Electronic collars have become a staple in dog training, whether it's for teaching general obedience to a family pet or teaching a police dog to follow its handler's commands.

However, e-collars are not meant to be a quick fix for a "problematic" dog. Daryl Gaunt, an expert in the field, explains using e-collars this way leads to temporary—not permanent—behavior changes. Dogs quickly learn to distinguish when the collar is being used and when it's not and adapt their behavior accordingly.

As the owner and trainer of Paraclete K9 in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, Gaunt has trained dogs for decades. He says he sees the e-collar as the most misused tool available for training.

Prior to launching Paraclete K9’s e-collar training classes, Gaunt attended many seminars across the country. He says these courses alarmed him because they treated the e-collar like a hammer.

“When you use a tool like a hammer, then everything in the world looks like a nail to you, and every problem is solved by force,” he says. “It becomes so easy to overcorrect a dog. But when you overcorrect a police dog trained to bite, they might turn around and bite you.”

Gaunt highlights stresses being strategic when using an e-collar. To prevent dogs from catching on and officers from misusing them, he emphasizes handlers must be smart with e-collar use.

“The No. 1 rule I teach them is to use the e-collar as a communication tool first and a correction tool last,” he says.

Gaunt took what he learned from other e-collar courses and from Pat Nolan, a noted bird dog trainer, to develop an e-collar training course for police and SWAT K9 handlers. In his training sessions, he offers the following lessons.

No. 1 Treat Dogs Honestly

Gaunt tries not to correct a muzzled dog during his training sessions, and they are often off leash. He also dresses casually in shorts, sneakers, and a T-shirt, which causes handlers in his classes to worry about him getting bitten.

But he rarely gets bitten, he says, because he is honest with dogs.

“I always put myself in a position where I have to be honest in the communication and the correction,” he says. “That’s why I get such great results.”

Gaunt argues many police trainers mistakenly believe only punishment can mold a dog's behavior. Other trainers, he says, make the mistake of believing only positive reinforcement works.

“The problem with only using positive reinforcement is that whatever reward you are offering the dog has to be more important than the distraction,” he says. "But what can prevent an intact male dog from pursuing a female dog in heat?”

The best way to solicit positive behavior is to use discipline and correction in tandem with positive reinforcement. “Be honest with the dog,” he says.

Once a dog consistently obeys a command seven out of 10 times, Gaunt says the dog comprehends the command and knows the appropriate response. Any further disobedience can be attributed to intentional defiance rather than a lack of understanding.

“If the dog is not doing something on purpose, then he can be corrected for it,” he says. “That’s what I mean about being honest with the dog. It’s like when a child is disobedient. If you don’t correct the child, the child will disobey again. But you should not correct a child for an honest mistake.”

No. 2 Employ All Four Quadrants of Dog Training

Gaunt also recommends using the four quadrants of operant conditioning when using e-collars to guide and train police dogs. These include:

1.     Positive Reinforcement: Adding a stimulus to increase or encourage a behavior. For example, giving the dog a treat or a ball as a reward.

2.      Negative Reinforcement: Removing a stimulus to increase or encourage a behavior. For instance, stopping e-collar stimulation when the dog responds to a recall command. The dog learns they can stop the e-collar stimulation by following the command.

3.      Negative Correction: Removing a stimulus to decrease or discourage a behavior. For example, withholding a treat when the dog doesn't obey a "sit" command.

4.      Positive Correction: Adding a stimulus to decrease or discourage a behavior. For example, tugging on the leash when the dog is pulling forward.

No. 3 Avoid Overcorrection

E-collars can hurt when turned up too high, according to Gaunt.

“If you hear a dog vocalize, that is an overcorrection. A dog should not be so overwhelmingly hurt by an e-collar that it screams,” he says. “We all can make mistakes and apply too high of a level of stimulation because stimulation levels change constantly, depending on the distraction before the dog.”

According to Gaunt, he favors e-collars that offer precise stimulation level adjustments. For instance, Einstein e-collar stimulations can be adjusted from zero to 100 and Dogtra e-collars can be set from zero to 127.

“I might set a collar at 15 for obedience, but when the dog gets distracted, I might bump it to a 20 or 25,” he says. “That will get the dog’s attention. After that, I back it down to a 10 or 15. You don’t want to stay at a high level where the dog yelps every time you push the stimulation button.”

