An owner at Zeus's lesson asks the question every family asks: what number should it be on? The trainer answers with the same sentence three times in a row, and then with the only instruction he will give: watch the dog. If Zeus really freaks out, it was too high for that context. If he ignores it, it was too low. Everything else in this chapter follows from that refusal.
The number is determined by the context. The number is determined by the context. It is determined by the context and then their reaction.
The chapter in one paragraph
The e-collar comes into the method after the words it serves, as the backup to a word the dog already knows. It is not the method itself. The number on the remote means nothing on its own. The right level is a reading taken against this dog, in this place, today: the smallest press that gets a clear response. Ears come up, a small shake, the dog turns back to look for the command. Nothing means go up, and a yelp or a scramble means come straight down. The level moves with the distraction, the dog's arousal and the collar model, and down as often as up. What sets the ceiling is what the behaviour could cost the dog, not how tough or soft he looks. A cat attack in a house with cats sits at the top, and a sloppy sit near the bottom. Where the search starts is context-dependent, and the owner says so. There are two techniques with two rationales: start where it registers so the dog is not desensitised by creeping up, or start low and climb until he answers. When the collar seems not to work, the strap is the first suspect. It is worn every day like a seat belt, and the remote is never shown, so the collar predicts nothing and the handler's voice carries the meaning. The trainers have all felt it themselves. When a family is frightened of it they explain what it physically is, instead of reassuring them. The same chapter carries the list of gear the family buys, each piece with its reason.
Principles
There is no right number. The figure on the remote is a reading for this dog, in this place, today. The trainers watch for a response, not a setting: the ears, a shake, the dog turning back to look for the command. Nothing means go up, and a yelp, a scramble or a dog who loses his bounce means come down. Size and breed do not set it. A sensitive Rottweiler and a huge dog who yelps are both on film.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
The number is determined by the context. The number is determined by the context. It is determined by the context and then their reaction.
If they do feel it and it's effective, they either reorient towards you and look for you to give them command if they've not listened to something.
how does she respond to this if she isn't fazed by it it needs to be more if she goes right back to it five seconds later it isn't high enough needs to be more if she screams it was too high
any kind of response that's all i want so like most of the time i just want to see the ears so if i hit it there you go then like that's enough if you hit it your dog's like rolling around and everything it's what you like you don't like you don't need to torture your dog and torment them
because like I've had dogs that were you know look like Zeus and I'm like you know people normally think like oh like bigger dog more pressure not necessarily
There's almost no distraction right now, so the e-collar's turned down a ton For Luna.
Concepts: The level is not a number
Exceptions
- A level that produces nothing is not the gentle choice. It is discomfort with no information in it (Deuce, watch 07:13).
- A fixated or distracted dog may not register a level that would reach him at rest (Angus, watch 11:41). That is a context problem before it is a level problem.
- Collar models differ at the same setting, so any number written down needs the unit beside it.
What the behaviour could cost the dog sets how strong the correction is, not how soft or tough the dog looks. Going after people or dogs is at the top, chasing wildlife a little below, and a sloppy sit or leash yielding far lower. A level is like a fine: it has to outweigh what the dog wants at that moment, and it rises once he knows the rule.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
the situation right going after people or going after a dog like that that's for him that's
But for chasing wildlife, it's going to be slightly less.
Well, you're going to do something about that because the total outcome outweighs the momentary negative affect.
out to people that it's not about the number number means almost nothing the
and by the way i did hit him with a 70 there earlier when he saw the squirrel and you can see
then maybe a 20 or 25 that's what it was on earlier and then you saw when I had
the fines and his obedience is getting better so if somebody knows better the
stimulation is that for the dog it's life or death right
Concepts: The stakes set the severity
Exceptions
- He says a squirrel chase might need a 70 or more on that collar, a broken sit perhaps 20 or 25, and that a 40 was too high for the sit. The figures belong to that model and that dog. He tells owners he cannot give anyone a number without knowing the situation, and the point of saying them was to show that one dog needs very different levels for different things. They are not targets for any other dog or collar.
