Has anyone used a training collar that is remote control and sprays or sprays and  bleeps.

In a nutshell not a good idea. I considered going down this route but was advised that unless very carefully used you could increase the problem or produce a different one. There is no quick fix other than steady kind positive methods.

I think your training problem, specifically, needs to be known.  Nearly 20 years ago a lady in our agility class found the one that sprays citronella effective to stop barking in her dog.  In agility your dog is off leash and sometimes working at a distance from you.  Gizmo would get himself up on the A-frame and start barking at her.  In their rather advanced level of competition he'd not be close to her.  Judges can take points off for barking and she was losing points.  She tried everything else she could think off, and our trainer could think of; the collar was a last resort but it worked.

Remote control collars do work if they are suitable for the problem but you do need to know when to operate them as if they are used win the wrong place they can cause other and sometimes worse problems. What are you trying to achieve, sometimes just changing the method being used will sort it in double quick time, always remember the dog will not obey a command they do not understand.

Generally a bad idea; the risk of fallout is huge.  They can set you up with numerous other problems, be it through association of the action of the collar with something else (e.g. dog gets sprayed while near a child and develops a fear of children, perhaps manifesting as aggression towards them), or by suppression of behaviour from the punishing action of the collar, which then pops up with other unwanted behaviours because the original problem hasn't actually been addressed, just masked.

I have used a remote spray collar, years ago - it worked only while it was on the dog, and he learned quickly to recognise when the battery had gone flat or it had run out of spray.  I used it only as a temporary solution to stop him running away with carrion he'd found (because he would run from me and would have gone straight in front of a car if the road was a route to get away from me), while I trained a better 'leave' and worked on his response to my being near him when he'd found something.  They should NEVER be used if there is any hint of stress/anxiety/fear/aggression.  I haven't used it since then, must be 8 years now.  It's no substitute for actual training.

What's the issue the collar/s are being considered for?

JJ - I'm glad you said '20 years ago', as while I'm aware it still goes on, I do hope people nowadays wouldn't take such a measure - using a spray collar for that reason is pathetic IMO, but to use citronella which can sting and continue to punish because of that for some time after the behaviour has stopped is just awful :-(

2 problems: when my other one barks he will stop after a very short time this one will copy but dose not know when to stop. The othe problem as these need free running when over the fields if he sees something or a runner he will just take of and I have tried for the last 2 yrs starting on a long line then using a whistle then treat when he returns and other methods I used to use training my previous breed for 30 yrs and the other one I have. I never got him until a year and he has lost all that initial bonding and training. He nearly got killed on the road which is quite a distance away last year.

> this one will copy but dose not know when to stop

I think we have the same breed. I tried one of these many years ago (borrowed from a friend) for a barking problem. She VERY quickly learnt to ignore the collar :) - after just one or two 'puffs' :)

The othe problem as these need free running when over the fields if he sees something or a runner he will just take of and I have tried for the last 2 yrs starting on a long line then using a whistle then treat when he returns and other methods I used to use training my previous breed for 30 yrs and the other one I have. I never got him until a year and he has lost all that initial bonding and training. He nearly got killed on the road which is quite a distance away last year.

A spray collar won't help there either -why should it? Dog runs off, gets sprayed in the face, what would be his reason for returning to you? The only possible reason could be comfort if the spray upset him, but if you don't have a good bond to start with, that won't work. He'd be more likely to run further away. If the bond was there, he'd come anyway. :) Are you located anywhere near Lincolnshire? It's just that I know somebody running a few "recall clinics" for dogs that have problems, with kind methods, and something like that might be very useful -bit of outside help with new ideas.

Two thoughts straight away: David Ryan's 'chase recall' method and the 'Look at That' game.  I've not tried the first yet, but I do know people who have to great effect; however the second I use a watered-down version of in my own dogs as part of their recall training, and it works fantastically well because it teaches the dog to focus on YOU with distractions around - I first used it with Linc as he had zero recall around dogs and people and my usual stuff wasn't working (similar to yours), with the LAT game though it made all the difference and turned the dogs and people themselves into recall cues of sorts.  So he sees a dog, say, and his first response is to turn round and come back to me, instead of chase after it.