No. 4 Stimulate Yourself

Gaunt makes every handler hold an e-collar receiver in their hands and receive a correction for three to five seconds.

“We start with a very low setting and move it up,” he says. “I want the handler to feel that tap, tap, tap sensation. I want them to feel the titration, which is a lot like putting a nine-volt battery to your tongue.”

Gaunt has handlers turn up the collar a little bit at a time so they can see how stimulation increases. “When they get their titration number where they feel the sensation, I move the collar up four or five levels, and hit it again,” he says. “This teaches handlers that there is a significant difference between a setting of 3 and a setting of 8. Now, they understand that when they go from 20 to 40, it’s a significant jump.”

If handlers increase the collar level from 15 to 50 all at once, it will overly stimulate the dog. He emphasizes handlers must use the minimum amount of stimulation necessary. That way should the dog pursue a civilian when it shouldn't, for example, the handler can increase the intensity significantly and the dog will understand it as a correction.

“I want you to have some juice left in that e-collar,” he says. “So that the dog understands that what he is doing is not good.”

No. 5 Set the Numbers for the Dog

Titration numbers will differ for each dog, just as they differed for each handler in the previous exercise, he adds.

Handlers can determine the appropriate level for their dog by applying stimulation several times. The first time, the dog might have needed a 10 because a bird distracted him. The second time the dog might respond to a 6 because there was little outside stimulation. In this case, the officer can set the collar at an 8, he says.

“Next, we use the low level stimulation in combination with a little bit of manual pressure from the leash,” he says. “Through repetition, the dog understands manual pressure and low stimulation are the same thing. Next, we take away the manual pressure and use low e-collar pressure. If the dog responds, the bridge is complete.”

Now Gaunt adds in more distractions, such as their favorite toys or the bite sleeve or suit. “Obviously, the stimulation level will go up, but the concept stays the same,” he says.

Trainers can reinforce behaviors with an auditory marker, such as a clicker or a word (phooey), if the dog does not comply, and then they can apply the e-collar.

“This has to be black and white,” he says. “If you told the dog to sit and he’s not sitting, he needs to be corrected. If you told the dog not to bite the toy and he goes to bite it, but then he decides at the last second to not bite it, you cannot hit him with the e-collar. If you do, you’ve corrected him for making a good decision. When e-collars are misused in this way, the dog will get confused.”

No. 6 Pick a Good Collar

Gaunt says he prefers collars with many settings.

He explains Garmin or Tritonics collars can work, but they only offer high, medium and low settings, in numbers from one to 21. Dogra and Einstein collars, in contrast, offer 100 or more settings.

Dogtra and Einstein collars also offer features, such as lockout, which prevent handlers from accidentally stimulating the dog. “This is an excellent feature. If you mean to stimulate the dog at 14 and accidentally hit them at 100, the dog will not work for you,” he says. “Now you’ll have to rehabilitate the dog.”

Other collars such as the Martin System Chameleon or the Ninja are excellent e-collars, but Gaunt says they are also extremely expensive, which can make them cost prohibitive for cash-strapped police agencies.

No. 7 Fit the Collar Correctly

A proper fit is essential. Gaunt explains a collar that is too loose can cause friction burns on the dog’s neck, while a collar that’s too tight can restrict a dog’s breathing.

“You should be able to fit two fingers between the plastic collar and the dog’s neck. That’s how snug it should be. It should not rotate on the dog’s neck,” he says.

Prongs also should be midway up the neck on either side of the trachea, he adds. If the collar has a light, it should be in the front so that if the dog is coming toward the handler, the handler will see it.

“I like the new collars with elastic bands because dog’s necks swell as you train them,” Gaunt adds. “If your dog’s neck swells on a plastic collar with no give, it causes problems. The tighter the receiver is on their necks, the less responsive the dog will be.”

To avoid restricting the dog's breathing, Gaunt advises loosening the collar after 40 minutes of training.

Gaunt concludes by saying by combining discipline with positive reinforcement and avoiding e-collar misuse, handlers can achieve consistent, reliable results with their dogs. To take Gaunt’s e-collar class, visit www.paracletek9.com or email him at cnturn4401@aol.com

Gaunt is also a speaker at the National Police Canine Association Seminar in August. More information on how to register for this upcoming training seminar is found at the NPCA website .