Am I doing right?

[yellow dog]

Absolutely , but if the dog is still lunging ahead ,( as the original poster said), the e collar works fine for a dog already conditioned to the collar.

( I knew when I posted my original post that I should have expanded on it. )

I am glad you expanded on it Sharon for clarification.....well said.

[yellow dog]

Just because the spaniel world typically or rarely uses an e collar doesn't mean it shouldn't be used as a training tool. Especially in my situation with my wife not able to walk our dog and the e collar correcting the problem. It would of been different if it had the opposite effect and made things worse but it did not. In fact it was recommended by my trainer to use a an effective tool because my dog is so birdy to keep her in range if birds were missed. Again under normal conditions he would rarely recommend using an e collar. I wonder how many people in the spaniel world gave up on a dog that was out of control when they could of utilized an e collar to correct a behavior. When i was at a recent field trial one particular trainer had dogs entered that were so out of control and clearly did not heel. Once at the line they proved to be top notch dogs working but would not heel. He placed higher than everyone else. I believe any humane training method should be used depending on the dogs temperament to correct a behavior . Why limit yourself if other methods have failed .

[welsh]

Just because the spaniel world typically or rarely uses an e collar doesn't mean it shouldn't be used as a training tool.

Absolutely. To clarify, I was just saying that rather than using the e-collar as a central component of the training program as many retriever trainers tend to, in the spaniel world they seem to be used more rarely and usually to solve specific problems, often after the usual ways have failed. Collars have their advantages, too.

[yellow dog]

Okay i understand now and appreciate the clarification. The David Lisett training dvd's i am sending you focus heavily on the spaniel not moving on to the next step before it can accomplish the task at hand. I like and understand the proven concept he is teaching with a very common sense approach and being in tune and understanding the temperament of the animal. To me this is key even within a specific breed training methods need adjusting.

[krakadawn]

Okay i understand now and appreciate the clarification. The David Lisett training dvd's i am sending you focus heavily on the spaniel not moving on to the next step before it can accomplish the task at hand. I like and understand the proven concept he is teaching with a very common sense approach and being in tune and understanding the temperament of the animal. To me this is key even within a specific breed training methods need adjusting.

This an excellent example for anyone doing dog training, regardless of the type of dog.

All training should be built upon steps. You do not move ahead until previous skills have been taught AND a level of mastery is evident. This is usually the largest area of mistakes as people have no sense of what the sequential training steps are and certainly no sense of what mastery would look like. This is why it is so critical to get with a program and stick with it.

Here's a simple example:
Guy is getting his retriever ready for hunting season. Thinks dog is steady because he will sit while a bumper is thrown. First morning, guns go off, dog not steady, runs, jumps in water, will not recall and dog will only go the distance that bumpers are usually thrown. There are multiple steps that must be taken between these basic expectations. . You don't move on until the previous skill has been mastered and in this example there are multiple steps leading up to this.

Certainly any training can be tailered or tweeked for an individual but first of all an understanding of what this training should look like is required and what the logical progression of steps need to be.

[welsh]

Not only do we often lack a sense of what the correct sequence of steps is, but we also tend to rush ahead, moving to step 2 before step 1 is fully mastered. I would guess that this is one of the most common training errors.

[Cass]

Not only do we often lack a sense of what the correct sequence of steps is, but we also tend to rush ahead, moving to step 2 before step 1 is fully mastered. I would guess that this is one of the most common training errors.

I've been guilty of that for sure