Quote Originally Posted by Treed View Post
I disagree. Some things are about dominance. Like being able to take a bone out his mouth at any time. If he’s aggressive, then it’s about dominance. Getting a dog to come is about reward and conditioning. My dog is a native dog with an incredible prey drive. Getting him to come is not about fear, it’s about getting him out of his headspace and rewarding him when he comes. I always have treats on hand. Conditioning is all powerful. I trained him to come with a shock collar and I rarely use the shock function now. Occasionally, I use vibrate to get him to come and then he gets a treat. If I want him to follow a scent or track that he hasn’t already seen or smelt, I just have to point and say go find this. The reward in this case is the track. He’ll come at full pace and then take off tracking. He listens because he loves that and because I never use it to just get him to come to me. If I did, he would figure out that I lie to him and wouldn’t trust me. I think relationships with smart dogs are built on trust and respect. Goes both ways, at least with the smart ones. Mine is a west Siberian Laika. Enough wild to be independent but enough social to be a great dog.
I think the e coller is the next step for sure. He has been getting better, but he does have a pretty strong prey drive. On the leash he has improved a lot, being able to heel past a group of whitetails as long as the deer don’t take off suddenly. But off leash, he his recall is not where I’d like it to be. If he isn’t focused on something he comes when called every time, but if there is something he finds interesting he ignores me about 50% of the time. He does follow eventually if I keep going, but on his terms.

any suggestions on a good affordable e collar? Some of the dogtra ones I’ve been recommended are around 3-400$.