- Very high stimulation is justified only where the behaviour is life or death, never for a sit or a heel (Bane's rattlesnake rule). A level that only pauses a dangerous behaviour has failed.
Where the search for a level starts is context-dependent, and the owner says so. There are two techniques on film with two rationales. One starts where the collar registers and comes down, because creeping up from below desensitises a tough dog and the level finally needed ends up higher. The other starts low and climbs until the dog responds, then stops.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
better to not start really low because if you do it really low and he doesn't get the point and then you have to like gradually go up higher they have a bunch of studies where you it's like boiling the frog
It's such that it shows that if you little by little raise the amount of stimulation, the end level that you end up having to use when you need to use negative reinforcement is much higher.
to make the dog uncomfortable i turn it up until the dog responds i don't like start high
so I'm just gonna tap it super low here see if I can figure out my working level
Concepts: The level is not a number, The lifetime pressure budget
Exceptions
- Age sets a ceiling. Stormie's family took home a lower ceiling and more hands because she is a puppy who shuts down, days after a session where her handler had climbed the level fast because she is a strong bully (watch 00:19; watch 10:46).
- A soft or sensitive dog is worked low from the start (Sage, Beo, Madam).
Fit comes before level. When the collar seems not to work, check the strap first and judge the dog last. Two flat fingers under the strap should fit but not twist. On a thick coat, push the hair up, seat the contacts against skin, and let the hair fall back. Confirm from the dog that the first press landed. Turning the dial up against a loose collar is the mistake: when the collar finally seats, the dog gets far more than anyone meant.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
i've actually came out to people's houses like the training's not working i'm like can i see it and i put on the e-collar and it works and i drove like an hour out to just tighten it
we have like a a rule that we go by and basically if you can fit like two fingers in the e-collar like this, you're good. But if you have like wiggle room like this, it's too loose.
so sometimes it's loose sometimes it's tighter but not quite there um what happens is like you got to turn it up a ton for them to feel anything and then you put on a little tighter the next day and it's at the same level and the dog's like oh my god this is so high
Exactly, that way it's over it, because otherwise he probably won't make any contact, he'll press a button and he won't feel it at all.
because the e-collar was so loose it was so loose that you couldn't reinforce anything so when he did get back you were very much being strict with how you were using the e-collar and the commands but he felt nothing
the big one, too, is whatever side you walk the dog on, this is important. Make sure it's on the opposite side.
Concepts: Fit before level: check the tool before you judge the dog
Exceptions
- Too tight is also a fault. You choke the dog and teach him to hate the collar going on (Lola, watch 07:03).
- On a heavy coat the trainer tightens past what feels right and lets the dog confirm it, stopping short of choking (Luna, watch 06:28).
- Very small dogs get a smaller unit and per-command levels (Milo, Fiona).
The collar is worn every day, like a seat belt, and the remote is never shown. If it only goes on before trouble, the dog learns that the collar is what does it and goes 'collar-wise'. He listens with it on and not without it. The fix sounds backwards: to get listening with it off, have it on a lot. Put it on in the morning, take it off at night, wear it on outings where it is never used, and press where he cannot see.
Said as a rule on filmOn 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,
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.
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.
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.
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
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
Concepts: Collar awareness: the collar is a paperweight
Exceptions
- Bo's owner argued the opposite on tape (leave it off so he gets used to being without it) and did not concede. The trainer's argument rests entirely on the dog not being able to tell one piece of gear from another.
