Will my dog listen without the e-collar?

QUESTION

Hi Sara! I hope you’re having a beautiful day today. I have a question that I’d like to hear your perspective.

Do you know if there’s a way to have a dog not be e-collar savvy? My dogs do behave better when they know their e-collars are on, but is there ever a time when they don’t need it anymore or is there a way to get them to listen without it?

ANSWER

Hey […]! Let me see if I understand your question.

Can a dog eventually be reliable and trustworthy without the e-collar on? Or, can you ever prevent dogs from becoming e-collar savvy?

The answer to the first question is yes. Humans have been teaching dogs for eons without e-collars. However, for the best results you should start early during the imprinting stage, and it typically takes 10 times as long and even then there is always a slight 1% chance your dog will decide it's worth it to give you the middle finger.

The answer to the second question is “maybe”, but most likely “no”. Take our own behavior for example. Why do we drive 5-20 mph over the speed limit when we all know it's against the law, but drive 5-10 mph under the speed limit when there's a highway patrolman in sight?

Just let that sink in. And I'll leave the decision to use or keep using the ecollar up to you.