# Dog not responding to shock collar? Why?



## linnell

Borrowed a remote shock collar for my Great Pyr that is too interested in the chickens and keeps stealing eggs. I have been waiting and watching and more waiting. FINALLY I caught him sneaking into the coop and I quickly pressed the button and NOTHING. I tested the collar on my electric fence tester and it says on each prong theres 6.7 Amps on each prong on the highest setting. I even shaved the front of his neck down to make better contact. What's happening? His hair is shaved down so you can see skin. He does have some folds of skin on the front of his neck, could this be shorting it out? this is my first time using one of these. 
Thanks!


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## offthegrid

I've never tested my e-collar with a fence tester, so I honestly don't know what the amperage is. But, the key is whether it is *hot* enough for your dog. 

Usually it's recommended that you test the collar on the dog before using it in the field (or work, I suppose). We put it on the dog and put it on the lowest setting (with dog on a check cord) and see if it is even noticeable. If it isn't, increase the setting 1/2 setting (or the smallest possible increment) until your dog has a noticeable response. For a very low setting, this is sometimes like "hey, what was that?" and the dog might even look behind them. "Hey something touched me?" But at least you know it's working. Then you can practice a little bit with the settings depending on the situation. E.g. to enforce "sit" in my kitchen, I think I could use a 1.5 on my collar. To enforce recall in a bird field, I might need a 3...or more. Unexpected flock of running turkeys? Maybe a 5. 

And, different dogs are differently sensitive -- at a recent training class, a friend's dog was totally "shut down" by the trainer's collar at a very low setting, but the same setting on my dog elicited no response. (The trainer called my dog "hard-headed"). I would expect a Pyr to be extremely hard headed and stoic. You might need to turn it up a notch or two.

I don't think it sounds like it's shorting out because of skin folds - that shouldn't be a problem. 

The other option....test it on yourself. I will admit I've never done this.


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## linnell

Thank you offthegrid! Good advice. Problem is, the collar was on setting number "7" when I hit the button and no response. This particular collar has numbers 1 thru 8. I am assuming 8 is hottest?


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## FireMaker

There is also a great deal of hair. We had a shepherd husky. To make it work we needed to shave spots for contact. Forget that, he looked stupid. We took our time and used food for training. He was a great dog.

Now we have a Newfy. Again with the hair, I am not even going to try the collar. Food does not impact him. Training is interesting.


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## Drizler

It may sound too obvious but have you tried NEW batteries in your remote? Are they laying solidly in the tray and making pressure contact on the tines and oriented correctly. Check that direction as some remotes and such face all the batteries the same way. Another quirk on some remotes and devices is NICAD and NIMH batteries . They may just not work right with them. It's just the way they can be. 
On the collar, is the battery "Good", you never know if they sent you a dead one. There should be some sort of LED that indicates things are sending and receiving. The e fence type come with a tester which tells you it's transmitting.
Those manufacturers should all have a website with the full manual there and also a troubleshooting guide. Also a number you can call for issues.
I have never had the greatest luck with those invisible fences myself but I can give you one good piece of advice I learned hard. *When you get it working and you have ol Rover all trained up so you think he is trained you want to keep right at it for as long again. That or you will likely be kicking yourself when he unlearns it faster than you can believe*.:hair Just like everything else you buy it always is harder then they make it out to be.


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## linnell

i shaved a 2" by 6" patch with clippers w/no guard on the front of his neck where the prongs of the collar sit. He's bare, I could have only gotten closer if I used my husbands safety razor. Anyway, the batteries are brand new out of the package from the store. It does have a light that lights up when you press the button for just the chime or the zap. That lights up, when I press the button. When I tested it with my electric fence tester I saw a streak of electricity jump from the prong to the tester about 1/4". I know it's zapping, but why isn't he responding? He is a very hard headed dog, but COME ON. When he gets zapped by our electric horse rope he yelps for minutes after the shock, how is this different?! UGH dang dog. :grumble:


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## linnell

this is him, Critter.


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## frogmammy

Well, he looks happy enough!

Mon


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## bluefish

I've been through all that and I know for a fact that my dog feels the charge, but when she's after something, nothing will dissuade her. She's a pyr/akbash cross. I know she feels it because she'll wrinkle her nose and shake her head but keep chasing the bird. I think these dogs are just hard headed enough that if they want to do something, they are going to do it. I'll just have to stick with my old methods.


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## farmrbrown

You answered most of the questions I first had. Good contact, fully charged, etc.
As previously commented, it's advisable to test train regularly to get a feel for what works well and under what conditions.
The last thing I thought of in regards to device malfunctions is a possible signal interference from somewhere, like your electric fence, garage door opener. CB radio, etc.
I wouldn't say it's likely, but possible.
If it has a prolonged setting as well as a short burst, try that too, but start at at a lower setting as it may last 10 seconds.
It is also highly possible that his drive is so high that he can stand it, that's why I suggested the longer buzz and training sessions before you really need it, rather than waiting for an ambush that doesn't work.
When my girl got into a fight with another dog, the highest setting and even a 2x4 didn't faze her....