The collar backs a word the dog already knows. First the dog is shown how to turn the pressure off, at a level he only wants to escape, with the leash giving the direction the collar can't. Once he knows the answer, the level moves to one he will work to avoid. Otherwise the trainer ends up nagging a dog who stops for a second and goes straight back to it.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
We want escape, where he's motivated to escape that feeling, but he can't avoid it yet because he doesn't know how.
right now he felt that one but it didn't move him to any kind of action it doesn't mean anything so you have to attach action to the word first
reinforcement once a dog already knows a thing you move you have to move from escape to avoidance
Because he's motivated to escape that amount of pressure, but he'll go back to pulling he's not motivated to avoid that
he probably just doesn't know the word yet so jumped the gun a little bit on that
Concepts: Escape before avoidance: the collar backs a word the dog already knows
Exceptions
- How early the collar is layered onto a new command varies. Madam's coach layers it at a low level almost immediately (watch 12:19), while Akira's, Neo's, Baxter's and Roofus's trainers wait for fluency.
- The avoidance level is judged by what the dog does next, not by the number. If he stops and is less likely to do it again, it was enough.
Every trainer on film has felt the collar. Kelton has had every collar he uses on his own neck, turned all the way up, before it went on a dog. He has also had clients walk him on it. When an owner says she is frightened of hurting her dog, the answer does not start with 'it's fine'. It starts by agreeing with her, then says what the device is: it works like a TENS unit, and the target is a startle, not pain.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
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?
He might not like it in the short term like I don't like getting shocked, right? Because I' I've used this on myself lots of times, right? Um, I've actually had clients walk me on it, um, and use it like I'm a dog and that I respond.
it's more of like a just straight shot whereas with this it's a 10 unit i've worn it before like that was a requirement actually right from my boss and honestly like i want to know what the dog is feeling because i'm not big on the idea of just like oh you didn't listen you know zap right
it is the way the collar works is is not actually like electrical shock it works like a tens unit
Yeah, and I do believe if you're going to put an e-collar on a dog, you should know what you're doing. Just because I don't think e-collars are bad. I think that they can be abused very easily though.
but the prong collar is really just to startle the dog to just give it an attention being like tapping someone's shoulder
Concepts: The handler wears the collar
Exceptions
- 'Safe' and 'painless' are different claims, and the record keeps them apart. Kelton tells Sage's family that any level is safe and will not injure (watch 16:35). Connor says a setting at the top of the range, tried on his elbow as a colleague's joke, hurt a little, and that most dogs do not need anything like it. Clark Kent's trainer says a yelp means the level is too strong.
- The one physical injury anyone names is a pressure sore from a tight collar left in one spot for hours. No file gives a wear-time or rotation rule.
The family buys a short list of equipment, and each piece has a reason stated on film. A retractable lead takes the constant tension out of the walk, so the handler is not a restrainer. A flat collar steers where a harness can't, and a harness is easy to slip. The e-collar is preferred over hard corrections on the neck. The vibrate is not used as a warning, because it is not the signal the dog learned. And every piece is scaled to the size of the dog.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
and it's just really frustrating the whole time um but with the flexi and having training There's not any confrontational nature. You're not a resistor or a restrainer of the dog.
Mostly just because, I mean, like, the reason is because, one, most harnesses I've used, it's easy for a dog to slip out of it, then come out of it. And second, you can't guide a dog directionally with a harness at all.
me out because uh I don't like hitting the dog in the neck. Um because if you do that hard, like too hard, you can like hurt the neck, right?
on a flat collar which I'm going to be transitioning more of our dogs on flat collars when they go home
yeah he does not like to vibrate sorry marvin
He's so little, he needs a micro-prong collar.
Concepts: The gear list, and the reasons for each piece
Exceptions
- The retractable is a bad idea where the recall does not hold, or on a cheap unit whose tape could snap on a big dog (Zeus, watch 41:34).
- For a new adoptive family, Hattie's trainer says a collar grab or even a spray bottle usually does the job in the house, and the e-collar is truly needed off leash in unfenced places (watch 18:02).
- Whether the prong is a transition tool or no longer needed is open (see conflicts).
When a dog seems not to care about a correction, find out which of several things you are looking at before changing anything. He may be panicking and unable to act. He may not be feeling it. He may notice but need it repeated rather than raised. Or he may know the answer and be avoiding it on purpose. Each gets a different response, and the body usually says which.
