Customer Reviews

Dogtra Super X 1 Dog Training Collar

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DOG LOVERS GODSEND: DOGTRA vs TRITRONICS

Tri-Tronics Pro 200 G3 collar is the one I settled on after researching dog e-collars extensively (the dogtra's and cheaper petco collars). I will write/ link to a more extensive review with pictures and video at a later date. Turns out if you link to anything outside of amazon, however helpful or innocuous it will get deleted and all you see are [....]. I will provide the url in an update (if I can figure out how w/o it getting deleted) but suffice it to say here are some of my findings and I hope this helps a dog lover with an unmanageable/ aggressive dog.

PLEASE, if you are considering `giving up' on your dog read on - this is a tool that if used properly can really help your dog become a better citizen despite what people tell you about dogs and shock collars/ e-collars.

E-collars are for dogs that are `hard' dogs. This term refers to an aggressive dog - toward other animals or humans and views your commands and hollering as `optional'.

The opposite is a `soft' dog - may not follow your instructions but listens and tucks its tail between its legs when you raise your voice - these collars SHOULD NOT be used with soft dogs (more on this later). For a very good video on this and how to use e-collars see link http://www.amazon.com/Remote-Collar-Training-Pet-Owners/dp/B0013LUXZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1301013433&sr=8-1

We have had a rescue for six years and have contemplated getting an e-collar/ shock collar but have been very reluctant b/c it can cause pain to the animal. Last winter we found a small dog abandoned to die in the woods by our house (still makes me very sad to think that people do this). Our shepherd-mix is very aggressive, so the problem we had was she was ready to kill the little guy. Luckily we have a large home and could separate the two dogs and worked on slowly introducing them. Took some 6 months to where we could allow them into the same room (on leashes). Given the big dogs aggression we needed to get her under voice command - every time. Also, given her high prey drive and tendency to roam we walk her on a 50ft. leash. She did break the leash a couple of times and it took a good hour to catch her as she would take off chasing an animal in the woods.

Along comes the Tri-Tronics Pro 200 collar. After following the leerburg dvd instructions and some 12 months later I can truly I WISH I HAD BOUGHT THIS SIX YEARS AGO. I can take our big dog off leash in the woods and SHE ALWAYS COMES BACK. I can make her stop in her tracks with my voice command - NO. I have used the shock feature about 10 times in one year. Only one time have I used it on a high setting (66% of full power). The rest of the time it has been on low settings (16%) - it snaps her out of her prey drive and makes her pay attention to me. I MUST EMPAHSIZE I ALWAYS HAVE DOG TREATS IN MY FANNY PACK for both the little dog and the big one and I FOLLOWED THE DVD INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY. Had I not bought the DVD I would have done it all wrong so I cannot recommend the product enough (see url above).

Why I chose the Tri-Tronics Pro 200:

1. I wanted a collar that would allow me to control my dog from a distance. If you are in the woods and there are rock outcrops the stated distance on e-collars at which you can control your dog drops off considerably. Given how much I love my dogs and how paranoid I was about the distance issue I wanted one that would, without a doubt, control my big dog, whatever the terrain - I therefore settled for the one with a range of one mile. Keep in mind I had never used an e-collar but envisaged letting my dog roam free with the little dog (the recent addition) probably following her and wanted to ensure that I could control her over a long distance - both dogs off-leash. This was the ultimate goal and I was very unsure how long this would take but wanted to have a collar that would work to satisfy this endpoint.

2. There are two different ways to `shock' your dog. One is `CONTINUOUS' - lasts for ~10 seconds the other is a `NICK' - last for ~0.5 seconds and is momentary. Reading up and watching all the material I could find I felt that the NICK in the end would be what I used more than the continuous. A year later I can confirm I was right.

3. Gradations - More the gradations for the shock - nick or continuous the better - so I could dial in the exact setting to get our big dogs attention - fine tuning the device to her sensitivity.

4. Expandability - keep in mind we had just found the second dog. He was small, very badly abused. I wasn't sure with time if he too would turn out to be a stubborn guy so I wanted to be able to use two collars (one on each dog) controlled with one remote (in my hand) if need be. After a year I can say with certainty that this is not the case at all and so I will never use an e-collar on the little fellow. He does wonderfully with my voice commands.

5. The two manufacturers that came to the top early on were Dogtra and Tri-tronics. Each of these manufacturers have several different models and this is where it gets tricky and why I am writing this review (for now without the pictures and videos of my beta-testing). I decided I needed a 1 mile range and as many nick gradations I could get. I looked at the Dogtra 3500 NCP and the Tri-Tronics Pro 200 because they met my criteria. I decided to buy both and then keep the one I felt was best - returning the other one.

6. The Dogtra has 127 continuous gradations for both the nick and the continuous mode. It is smaller than the tri-tronics and I was leaning toward this manufacturer. After having bought both to test out I quickly realized that the tri-tronics is actually far better for both the dog and the trainer. The way the e-collar works is there is a component that sits around the dogs neck (the receiver) and the transmitter (you have in your hand). The component on the dog's neck has two prongs that push into the dog's neck and this is what carries the electric shock to the animal after you press the button on the transmitter. The prongs on the Dogtra were brutal. They were significantly more pronounced and pushed into the dogs neck in a way that I thought was excessive, especially when compared to the Tri-tronics design. Keep in mind I was using the SMALLEST prongs from both manufacturers. The prongs have threads that screw into the receiver and you get a couple of different sizes in each box. Dogtra is a Korean company and I felt that keeping the dog comfortable while it has the receiver around its neck was not a priority and came through in the design. Remember the receiver is only activated for a very small fraction of the time the dog has this around its neck. This was something that I never did see in any reviews and was surprised to find out when I actually had both units in my hand and was beta-testing them for my use.

