dvlish's Full Review: Petsafe Comfort Fit Big Dog Remote Trainer (500';;...
Our American Bulldog puppy is 15 months old and just over 80 pounds. I never knew if I was a fan of "shock" collars until the first time he came after me when I tried to take a bone away from him. In that moment I think I could have killed him if I could have gotten past his teeth and gotten a hold of him.
We got him from what I find out later is considered a backyard breeder...not the forum for that discussion but stay away from them if you can. Do your research and find a reputable breeder for any pup you decide on...you will be glad you did.
Our little guy was whelped during 36 hours of labor. He was one of 7 pups that survived from a total of 12. The mother dog ended up very sick after whelping the pups, she nursed them for 2 days and had to be put down when they were 11 days old. They were bottle raised by a couple who knew nothing about dogs let alone this breed. They did him a the rest of the pups a huge disservice by not doing their homework before deciding to have a litter of pups. Regardless we fell in love with this little guy at 4 days old and bottle fed him and the rest of his litter mates.
At about 3-4 months old the above incident with the bone happened. He was pretty good size by then and I ended up with an arm full of bruises. We had been to our first training class the week before and were 2 days away from the next one. Our trainer specializes in bully breeds with aggression problems and also trains dogs for protection work, etc. He took one look at my arm and his whole demeanor changed when it came to working with our pup. His first recommendation for dealing with his aggression was a shock collar.
My sister-in-law works at a pet supply place which helps with the cost on most of the supplies we have needed. If memory serves me correctly this collar cost about $129 retail and came with the controller and a battery. A two pack of replacement batteries are about $12. When my husband brought this collar home I was hesitant to use it. Even though our pup had snapped at me and left bruises on my arms I still didn't want to use this collar on him.
I did some research on-line about their use and even watched an episode of The Dog Whisperer featuring the use of one. My husband told me that before we used it we needed to try it out first. Nice! I held it tightly in my palm and shocked myself at level 4 and it was like testing a square battery on your tongue.
So to the collar itself...it is a heavy duty plastic collar with the a smallish box attached to it. There are two rounded metal probes that stick out of the box on the inside of the collar that when strapped to the pup are up against his neck. We trimmed about 3 inches off it now that he is full grown. I would guess his neck is 12 -15 inches around. Even with the trimmed off piece there is still room for him to grow. In addition to the adjustable buckle there is a male/female clip that is used for day to day use. The buckle is for changing the size of the collar if he gets any larger.
The controller is the size of a cell phone and has a belt clip. It features 2 buttons, one for the beep and one for the shock. There is a dial on the side that goes from 1 to 10. 1 is the softest shock level and 10 is the highest. I couldn't hold it past 4...or didn't want to.
When you first put a shock collar on a pup you put it on and then ignore it for about 5 minutes. They go on to something else and forget that you put the thing on them. Then when they get into something they shouldn't you start by hitting the beep button. If they don't respond you start at #1 of the shock and work your way up. It took a 5 to start for our guy. We began to use the collar to keep him from digging in the yard. This one is nice because the range on the controller is up to 100 feet away. We can stay in the house, let him out to do what dogs do and hide behind the the curtain and give him a little shock when he starts to get into something he shouldn't. This also includes when he has a bone or something else I need to take away from him without a fight. Definately a better option than the bruises.
So, the controller goes from 1-10 and after 4-5 months of using it we now use a 7 for the most part. When the pup gets real fired up we have occassionally bumped it up from 8-10. He was to the point after 6 months that all we had to do was take the collar out and whatever he was doing he would stop. We haven't used it in about 5 months.
There is a small on/off button on the collar unit. If you forget to turn it off, after a time it it turns itself off to save the battery. When we used it daily the batteries lasted about 2-3 weeks on average. Sometimes a bit longer. After not using it for 3 months or so the battery was dead went we pulled it out.
Overall this is a great device. It is durable and easy to use. I like that you can control the intensity of the shock depending on what is needed for your specific dog. If you are hesitant to try one this is a good choice because you can start out soft and work your way up if necessary. It is a good size and doesn't get in the way of other collars during training or otherwise. Definately a good investment for the training of your pup.
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