Said as a rule on filmOn film
so getting him from that place where instead of freezing he goes oh and then like thinks about what to do to make the pressure go away and then goes and does the thing and then he's happy again
like avoidance is kind of but the funny thing is she she panic avoids as opposed to like double down avoids
Resilience of like you can take one and not really care. I Give her a couple inches like all right fine
to avoid so they might know what you're asking them to do and they'll still kind of like pretend like they don't know how to do it or they'll like yelp or they'll lay on their belly and try to like submit to not do it
arbitrary rule where i like they must always do what i say like sometimes they're not ready for it and if you discern that you need to lay off um but if they know it and they just don't want to do it then that's a completely different story
Concepts: Eating the correction, and avoidance as a tactic
Exceptions
- A dog who escalates under correction is outside the method's precondition. Connor describes one to Deuce's owners who 'looked for fights' when corrected (watch 09:24).
Levels are adjusted live, down as readily as up, and the change is said out loud. A trainer apologises to a sensitive dog and cuts the level on the spot. Another turns the collar down once a dog is sensitised, or says a call was too low when it got nothing.
Shown, not saidOn film
too much I'm sorry baby come on come on I forgot how sensitive you are
Looks like I can turn the e-collar down slightly.
The e-collar's too low right now.
brown collar had flipped over just a little bit no wonder he wasn't feeling those pops like you
Concepts: The level is not a number, Fit before level: check the tool before you judge the dog
Exceptions
- No one states 'adjust aloud' as a rule. It is how the sessions sound.
What owners are told
Don't go looking for your dog's number. Set it against what is around you, since a quiet house is not a busy park. Check that the collar is snug, press once and watch. Ears up, a small shake or the dog looking back at you means it landed. Nothing means go up, and a yelp or panic means come straight down. The dog decides the level, not you. If it stops working, tighten the collar before you touch the dial: two flat fingers under the strap and no twisting. On a thick coat, push the hair up so the contacts touch skin. Put the collar on the side away from the one you walk on. Put it on in the morning, take it off at night, and wear it on walks where you never press. Never go and get it because you are cross, and never hold up the remote. Keep it in a pocket or on a carabiner, say your word, and press where he can't see. Use it only on words he already knows. Don't use the vibrate as a warning. Ask to feel it yourself first, because we all have. The gear list is short and each piece has a reason: a retractable lead so you aren't a restrainer, a flat collar, no harness, and the e-collar.
On film
For them, it depends on context, so don't get stuck on a number. More what matters is their reaction.
don't worry about doing that. Like because who decides how high the e-collar is, you every time. Yep. The dog.
Because if it's too loose, you won't get any contact, and then you'll be pushing that button all day, and it'll be like, yeah, whatever.
i will say about that with the e-collar is that don't come home and wait for her to act up and
um and then i want you to feel what the dog is going to feel because i know sometimes it you look at this and you're like oh my god like this is scary
What trainers know
Read, don't set. Ears up or a shake is enough. Reorienting to the handler means effective. Losing his bounce or panicking means too much. When a dog seems not to feel it, fit comes before level every time. Check in this order: switched on and paired, transmitter in range, battery, strap tension, contact through the coat, side. Then the level. Reps taken on a loose collar are uninterpretable, including any level judgement made from them. Lock the remote before it goes in a pocket. Record the collar model beside any working level, and record the coat where it explains a higher one. Tell too low apart from not felt: a fixated dog may not register. Some dogs have a steep curve from nothing to screaming (Kalypso), and some have two levels, at rest and in avoidance (Titan). Severity can be raised through duration instead of level (see chapter 8). Age sets a ceiling, and hands substitute under it. The starting direction is context-dependent. Escape level with leash direction while teaching, avoidance level once the command is known, judged by what the dog does next. For a collar-wise dog: on all day, used rarely, remote unseen, word first, no commands with the collar off in week one. Handle the objection without reassurance: concede it, name the mechanism, then offer a personal experience the client can test. Wearing the collar was a job requirement for at least one handler. Never press a dog to test hardware or identify a channel.
