I posted some months asking for people's personal experiences with 'remote training devices' because I wanted to stop my ridgeback chasing runners, cyclists, horses and other dogs (which she would sometimes bully) when walking off the lead. Unfortunately my post god hijacked for an argument about electric shock collars, and I wasn't really any the wiser at the end (I should have been more precise in my question and asked about remote spray collars!). Anyway, I thought I'd report back in case anybody else is having the same problem...

After a couple of months of trying 'traditional' training methods to stop my dog chasing (e.g. keeping her on an extendible lead so that I had control and rewarding her if she sat whilst a runner / cyclist / horse / other dog went by) I realised that we were making no progress. I finally bought a Masterplus Pro spray training collar (which uses and odourless spray), had a good study of all the literature I could find about it (admittedly mostly on the collar-maker's site and in their instruction booklet!) and gave it a go according to the instructions. I can now happily report that after a month of using it she's a completely changed dog. She no longer chases runners, cyclists or horses *at all*, and 9 times out of 10 doesn't even think of chasing dogs. She can now be off the lead in all rural walk situations (as long as away from traffic!) and I can confidently stop her if she 'forgets' and thinks about chasing / bullying another dog (which she rarely does now). I have hardly actually had to use the spray button since the few days of using the collar, but occasionally still use the warning 'tone' (a beep sound that warns her she'll get a spray if she doesn't stop what she's doing) if she's thinking of doing something naughty - this stops her in her tracks and she immediately leaves what she was doing and comes to me for a cheese treat! Mostly she just responds to my voice commands now though. I'm pretty sure that it won't be too long before we she doesn't need the collar at all - the new good habits are forming quickly to replace the old bad ones.

The amazing thing is that she seems incredibly happy with her newfound security in knowing what she should and shouldn't do. The spray was seemingly necessary to provide an adversive, but she very quickly learnt that if she listened and came back to me when I called she'd be well rewarded (fuss and treat). Now she'll bound to me, tail wagging when she sees a runner, rather than chasing after them and trying to jump up at them or nip their shorts! Before the chase was just too exciting, and my commands fell on deaf ears. Now the chase is not so exciting (she risks getting a spray!) and so I'm sure it's much better in her mind to just come for the treat.

So - I know this collar won't be a cure-all for all problems, but I just wanted to report how it had worked for me and my dog.

I know I was at the end of my tether and just didn't know what to do. But this has changed my dog-walking life completely. It is now an utter joy to walk both my dogs, and I'm not dreading the next walk and constantly worrying that we're going to meet someone around the next corner who she'll want to chase! I'm sure it's also better for her, as she gets to race around off the lead and use up her considerable energy.

I've heard that if you live in the UK (I'm spending a while in France at present) you can sometimes borrow spray collars like this one from dog trainers (who will help decide if it's a suitable way of handling your dog's problem and help you to use them) to try them before splashing out on your own (they're not cheap!) - and someone told me that vets will loan them too sometimes. However, I have no personal experience of either of these things - but worth investigating if you want to explore the idea further.

I hope this information is useful to someone out there!

Oh, and someone recommended 'The Culture Clash' by Jean Donaldson to me as a good general book on dog behaviour and training. It's been an absolute breath of fresh air - it's so entirely no-nonsense and obvious (once you've read it of course!) that it's brilliant!

Well Done, Sprout.  Looks like you have had really good results there.  Unfortunately I missed your previous post.

I do actually own a Masterplus Spray Collar that works by remote control.  And I have used it on some problem dogs with great success coupled with positive reinforcement training.  It sometimes goes out on loan.

The latest case was a Labrador that wouldn't stop barking at neighbours and people walking past the house.  The owner had great success with it.  They're primarily used as a diversion and can be a great asset with training.

I like Jean Donaldson's books too. :-)

I am really glad you have had such success....and thankyou for taking the time to let us all know. This information is very useful,
Cathy

Fantastic, glad the collar worked so well - it's encouraging for me too, as I've just forked out a wad of cash for one myself, to finish off my dogs' recall training - they are fine to a point, but Opi in particular gets distracted so easy it isn't funny anymore, and is very selectively deaf when it comes to responding to my whistles, despite the many thousands of repetitions of "whistle, give a treat" we've been through to get the foundations down.

I'm a JD fan myself, Culture Clash is one of my fave books :D

I put that book on my birthday list but didn't get it, so have bowed to pressure and ordered it myself - hope it helps with my dog problems!!