A Problem with the I Collar

Well, since I wouldn't need to use the collar in the first place, I can't comment on spedifically on its action, but I can tell you that when I walk all three of my larger dogs together, it's the two girls on the left, and the hound on the right.  

ORIGINAL: spiritdogs

Well, since I wouldn't need to use the collar in the first place

 
Me niether, i think they are intended for beginners who cant control their dogs with a regular collar, i assume since Awsome dog is not a beginner then he uses them to help other people that dont have the same skills as him

What is an I collar? I googled it and found an electronic device that can help you track your dog if it gets lost. This, of course, does not make sense in light of this discussion. I am not a dog expert, and I am having a great difficulty when walking my Jack Russell.

ORIGINAL: RebeckaK

What is an I collar? I googled it and found an electronic device that can help you track your dog if it gets lost. This, of course, does not make sense in light of this discussion. I am not a dog expert, and I am having a great difficulty when walking my Jack Russell.

An I collar (Illusion collar) is not the same as an e-collar

This is an I collar:



If you use the search link and write "pulling the leash" or something similar you are going to find A LOT of threads with people and the same problem, here are just a couple from dozens of them:

http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=282558&mpage=1&key=pulling%2Cleash
http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=243747&mpage=1&key=pulling%2Cleash

Thanks for the tip about this collar being "one-sided". []

I work my dog on both sides, but she is used to working more on my right because I tend to work my client's dogs on my left.

The inexpensive nylon leash which can be made into a slip from either side, is still my preferred "tool" in many situations.

Heck, give me a simple piece of rope, and I can still do more personally with this, a little attitude, and body postioning...than spending money on a "fancy" gadget. []

IMO, the human and dog relationship should be the primary "tool" used in any given situation.

ORIGINAL: espencer

ORIGINAL: spiritdogs

Well, since I wouldn't need to use the collar in the first place

Me niether, i think they are intended for beginners who cant control their dogs with a regular collar, i assume since Awsome dog is not a beginner then he uses them to help other people that dont have the same skills as him

There are many different reason why there is a need for such a collar.  It does not have anything to do with competency but has everything to do with functioning safely until enough time is spent towards training or the dogs get calm in the situation.  Well-behaved dogs don't happen overnight.  I have been on a quest to find the perfect tool that will help control dogs being handled by inexperience handlers.  And these volunteer handlers are the elderly.  I am not a beginner and I have very good control over my dogs...BUT the fosters are a different story.  Sometimes I have a hard time especially when it comes to the hound.  Today, the hound who has never gone after a squirrel before decided today to do so.  I lost my balance and fell.  The fosters are usually placed in very high social interactions with people, children, and other dogs, including cats sometimes.  Control and saftey is paramount.  Marvin the hound is a good one for testing any type of control harnes.

I have now used the I-collar twice at the foster dog showing and it has worked very well.  It is kind of funny looking but I put a bandana on the dog and it covers most of it.  It does keep the collar high on the neck.  I was fooled by the Sensation Harness and others after using them a couple of times.  The dogs, well Marvin eventually got use to the harness and started acting up again.  After a couple more showing I think I can give it a good endorsement.
 
Angelique statement about the human-dog relationship in any given situation is right on target.  But the problem is I am the only one that can handle the hound during these showings and that is not good in getting him adopted.  He has to learn to be calm when being handled by another.

How is I Collar supposed to work?  Illusion implies that it fools the dog somehow. 
 
Easy walk harness has been good for my Sibe huskies that have innate drive to pull. 
 
Maybe some younger people don't have issue with training a puller, but when you get older and have arthritis or any other old age issues...you need a little extra with those pups with extra pulling drive.  It is probably a big reason elderly love to have smaller breeds.  Easier to handle.

ORIGINAL: dogslife

How is I Collar supposed to work?  Illusion implies that it fools the dog somehow.

No, he simply named it after his wife. The collar works great, my only problem with it was it only works on one side, and for someone like Cesar who works with people who walk multiple dogs, this IMO was a big over site and should be corrected.

I walk three or four german shepherds at a time on a flat collar only.  Typically just three, and all three on the left.  I'm not all that big and I'm older and have bad shoulders AND I'm not a trainer.  I guess as a non expert I'm sitting here wondering why a pro would walk more than one dog at a time if the one had issues walking nicely?  Or is that just too simplistic?

I was trained for dogs to walk on the left.  Now that Glenmar has bought it up, when I walk multiple Great Danes, they are on my left...or is it because the cigarette is in my right hand.

Ummm, well, that too DPU, but actually, I prefer not to walk even ONE dog on the right, because of the two shoulders, that one is more fragile, having already had 3 surgeries.  It's at a point that the only thing left is a total replacement, but those aren't real long lived and you can only do it three times.  I don't want to outlive the shoulder, don't want to be OLD and in pain....being young(er) and in pain is bad enough!  So I protect it a bit more than the left.....the left side is more able to withstand three or four being stinkers.

ORIGINAL: glenmar

I walk three or four german shepherds at a time on a flat collar only.  Typically just three, and all three on the left.  I'm not all that big and I'm older and have bad shoulders AND I'm not a trainer.  I guess as a non expert I'm sitting here wondering why a pro would walk more than one dog at a time if the one had issues walking nicely?  Or is that just too simplistic?

 
I don't think the side you walk your dog on makes too much difference as much as the leadership influence you have over the dogs.

It's based on the power of the pack and a leadership principle of how a stable leader can connect with the first dog, and then add another dog using the human's leadership connection and the stability of the first dog to influence the second. Once you have two stable dogs, you can add another, and so on.

Sometimes you need to work with the second dog appart from the first to establish your leadership, depending on the dog's issues.

Dogs can greatly influence each other, especially if the human is good leadership material who is looked to for direction by all of the dogs.

On the flip-side, lack of leadership in the human (from the dog's point of view) and/or contact with an unstable dog, can cause other dog's to become unstable. IMOAE
 
I can walk several of my regulars, and still run interference or halt strays at quite a distance because the dogs I'm working with trust me to handle the loose, rude dogs, and the dogs I work with have learned to ignore the other dogs.
 
I don't work with big packs though.

CM also uses this basic principle when introducing dogs into his loose pack and walks many dogs at once, many off leash when he's in the mountains.

A point has been brought up in some recent threads about dogs growing up with humans (with little or no contact with other dogs) not understanding basic dog ettiquette, manners, or "dog-ese".

I think this is an important point to think about. []

I appreciate your response, but I'm still puzzling over the WHY you would walk a difficult dog in group BEFORE you've established yourself as the leader?  And again, my lack of understanding could come from the fact that I'm NOT a trainer and just don't "get" why?

I'm still trying to figure out what leadership has to do with pulling on the leash.  Dogs pull on the leash for three reasons: 1) oppositional reflex, and 2) they move faster than humans, and 3) they've been inadvertently taught by their owners that if they pull they get to go.
 
you think a team of sled dogs thinks their musher is not their leader because they are out in front and pulling?