On film
because I saw his ears perk up for that one let me just make sure the collar is on
and it'll go from to like deafening everybody in the room
one stable level for the e-collar that's always really nice however a dog like titan the e-collar
thingy yeah no wonder because i just said i didn't see any i didn't see any kind of like
In the dogs
Zeus
Asked for a number at an owner lesson, the trainer gives the same sentence three times and then the feedback loop: if Zeus really freaks out it was too high for that context, and if he ignores it, it was too low. The same household got the gear list with its reasons: the flexi, and why a collar steers where a harness can't.
On film
So if they go, oh, if Zeus jumps and freaks out, like really freaks out, then it was too high.
Wiley
The fines analogy with real numbers and all their context. On the collar he was using, Kelton tells viewers a squirrel took a 70, a broken sit perhaps 20 or 25, and 40 was too high for the sit. The fine rises when Wiley knows better and when other dogs come into view.
On film
What I'm going to do is up the ante a little bit so that if we see some dogs again, or
Piglet
In front of the family Piglet goes for one of the household's three cats and is corrected harder than usual. Kelton explains it as keeping her life big: a dog who attacks cats in that house risks being rehomed.
On film
I don't want that right I want her life to be big and happy and I want her to be
Dutchess
A sensitive Rottweiler used by her trainer as proof that breed does not set the level: any response is all he wants. The same file has the hour's drive to a client's house that ended in tightening a strap, and the trainer who wore the collar because his boss required it.
On film
But if I can twist it like that, then it's too loose.
Stormie
One young bully carries both of the starting rules within three days. Her handler climbs the level fast because she is strong, then sets a low ceiling because she is a puppy who shuts down, and the second is what went home. Mid-session he finds the collar has worked loose, which makes the reps he had been reading invalid. At go-home he teaches the family to read her whining as avoidance from her relaxed ears.
On film
that is way looser than when i put it on earlier what what happened
Deuce
An owner says she is scared of hurting him. Connor agrees first, explains the TENS mechanism, then tells her about the colleague who tried it on his elbow. At the handover the level is shown moving with the room: lowest in a quiet house, highest at a reunion.
On film
I might have it on, because I will say I never keep it at like a fixed point because dogs are never the same every day, right? Just like people aren't the same.
Bo
The fullest argument against the collar-wise dog, made to an owner who had reasoned her way to the opposite view and did not concede on tape. It also has Kelton's disclosure that clients have walked him on the collar, and the argument from the neck for preferring the e-collar to hard leash corrections.
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.
Sage
A soft dog worked low, and the fullest owner rule on reading the level: not fazed, go up; back at it in five seconds, go up; screams, too high. The collar is 'a paperweight', worn on every outing and used on about one in ten. Kelton tells the family every collar he uses has been on his own neck first.
On film
level don't think about the number at all the only thing that matters is what the reaction that it creates in the dog
Lola
Worked below what her handler can feel on his own skin, and worn switched off for whole sessions before it was ever used, so that weeks later she would blame her own behaviour, not the equipment. Her go-home carries the two-finger rule and the side rule.
On film
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
Luna
A heavy husky double coat, where the collar can feel tight and never touch skin. The trainer works it out loud before he raises anything. Her level is searched for rather than chosen, and it moves with the distraction.
On film
So I wonder if actually I need to tighten it on more. I've already tightened it on once, but it didn't hit me.
Baxter
The escape-and-avoidance lesson given to the owner as the pinch and the punch. The trainer wears the collar himself while she practises the timing on him. A correction that did nothing turned out to be a transmitter left on a table out of range.
On film
If I hold off and punch you as hard as I can in the face, you call the police, you file a restraining order.
Finn
A major flight risk. Kelton argues for starting where the collar registers rather than creeping up. The flight-risk equipment is specified: a backup collar, the e-collar in front, the flat collar snug. The panic case is named too: when Finn froze he would 'eat whatever the penalty was' until the work taught him to think his way out.