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## offthegrid

linnell said:


> i shaved a 2" by 6" patch with clippers w/no guard on the front of his neck where the prongs of the collar sit. He's bare, I could have only gotten closer if I used my husbands safety razor. Anyway, the batteries are brand new out of the package from the store. It does have a light that lights up when you press the button for just the chime or the zap. That lights up, when I press the button. When I tested it with my electric fence tester I saw a streak of electricity jump from the prong to the tester about 1/4". I know it's zapping, but why isn't he responding? He is a very hard headed dog, but COME ON. When he gets zapped by our electric horse rope he yelps for minutes after the shock, how is this different?! UGH dang dog. :grumble:


I agree with others that a dog *might* ignore a shock because of the other possibilities...but a 7 out of 8 should get a significant physical response , even if the dog decides to ignore it (a yelp, or a hesitation, at the very least) and then the dog might blow through it. If you see absolutely nothing, I would suspect a malfunction.

Unfortunately my best advice is to test it on yourself. (At a low setting). At least get a sense of whether the controller and collar are communicating, and, at what range (e.g. less expensive collars may not be good more than 100 feet away, but good ones might go a mile....)


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## farmrbrown

Perhaps a word of caution should be issued before trying this on yourself............
Enjoy.
(I censored a few words for the mods)




A guy who purchased his lovely wife a pocket Taser for their
anniversary submitted this:
Last weekend at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop I was looking for a little
something extra for my wife Toni. What I came across was a
100,000-volt pocket/purse- sized taser. The effects of the taser were
supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on an
assailant. The idea is to allow my wife, who would never consider a gun, 
adequate time to retreat to safety.

WAY TOO COOL!!

Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded in
two AAA batteries and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed.
But then I read (yes, 'read') that if I pushed the button AND pressed
it against a metal surface at the same time; I'd get the blue arch of
electricity darting back and forth between the prongs and I'd know it
was working.

Awesome!!! (Actually, I have yet to explain to Toni what that burn
spot is on the face of her microwave).

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that
it couldn't be all that bad with only two AAA batteries, right?!!

There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently
(trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and
thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh and
blood moving target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for
a fraction of a second) and thought better of it. She is such a sweet
cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect
herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would
work as advertised. Am I wrong??

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading
glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in
one hand, and taser in another. The directions said that a one-second
burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst
was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily
control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant
flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than
three seconds would be wasting the batteries.

So, I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on, with her head cocked
to one side as if to say, 'Don't do it,' reasoning that a one-second
burst from such a tiny little ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad. I
decided to give myself a one-second burst just for the heck of it. I
touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button..... And YOW!!!
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, @[email protected]$$!%[email protected]*!! I'm pretty sure
Jessie Ventura ran in through the side door, picked me up in the
recliner, and body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and
over again!!!

I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with
tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles
nowhere to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the
oddest position, and tingling in my legs.

You should know, if you ever feel compelled to 'mug' yourself with a
taser, that there is no such thing as a one-second burst when you
zap yourself. You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged
from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor. !!!!!!-...
That hurt like .....!!!

A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at
that point), collected what little wits I had left, sat up and
surveyed the landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of
the fireplace. How did they up get there? My triceps, right thigh,
and both nipples were still twitching. My face felt like it had been
shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. I'm still
looking for my testicles!! I'm offering a significant reward for
their safe return.

Still in shock,

Earl


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## bluemoonluck

Was the collar on tight enough? If an e-collar is too loose, the prongs will not make a proper connection on the neck and it won't work. Even with a short-haired dog, it has to be on snug - more snug than you place a regular collar on. If you can get a finger under it without some work, it's too loose. Yes, I realize that's tight - but it should only be left on for short periods of time, while being directly supervised, or you'll get open sores on their neck 

Next question: did you turn the collar on? Even with fully charged batteries, if you don't get the collar turned on, it won't work. Several times I've sworn I've pressed the button on the collar and turned it on, only to find that it hadn't turned on.

So: fully charged batteries on both collar & remote, hair at point of contact short, collar turned on, within the advertized range for the remote to work, collar on tight enough.


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## Serena

Some dogs dont care... I had a hard headed dumb as rocks huge Aussie the size of a pyr.. we tried a shock collar... my girl... it beeped and she dropped to ground screaming in terror(never had to shock her ) the boy... highest setting would stop him as he was running and his body would be slow motion from the shock or whatever but he wouldnt stop going... never acted like anything ever happened... just powered through it. It was bizarre. 
You could tell it was shockking him... it was affecting the muscles! But he never batted an eyelash.


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