It's actually helped with chasing specifically too, because it's given him focus and self control around other dogs - I can now call him off if he starts to chase which I never could before.  It's even helping with Opi's dog recall which I've struggled with for nearly 10 years.

Sprays collars in this sort of situation will not help - all you will do is create an association of (for example) runner = spray in face and that could have disastrous consequences and lead to a whole host of other problems.

>  if he sees something or a runner he will just take of and I have tried for the last 2 yrs starting on a long line then using a whistle then treat when he returns and other methods

Have you used any training methods that actually includes having a jogger/runner with you?

My dog was very excited by kids on bikes, I found that out when he had a whale of a time chasing my boys around the garden and trying to pull them off their bikes (not helped by my boys screaming& shouting in glee)!
I got them to come out on walks with me on their bikes. Not too much whizzing around to start with, just them slowly riding their bikes, if the dog paid any attention I would tell him to leave (he knows 'leave' to be 'ignore that') and would reward him for 'leaving'. I gradually got them to go faster and more erratic to the point we got a group of their friends out on dog walks with us and had the boys riding all over the place like loonies, circling us and zooming past us from all directions. never progressing too fast, and only increasing speed/erraticness of the bikes when I was sure it wouldn't be TOO interesting for me to get Buster to comply with a 'leave'.
All that was on a short lead, when he seemed not interested like that, I started again on a long-line with him at a distance form me, this time however, if it looked like he was thinking of getting excited, I would turn it into a game with me where the reward was high value treat, massive excited praise and a play-fight with me (he loves a play-fight with me).
I did this on every single walk for a few weeks.

So summing up my waffle really, it's not just about teaching a recall with x y or z distractions, you can train the dog that the distraction isn't that great anyway (sort of a desentisization I suppose) to stack the odds in your favour.

>a whistle then treat when he returns

My dog is utterly food obsessed and even he would find a treat rather boring compared to something he finds exciting, that's why I used a play-fight as a reward in addition to a treat, we need to be MORE rewarding than the thing I wanted him to ignore.

Well for your second problem, the running off, I did find Leslie McDevitt's Look at That game from her book "Control Unleashed" to be very effective. 

I also found the long line to be of no effect at all in face of high distraction like a snowmobile, ATV, wild turkey or deer.  At 18 months we lost our near perfect recall.  After input from five (yes, 5) trainers I got it back on my own.  First I found something of highest value to him and I think you will have to do this too.  For my Lab chasing a ball was his highest value reward.  I'm going to make this very short, otherwise it will be long.  :)  If you want to try this and need more information let me know.

First we fixed his retrieve using North/South fetching, a trick I found on a U.K. gundog site.  In 10 throws I had "re" on one ball where previously I'd only had "trieve" on two balls.  Next I morphed in the whistle, three tweets.  Morphed it from throwing as soon as he looked at me, opposite direction as N./S. implies, to not throwing till he came right back to me.  Now I've got voluntary recall at the mere sight or sound of the high level distractions.  That took about two years, the voluntary part.  I do carry two balls with me on all walks because there is no way for me to proof against these types of distractions.  I do some N/S fetching every once in a while just to keep him edgy and because it's fun and it's great for days when I have time for only a short walk.

The collar may work for the barking.  You can put just water in it.  I know people say it's mean to put vinegar or lemon or citronella in but the spray comes from under your dog's chin and it cannot hit his eyes unless it's maybe a very flat faced breed.  A bit of mist might hit the eyes though.  You can dilute the active ingredients, which you need mostly for objectionable smell, not contact with the eyes.  It's still worth considering as a last resort.  Honestly, I know more people who say it didn't work though, than say it did.

If you get the book it may have a piece on barking.  I'll see if I can find it for you.  I didn't need it for barking but the book is written for sports dogs in competition and such barking, as in my first post, is not uncommon in the agility ring.  I love that book.  :)

No i have never used training collars and i have no idea about it.