On film
This is his first time out to the park, and Finney is a major flight risk. So he will bolt. He will try to run. So I've got his backup collar on, and I've got the e-collar in front,
Levi
A family who did everything right at home, strict and consistent with every command backed, and a dog who regressed anyway, because the collar was so loose he felt nothing.
On film
because the e-collar was so loose it was so loose that you couldn't reinforce anything
Lunna
Excitement raises her working level, so the same setting can be too low one day and too much another. Before raising it the trainer suspects the fit.
On film
actually think that the e-collar is on too loose for luna
Where the trainers differ
On film
to me the e-collar is like the last thing you go for though
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?
On film
territory of like there's like hey you need to listen here's like a kind of a punishment thing
On film
by a car he could get in a dog fight he could anything could happen right so the higher the stakes are
On film
Good job, man. Yeah, if we want him to have a reliable recall he can't just eat the e-collar
On film
i have to tap it a couple times because she's a little bit of a voltage wise she's not super tough
On film
she's gonna cry and it's open and the thing is it's okay it's just it's part of the rules
On film
Yeah, because I can do lots of other stuff through, like, concepts, because one of the things that he struggles with is, um, is that when he freezes and panics like that, all of the thoughts go out the window
On film
flexi on and I have it on a prong collar or not a prong collar because you could use a flat collar just fine as long as you have the e-collar.
On film
she's on the flat collar. We haven't had to use the prong collar at all anymore.
As a course unit
They can rank a dog's behaviours by what they could cost him, keep the collar on a word the dog knows (escape before avoidance), and set a wearing schedule that keeps the dog from becoming collar-wise. They can answer an owner's fear of the tool without reassurance, and tell apart a dog who can't feel it, can't act, needs repeats, or is avoiding.
Lessons, in order
- The gear list, and the reasons for each piece
- Fit before level: check the tool before you judge the dog
- The level is not a number
- The stakes set the severity
- Escape before avoidance: the collar backs a word the dog already knows
- Collar awareness: the collar is a paperweight
- The handler wears the collar
- Eating the correction, and avoidance as a tactic
- The lifetime pressure budget
Drills
- The fit check, as run on Wrigley, Rocky and King: charge and switch on, fit high on the neck opposite the walking side, two fingers with no twist. On a coated dog, hair up, contacts seated, hair down. Press once on a known command and watch the ears. No response means tighten before touching the level.
- Finding the working level, as on Wrigley's walk: in a quiet spot, tap low and raise until the ears come up or the dog glances round, and stay there. Re-read it the same way when a dog, a deer or a new place turns up.
- Ranking the stakes, as Reaper's trainer does out loud: list the dog's behaviours from 'could cost him his home' to 'untidy', and agree with the trainer which gets which.
- The wearing schedule: on in the morning and off at night, at least one outing a week where it is worn and never touched, the remote on a carabiner, no commands with it off in the first week home.
- Feel it first, as Peque's adopters did with the prong and Thumper's trainer did with the collar on her own hand. Then the timing rehearsal on a trainer wearing the collar, as with Baxter.
Assessment
- You press and get nothing. Name the checks, in order, before you touch the level, and say what you do with the last ten repetitions if the strap turns out to have been loose.
- Why might the same dog need a much higher level for a squirrel than for a broken sit? What do Wiley's numbers tell you, and what don't they?
- Name the two opposite ways a dog becomes collar-dependent, and why the same schedule prevents both.
- Your dog has known 'come' for weeks. You tap when he ignores it, he turns for a second and goes back to sniffing. What does that tell you?
- An owner says she is scared of hurting her dog. What is the first thing you say, and why isn't it a reassurance?
The ideas it draws on
- The level is not a number
- Fit before level: check the tool before you judge the dog
- Collar awareness: the collar is a paperweight
- The gear list, and the reasons for each piece
- The handler wears the collar
- The stakes set the severity
- Escape before avoidance: the collar backs a word the dog already knows
- The lifetime pressure budget
- Eating the correction, and avoidance as a tactic