Mic and other trainers...

That does sound good!!! I think that the high value of the treat is the point. You could blow the whistle, and hand Crusher his chicken leg (or something that he's never had before might be better). I may try that one, with my two....

The above mentioned method is what we use to teach most dogs the emergency recall.  I use the command NOW and lin it to a high value treat.  The dogs don't even think...they just sprint toward you every time.
 
As far as the ecollars are concerned.  If I was going to train 3 dogs for the same owner there are really two main ways. 
 
First is with a multi collar system.  They run about $600 and work with up to 6 collars.  They are color coded so it is pretty easy to keep track.  One remote controls all six collars with a toggle switch. 
 
The second way:
The way I usually do this is train each dog separately on the same collar (much cheaper).  Then once they are trained (takes about 4 weeks) I replaced the active collar with a dummy collar, and then your are good to go.

Does the multi collar system come with all 6 collars for 600?  Or do you have to buy the collars seperate? 

I didnt know it only takes 4 weeks.  Crusher's buddy Lucy is trained on an E collar but she wears it all the time. 

I think the multi collar comes with 2 collars.  It just depends on the brand and the package you buy.
 
We fully off leash obedience train dogs on ecollars in 24 days to about 98% reliability.  That covers sit, down, and stay at distance, come, heel, leave it, go to place, wait stand, inside, (whatever else the owner wants). 
 
My ecollar trained dogs only wear them when they are going to be in a hi stress environment.  Otherwise they where a dummy box on there collars.

A dummy box.  Maybe thats what Lucy needs. 

Do the Ecollars come with good instuctions on how to use them properly?  I definately wouldnt want to do it wrong.

No, they do not come good instructions.  That is why we see so many misused.  I would higher someone...if nothing else, by a video by a pro.

The emergency recall sounds great, I think I'll try - Dodger's word certainly could never be "now" since I already use it[]
 
All I know about e-collers is that they shock??  I could never do that to Dodger, even on the lowest setting. 

I think that shock collars have a time and place.  There are dogs that need one and dogs that don't. Lucy is a BC cross rescue that is not food motivated, doesnt like toys, couldnt really care less if her owner played with her or not, and is absolutely terrified of a leash.  Aside from that they live a block away from a very busy street, and have 3 roomates.With 4 people living in a house, doors are bound to be left open from time to time.  Lucy needed to be trained quickly for her own safety.  The Ecollar gave her the freedom to be a dog.  I'm not advocating everyone run out and get one but in Lucy's place, it was definately the lesser of two evils.

When our "neighbors" behind us got a little beagle pup from the shelter, she started coming to visit on a pretty regular basis.  When I took her home on Friday I simply snapped a leash on her and she walked wonderfully for me.  In talking with mom, I discovered, the kids run in and out, and so does puppy.....and that she doesn't come when she's called.  Gee?  Ya think?  A little beagle pup doesn't COME when called??  I suggested a drag line, just like I use, explained the NOSE thing, reassured mom that this is all perfectly normal puppy behavior.  Also explained how she should never tell the pup to come unless she can enforce it......and urged her to RETURN the shock collar that "doesn't work" once she gets a scent!!  Discouraged the invisible fence too by explaining that someone as nose driven as a beagle will deal with the shock for the sake of getting the rabbit, but won't want to come BACK into the yard and be shocked again.....some dogs, and certainly some breeds just aren't gonna learn as fast on a shock collar, regardless of the setting.......the good news is she's going to order Really Reliable Recall AND get the pup into classes.

I have an ecollar question for mic and others.  I have a three year old American eskimo.  We have had an ecollar for about 2 years.  He is a barker and the noise was so bad in another apartment that other methods of training wasn't working.  We took obedience classes and worked with a trainer when we bought the collar, but I think we have messed it up somehow.  Wrigley is very reliable on ecollar.  He doesn't bark, he heels at all times and will come when called from any situation.  (He is not so reliable when not wearing his ecollar) . We haven't used the shock/vibrate mechanism in almost a year.  The problem is he is terrified of the collar.  He isn't himself when it is on and if he's barking and we go to put it on he will hide under the bed. I was warned about becoming collar-wise but I don't know how to overcome it.  He wore the collar off and on for a few days before we used it and now when it's on, we never use it...I would like to fix this situation because I would like to be able to have him on e collar but feel like he still has a personality.  Am I asking for too much?

Sounds to me like the original correction level used was to high.  It is very hard to overcome having a collar wise dog.  Extra care has to be taken during the training process to prevent this.  Normally, I don't take the time to prevent it...I just always use a dummy box. 
 
Since your dog already understands the basics I would focus solely on +R training for a few months and then slowly come back to the ecollar. 
 
This process is known as "crossing over".  It is not necessarily and easy task, but can be achieved with some diligence.  If you want to start on this I will email you how.

I would appreciate an email.  I would love to be able to take Wrigley with me as a therapy dog.  I was hoping to take him back to obedience this summer.  I am sad to think we over did it to begin with.