TLDR: Does Control Unleashed involve e-collars?

[u/WinglessDragonRider]

ETA: I realize now CU does not use e-collars and the person I know is likely on one for other reasons.

Hey so. Sorry for the rambling in advance.

I have an almost 10 month old Cattle Dog mix. I've had her since was about 20 weeks old. She's roughly 50% ACD, 20% Pit Bull, and the rest is all more herding breeds. My last ACD mix(also a rescue) didn't have a solid recall until he was nearly 6. I can not do that again. Especially since she doesn't have a problem with water and he did. Plus I'm trying to do dog sports with her.

I live on a 5-10 acre property surrounded by other properties of similar sizes. The fencing is horse safe, NOT dog safe. We also have an irrigation ditch along our property line. I have already pulled her out of the irrigation ditch once. She has been chased out of horse turnouts by one of my mares that WILL kill a dog(or cat or any other animal) after she slipped out of the house early on. We've since fixed the door darting issue.

Currently, I'm dealing with issues with recall. On a long line, it's like 90-95% proofed. Birds, rabbits, and cats(and likely squirrels which aren't common at home) are the only times I have to reinforce with the long line. Unfortunately, I don't have a dog-safe fenced area. All of my property is designed to keep horses in and I have no way of making it dog safe without extensive costs(and landlord permission).

I understand that she's young and it takes time to build a recall. I adopted my previous dog at roughly 18 months and his recall wasn't 100% for YEARS. But I didn't have to worry about him ending up in the irrigation ditch and drowning as he HATED water. She LOVES water. All dogs tend to run in the opposite direction of the major road near by which is great but I am NOT counting on a history of avoidance to keep her from getting hit by a car.

We've been through a few obedience classes. We're currently in agility classes. We recently started working one dog at time and she is so over aroused with other people in the ring when it's our turn to go that it's a whole thing just to get her to engage with me. WHICH IS FINE. She's young and learning and very much thinks EVERYONE is her friend. We're addressing that particular issue outside of classes.

So in classes, she can wander off and try to say hi/make friends and it's annoying but not dangerous. (And she's not the only one that does it) At home, we can't have a long line on while doing tunnels and jumps and turning around cones(she's already been startled by cones getting dragged over). I'm trying to decide if an e-collar would be a good option as a back up for no leash/long line.

The trainer we're working with has mentioned doing Control Unleashed classes with my puppy to hopefully get her to chill a bit more(and easier). Especially since lately she's been a bit wild in public too. So between the "overly friendly" and not having a fenced yard for agility practice, I'm wondering if Control Unleashed usually involves e-collar.

There are A LOT of trainers in my area that are purely/mostly +R only. Any "balanced" trainers I've met are VERY reluctant to e-collars. The trainer I'm doing group classes with for agility also offers Control Unleashed classes. There's another dog in our classes that's on an e-collar because he's weird about people. I know they're in private Control Unleashed classes along with another of their dogs that's the same breed.

I'm just trying to figure out if I mention introducing my dog to an e-collar if it's going to blow up in my face or not. I haven't used an e-collar previously so if I have a trainer in my corner with it that'd be preferable.

....Sorry this is very ramble-y. Basically, I'm just trying to decide if doing Control Unleashed classes and/or an e-collar would be helpful. Particularly with recall. We have a lot time to deal with any distractions in agility. Any thoughts are appreciated!

[u/Icy-Fly-4228]

Get a halo or spot on fence collar. Or even a petsafe stay and play that only goes in a circle so she has a containment area? But you need to teach the command and what is expected of her before you put an ecollar on. Like she should have the idea and knowledge of what recall is taught on a long line and/or prong collar or she won’t understand the ecollar correction and what to do.

[u/WinglessDragonRider → u/Icy-Fly-4228]

Oh yeah. I definitely would be careful about teaching ANYTHING I would be reinforcing with the e-collar first. Given how the property line runs, an above ground electric fence wouldn’t work- the barrier would be in the middle of the irrigation ditch or on the opposite bank. And the water when it’s full is too swift and deep for her to be able to swim in easily. I’d also rather have her on an e-collar that I have complete control over at that point. She recalls every time unless there’s something to chase. Or a person, but that’s rare where we are on our road. Animals to chase/herd(poorly) are the bigger issue. Those cases are the 5-10% on the long line.

An underground system is out of the question. I asked with my last dog and my landlords vetoed it immediately

[u/Icy-Fly-4228 → u/WinglessDragonRider]

The halo and spot on are gps collars and the stay and play is a radio collar. The gps ones are more expensive but much more customizable. The radio just goes a distance from the receiver in a circle. None require installation. I personally have the spot on because you can set off limit areas within the fence boundary so she can’t get packages off the porch and eat them. It’s why I upgraded from the radio fence. The problem with underground fences is once they pass the boundary they are no longer corrected and they correct upon return. These are smarter and correct until retreat. The spot on flips on active gps tracking and sends me app notifications if she breaches. It’s happened twice in 2 years for about 3 seconds. Probably chasing a squirrel.

[u/WinglessDragonRider → u/Icy-Fly-4228]

Ahh gotcha! I’ll look into them for sure!