Beginning Electronic Collar Training

	Train to develop your dog

At last, it's time to get started with the Tri-Tronics training collar.Your dog has been taught what each command means and already knows the responses that bring it success. Now you will use the Tri-Tronics collar to help the dog learn that there are no alternatives to correct responses.

As you start your dog's collar training, there are six basic principles to remember:

1. Train to Develop Willingness to Obey
To develop your dog's willingness to obey, use a strategy that relies primarily on avoidance training rather than punishment training. There are two steps in avoidance training.

The first step teaches the dog that it can turn off electrical stimulation of an electronic dog collar by responding correctly to a command. To do this, you apply low-level stimulation as you give a command the dog already knows. The command is the cue that tells the dog what to do; it discovers that by complying it stops the stimulation. This stage is called escape training; it is the first step to avoidance training.

As the dog becomes quicker at responding, the required duration of stimulation will become shorter and shorter. When the dog is responding quickly, you can begin giving commands without using electrical stimulation. This lets the dog discover that it can avoid electrical stimulation entirely by complying quickly. This stage is called avoidance training.

With avoidance training the dog becomes tuned in to your commands because it believes that its own quick response enables it to avoid the stimulation. With this mental attitude the dog will be very willing to obey, and is less likely to become distracted or test your authority. The dog learns a strategy which makes sense to it even when advanced training becomes difficult and distractions increase.

Every time that you don't have to correct the avoidance-trained dog, the dog is positively reinforced for its correct response. The result of this approach is that you have manipulated the dog into actually wanting to do things your way; the dog feels like a winner. It has its world figured out because it knows it can avoid discomfort by obeying quickly.

	Start with the Three-Action Introduction to teach the dog how to turn off stimulation by moving toward you then by going away from you...and finally by becoming stationary.

The alternative training approach is based on punishment. The trainer relies on the strength of the punishment to subdue the dog, and in a subdued state the dog is easier to control. However, a dog that only complies because it has been subdued still perceives that its trained response is not what it really wanted to do. As a result, the punishment-trained dog's attitude about performing will be much less willing than the dog trained by avoidance training methods.

2. Always Teach the Command First
The dog must have a basic understanding of a command before you use the Tri-Tronics collar to reinforce compliance with that command. If the dog really doesn't know what to do, don't expect it to know any better just because you use the Tri-Tronics training collar.

Be fair to the dog; teach the commands before introducing the electronic collar. For pups, use the food reward method. Then use a leash to reinforce the basic commands in order to introduce the dog to the idea that it can "turn off" mild discomfort. This will give the dog a smooth transition to the electronic collar.

3. Start with the Three-Action Introduction
A sequential order of training the basic commands is important to the dog's understanding of electronic dog training. We call this sequence the "three-action introduction." During the three-action introduction, the dog will learn to turn off low-level stimulation by performing three different actions. They are the actions of coming toward you, going away from you, and becoming stationary. Taught in this sequence, the dog will understand that it must perform different actions to turn off electrical stimulation. It will learn that it can always turn off the stimulation by listening for your command and responding correctly.

4. Guide the Beginner
Even though the dog knows the meaning of a command, it will not immediately understand that it should obey the command when it first feels the low-level stimulation. When this happens, some trainers are tempted to increase stimulation because they think the dog is "ignoring" the command. Don't do this! Instead, guide the dog into complying.

	Make training fun for the dog. Reward it with fun bumpers.

For some procedures you should accomplish this guidance with a leash or check cord; in others, you should "talk the dog through" what it needs to do. In both cases, the goal is to eliminate the dog's option to do anything but learn to turn off the stimulation by complying with the known command.

5. Make Training Fun for the Dog
Have fun while you train. Don't make training a grind for your dog. Keep sessions short and give the dog lots of praise and fun bumpers for the right response.

Fun bumpers can be used during a training session in two ways: as a reward when the dog has earned one with a correct response, and when the dog has become uptight or bored, and just needs a lift.

When you praise your dog, tailor it to adjust the dog's attitude. Soothing praise will calm an active dog. Enthusiastic praise will build excitement in a training session and animate a dog that needs it.

6. Have the Tri-Tronics Collar on the Dog
Once collar training begins, you should have the dog wear the collar whenever you might give a command. Don't put yourself in a position where your dog can disobey commands while not wearing the electronic dog collar, and then attempt to correct the situation by putting the collar on later.

Making this mistake teaches the dog to be collar wise. It will start thinking "collar on means behave--collar off means goof off." And with good reason. You just let it compare results. Therefore, as a rule of thumb, once you start your dog's electronic collar training, it should wear its Tri-Tronics collar for at least four months in any situation in which you might give a command. When a month or more has passed and you have not needed the collar to reinforce a particular command during training, your dog has developed permanence of habit for obeying that command. At this time your dog will normally obey that command, whether or not it is wearing the collar. However, the dog should continue to wear the electronic collar during training until it has developed permanence of habit for all the commands that you reinforce with your Tri-Tronics collar.