So essentially that was a rule that was the same if they wrote “wear an Elizabethan collar” on both sides, just switched out the ruff vs the cone

I'm glad she's in good spirits today but goodness I feel awful. She developed a hotspot and some skin irritation under her ears after swimming for a few days in a row. I thought I'd dried her off well enough each day but evidently not :(

First time dealing with a hotspot. Been treating the area with sulfodene and diluted betadine for two days now since that's what a few forums recommended. It's looking a million times better now than it did when I first noticed it.

For whatever idiotic and deluded reason, the people of UK have voted to ban the use of remote training collars. Despite there being proof that these tools can save the lives of dogs who chase livestock, it has been decided that responsible dog owners cannot allow their dogs off leash freedom while being trained and secure.

I can imagine a lot more dogs are going to be shot by farmers and horse owners.

This blog is a prong/e collar/training tool positive blog and I’m unashamed to say I use both on my dog. If it ever came to be in Canada that they restricted or banned the use of these tools, I would not stop using them.

Not one person can look me dead in the eyes and claim my dog is unhappy, abused, or shut down.

Gettingvetted here.

Since positive trainers are obsessed with science (which is not a bad thing), let me bring a study to the table. Some dogs actually prefer positive punishment to negative punishment (which is what most purely positive trainers exclusively use when discouraging behavior), according to a study done on working breeds- the ones us balanced trainers tend to bring up when discussing breeds that may need training tools.

We have our proof. Where in any of your studies does every dog respond the exact same? Where in any of your studies do you use the tools according to the way we actually use them? Your studies take a handful of dogs with unknown histories, straps a shock collar to them and improperly uses it as a way to “prove” that shock collars are painful. But we already know that shocking a dog who doesn’t need it at a high level is wrong. We never denied that. You’re using a straw man argument when you use those studies, attacking a point we never, ever made.

Anonymous said to @ask-drferox​: What is normally done for dogs that are too nervous to wear a cone? I work with a shelter fostering kittens and my fellow foster currently has a dog who was found as a stray by a farmer with a lot of injuries (we think maybe the dog angered the cattle). Anyway this dog is. Insanely skittish. Terrified of everything and when we tried a cone he threw himself around like he was dying. He's being muzzled/supervised so he'll leave his stitches alone but any other ideas are appreciated!

Depends where the stitches are. Eyelid wounds basically have to have a cone on, but you have more options for elsewhere in the body.

Most dogs that react badly to the cone (Elizabethan collar or E Collar) don’t like that they can see it in their peripheral vision. So an inflatable collar might be an option. You might also see them called ‘cloud collars’.

They’re less distracting in their peripheral vision, and some dogs tolerate them better than the hard plastic ones.

For wounds on the body, sometimes we’ll use a jacket, body sock, or a T-shirt cut to fit on the dog. Or socks for limbs, if you can trust the dog to not eat them.

Another potential resort is a basket muzzle, only removed when the dog needs to eat. A basket muzzle allows the dog to drink, pant and vomit but not get anything solid into its mouth.

Disclaimer: My thoughts are about me and my dog. I am not every handler. My dog is not every dog. What does or doesn't work/feel comfortable for us is not intended to be a blanket statement on what does or doesn't work/feel comfortable for anyone else or their dog.

At our training session I confessed that while Faye is so good most of the time, she still gets overly stimulated by close passing cars at times and often pulls at busy street corners. I am concerned about how hard I have to correct her on the martingale and worry about damaging her throat. I also worry that should I ever lose control of the leash she could be hit by a car.

We talked about potentially changing tools, though my trainer assured me I was in no danger of damaging her throat. She told me she was more concerned that my hesitant corrections on the martingale could be desensitizing Faye to it, making it less effective. Which is fair.

I told the trainer I was maybe considering an e collar, specifically a mini educator. She thought it might be a better alternative and so we decided to try introducing one to Faye since they have that model on hand.

I tested it on myself first up to a ten. I didn't feel anything until level 4 or 5 and even at ten, it was not painful. I noticed it, but it wasn't even uncomfortable.

With Faye the trainer talked about making it a positive stimulus. Meaning every time she gets a "shock" she gets a treat. I've heard it described as a tap on the shoulder before but never really got that analogy until trying it out on myself. We started at 1 because my trainer told me most dogs find the vibration setting way more upsetting than the "shock". We got up to 7 with Faye and she was wagging her little nub tail the whole time. The trainer did tell me that she couldn't tell if Faye was responding to the "shock" or the very slight audible click of her pressing the button. Either way, Faye responded positively and was only mildly put off by the feel of the collar itself.

I have mixed feelings on going all in on the e collar so we set up a short session next week to try a plastic prong to see if that's a more comfortable option. My trainer assured me she would take the time to teach me to use either tool safely. That it's important that any tool used is both safely done for Faye and comfortable for me. No tool is any good if I won't utilize it effectively.

I tossed and turned all last night, and while that's not unusual for me, it was the contemplation of different tools that kept me up this time. (I want to remind anyone reading this that this is very much about me and my dog. I would appreciate it if no one tried to use this post to play moral superiority towards anyone who does use these tools.)

I have been wondering if I really need to change tools or if I'm letting my own frustration rush me into pushing Faye further than she's been taught to go self control wise. Is there a better tool for us, or am I looking to change to fill in the gaps of my patience?

I've just come in from spending a solid hour working a busy sidewalk and notoriously difficult street corner for us with a flat collar, lots of treats, and the patience I probably should have had all along. I took it all the way back to basics. Treat in front of nose and leading her at my desired pace. I see potential for improvement but also that Faye gets frustrated after too many times of getting it wrong. Is it better to double down on verbal no's/repetition? Or is it less frustrating for her to change to a tool/method that more clearly communicates what the right and wrong behaviors are?

I'm not sure yet what the right answer is for us. My goal is to find what is safest, most comfortable and effective, and least frustrating for both of us.