Informing people of what HAS happened to others is educating people, just like in drivers training - showing people what CAN happen if items are misued, gives people a good idea of the consequenses of their actions with something unfamiliar to them. There is a big difference between an electric fence and a shock collar - the electric fence keeps an animal away from something it is protecting. The animal getting zapped will associated the chickens home with the electric fence. A shock collar is used to assist with unwanted behavior and it is frequently misused. As some trainers suggest - using a shock collar on your arm will feel much different than using it on your neck...which is where it is on your dog. Sometimes it only takes one or two times for the dog to associate the shock with the unwanted behavior - kudos to you for starting at the lowest level.
The reason she "looks forward to having it on" is because she associates it with being able to go out, which is where she wants to be. If you hung anything around her neck before she went out, she would associate it with going out and look forward to going out. Rote and association is how dogs learn.
Most of the people on this forum are very well versed in most all aspects of dog training and behavior. i dont know if anyone "assumed you would use the collar incorrectly" I can speak for myself when I say I would rather someone be educated on all that can happen to your dog when using a negative reinforcement training tool instead of using positive reinforcement...

Just watched an episode of "It's Me Or The Dog" where the owner of an English Bulldog had been using the shock collar on the second lowest setting.Victoria Stillwell suggested that the owner get a "feel" of what the dog felt when it was activated.She jerked her hand back and said it felt like needles and said she was glad she never used a higher setting.She threw it away and said she felt really bad about using it.Victoria feels that shock collars are cruel and inhumane,(I'm inclined to agree,JMHO) and the lazy way to train a dog,which usually results in a fearful,undisciplined dog.
Mazer-I agree with what you said about it feeling different on your arm than it does on the dog's neck,but who can really say what it feels like to the dog? Maybe it hurts the dog's neck worse than it does your arm? Why should training be painful to the dog in the first place? I can't see inflicting pain as a training tool when there are other ways.

Lillie I was going to say the same thing...that poor bulldog had an idiot for an owner though....who puts a shock collar on a 5 month old puppy on the highest setting. The owner was actually using the collar on the highest setting, Victoria showed the owner what it was like on the lowest setting and even that hurt. The owner also then tried a spray thing...and before the poor dog even misbehaved she was spraying it in the face..that woman did not need to own a dog. Carmen this was not aimed at you....I am only talking about the woman on Victorias show who was using a shock collar on a 5 months old puppy on the highest setting. You say you have only used it on the lowest setting, so while I do not agree with your methods I'm not picking on you. I only know that I would not try a shock collar unless it was a LAST resort. I'm glad it seems to be working for you though....hopefully it will keep your dog from running off....I won't say keep it safe because shocking your dog does nothing to dissuade other animals from attacking her.

Well I'm glad it's working for you. And it sounds like you're using it correctly. Unfortunately my parents had a Siberian Husky that the shock collar was the last resort. First she went on a chicken plucking expedition. Then she started chasing the calves. The dog was about to loose its life. This stopped the behaviour quickly. When a dog injures/kills livestock that can be a death sentence.

She was a very beautiful and smart dog. And that was her problem, if she was loose, she knew you couldn't control her. After her rampages were stopped, she lived a good long life.

I think the shock collar if used correctly, can make life easier for the dog and the owner.

I just have to clear up a misconception. Mazer, the use of an e-collar does NOT constitute negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement means the removal of an adversive stimulus in order to increase the likelihood of a behavior occurring again under the same circumstances. Certainly, one does not want the behavior of leaving an established boundary to INCREASE; negative reinforcement, in this case, would be the wrong approach.

The use of an e-collar to DECREASE or ELIMINATE unwanted behavior falls in the quadrant of operant conditioning know as positive punishment, which is the application of an adversive stimulus in order to decrease the likelihood of a behavior occurring again under the same circumstances

Sorry for the psychology lesson but I see people misusing the terms negative(removal) and positive(addition) and reinforcement (increase behavior) and punishment (eliminate behavior) all the time and it grates after a while. I am a Skinnerian trainer so I know that All quadrants (R+, R-, P+ and P-) are used to effectively modify behavior.

lillepad - I dont advocate shock collars - they do have their use with dogs who have enough exercise and training but still need something else to keep them from doing something which can either hurt another animal or be a danger to the dog. I do think too many people use training tools incorrectly and are too quick to use them. Nothing can replace human to canine training.
forthedogs - I disagree with the term "positive punishment" it is an oxymoron and only exists in our vocabulary, however did use incorrect terminology...thanks.

Glad you like the collar, Carmen. My dogs do well with it also, the 2 who have used it. I'm surprised you went with the remote model instead of the invisible fence type but realize that the IF type would have been *really* expensive. It sounds like you're making it all work well for your situation. Glad it's working out.

Money is certainly a consideration for us! This one was $34 online purchase) and the only draw back is that the battery has to be removed after each use otherwise it runs down. The batteries are only $1 each, but still it is a pain to have to constantly remove it every time she comes in.

For now anyway, she is being so good and we haven't put the collar on for days.

good, maybe in awhile you wont need it any more

I have a pca who uses a shock collar to train his dog to keep from barking ,dog never really barks anymore. my opinion is if you don't like barking don't get a dog or get one which wont bark or a breed that doesn't do it a lot.

What's even stranger IHMO is the guy is really against non organic food,always avoids fast food but buy Euk! thats been kind of weird for me to figure out.

Oh my, Runswalken. You brought back a memory. Many decades ago, we had a dog who could go in and out at will through a doggy door. We had a fenced run for her. Problem was that she would run out there and bark at squirrels, etc. any time of the night or day. There was a window above the run and we would dump water on her every time she barked.

She no longer barked EVER. Our house was broken into when she was 9 yrs. old. He came in through the basement where my oldest son had his bedroom. My son knew there was a problem when he heard the dog (that slept with him) was growling lowly as the glass was breaking! He and the dog ran upstairs and we called the police. They arrived seconds later and got the guy -- a druggie who was hiding in the basement shower when they arrived.

We moved that spring. Sold the house and bought one in a safe neighborhood.

Cool story.

I think "water tharapy is kinder anyway)

I'm so glad its working for you. I read you original post and was just wondering the other day how it was going. You're lucky to have a living situation that will allow your dog to have some freedom. Of all the dogs in my life only the one I have now is confined to a fence or house 24/7. I live in a subdivision now so I have the responsibility not to let my dog run loose and be a menace to the neighbors or get hit on the busy roads, but when I lived in the country it was different. I had one dog who was 14 years old and hadn't onece had a leash on in her whole life. All it takes is for you to teach her the boundries and it sounds like you're doing fine.