing. The dog learns the difference only if you teach it - by putting the collar on when you are annoyed and using it straight away.
On film
Do you recommend using a regular collar?
just completely not listen i doubt that they will most likely solicit because it's like they still have the pressure right yeah and they're not collar wise right
so then wearing the collar means nothing no meaning right it's not a predictor right because that's another mistake people make is they like never go for the collar and then they only put it on when they are annoyed and they're intending to use it right away
The lesson
The goal
The handler can explain collar-wise conditioning from the dog's point of view, name both failure modes, and give an owner a wearing schedule and an exit test they can actually follow.
Learn first
- Fit before level: check the tool before you judge the dog
- The level is not a number
- The leash is a prop
See it done
- Roxy: The full handover version: the fetch-the-collar thought experiment, 'where's the power?', the wearing schedule, the prohibition on brandishing the remote, and the carabiner. Watch ↗
- Bo: The paradox argued to a client who disagrees: you get a dog who listens without it by having it on a lot. Includes the term collar-wise and the show-the-remote example. Watch ↗
- Deuce: The mirror failure named, with the week-one procedure that prevents it. Watch ↗
The drill
As run on film: put the collar on the dog at the start of the day and take it off at the end, whether or not it will be used. Run at least one outing where it is worn and never touched - on Lola's session it is worn switched off for the whole hour. Keep the remote out of sight on a carabiner or in a pocket for every repetition: say the marker, then tap unseen, never the reverse order. Through the first week home, do not cue the dog at all while the collar is off. Then, after two or three days in which the button was not needed, run one whole day without the collar as the test.
Watch out for
- Fetching the collar as a consequence.
- Showing the remote, or letting the dog see the hand go to it.
- Using the collar without the word first, so the consequence attaches to the tool rather than the voice.
- Cueing the dog with the collar off during week one.
- Taking the collar off early because the dog is doing well, which removes the thing that made wearing it meaningless.
- Choosing a transmitter that is a nuisance to carry.
Check yourself
Name the two opposite failure modes, say what each one teaches the dog, and explain why the same wearing schedule prevents both.