7. The Dogtra has 127 gradations while the Tri-Tronics Pro 200 has 18 for Nick and still fewer - 6 for Continuous. On the face of it I thought this was a major drawback with the Tri-Tronics Pro 200. Also, the Tri-Tronics Pro 200 has a bigger transmitter (the part that sits in your hand). Surprisingly the Tri-Tronics is really a more thoughtful design and SUPERIOR product despite having less fidelity in the transmitter. Turns out the 18 gradations for the Nick and the 6 for continuous in the Tri-Tronics Pro 200 ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH. IMO there is also a design flaw in the Dogtra transmitters (regardless of model #) that again I only discovered because I bought both and was trying them out side-by-side and I haven't seen mentioned anyplace.

The Dogtra feels like a thick cell phone (think Motorola startac vintage but 2x thicker) that has a knurled knob where the antennae would go that you rotate and as you rotate it the level changes in a little LED screen on the face of the device, displaying the setting value (between 1 and 127). As you rotate it the value changes from 1 - 127. You have two rubberized buttons labeled nick or continuous positioned on the side of the instrument (where the volume buttons on a cell phone would be). You also have a vibrate button (more about this later) but this is on the face of the device above the LED display (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000YY53LI/ref=dp_image_z_0?ie=UTF8&n=3375251&s=sporting-goods).

The Tri-Tronics Pro 200 has a knob on the top, with hard stops, and these go from 1-6. This device looks like a 2D maglite flashlight, albeit smaller and lighter. On the SIDE of the cylindrical device you have three buttons that control the levels of the shock - low, middle and high. Take a look at the picture else it will be very confusing http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001RDGNNC/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=284507&s=kitchen

So, if you set the knob on TOP of the device to a 3 and press the low button on the SIDE of the device the dog get a nick at the 3 level. If you press the middle button instead (again on the SIDE) the dog is now nicked at a 9 level. If you press the low and middle buttons together the dog is now nicked at a level 12. So, you are ramping the level at which your dog is being shocked very rapidly. The third button is colored red and will provide a continuous shock (for ~10 secs) at a high setting (keep in mind the knob on the top stays at a 3 in each of the scenarios I listed). This is VERY IMPORTANT in your training and let me give you a real scenario where this became CRITICAL.

My large dog was out in the woods and as I have mentioned she has an incredibly high prey drive. She saw a woodchuck and took off after it down a valley (this is after we got the e-collars but were still testing them out). She was off leash b/c of how well the e-collars worked out. She had the Tri-Tronics Pro 200 on that day. I use it at a "3" on the top of the device and press the low button to get her attention. So, I am nicking her at 16% of the full power. Once she had locked onto the Woodchuck and took off I could not get her attention at this setting or the middle setting. I was worried she would catch and kill the woodchuck and so I pressed the red button, again with the setting on the top remaining unchanged and still at 3 (Here it is 66% of full power). She came back squealing really quickly. This has been the ONLY time in a little over a year that I used the high setting on her and I have never had a problem stopping her with a NO voice command since. Had I had the Dogtra system I would have had to have fiddled with the knob first, raised the setting level, and then pressed the continuous shock button. In the heat of the moment I am quite sure I would not have gotten this right and it would have taken me longer because I would have been messing with device. With the Tri-Tronics set up you are pressing a large button, without even really looking at the device in your hand. So, I went from pressing one button to pressing one above it - almost reflexive - never taking my eye off my dog. I think if you are training you want there not to be a time lag of any kind so there is no confusion in the dogs mind. Also, in this instance, I was able to avoid an untoward incident. If you have an aggressive dog you need to be able to switch to the highest setting instantly, without taking your eye off the dog.

8. Both units clearly work well. I think the Tri-Tronics Pro 200 is a better unit. If you have a dog that you are considering euthanizing or giving up for adoption because of behavior issues PLEASE CONSIDER trying an e-collar - Dogtra or Tritronics in conjunction with the video I mention above. You will find your dog changes dramatically within a week. If you follow the instructions and the prep work in the video to the letter the first 15 minutes where you actually use the e-collar on the animal will have a DRAMATIC impact on behavior. Please do the prep work, it takes about 2 weeks but the results are truly stunning.

It took us rescuing our little dog to actually look into an e-collar for the Shepherd-mix. I wish we had done this sooner because she now roams without a leash and really enjoys herself on walks where before she was always on leash. I am happy to report the two dogs are now best of friends and the little fella actually loves the Shepherd more than he does us.

A couple of other things that come to mind (the longest review I have ever written LOL - I sure hope it helps someone)! The Dogtra's charge a bit differently from the TT. The remote collar and transmitter (what you hold in your hand) have a little rubberized jack (on each) with a flip cover that you flick open and plug in the charger ends. If you have a bird dog or if you wander through marshy/muddy areas I wonder if the Dogtra's might collect dirt or get damaged? This was not an issue for me but something to be aware of. The TT collars charge similar to the Phillips toothbrush I have. You set the transmitter in a cradle and the proximity is sufficient to charge the unit. The receiver snaps into a cradle and the contacts touch and charge up the unit. There is no receptacle and so you don't have to worry about whether you got the snap cap back on. For both the Dogtra and the Tri-Tronics battery life was a non-issue. I used them for about 60 days (charging about once a week) and the batteries never ran down. I cannot comment on the longevity of the Dogtra b/c I returned it since I was going to get the TT but a year later the Tri-Tronics is fine. I would imagine the Dogtra would have been fine too. I understand the Tri-Tronics rechargeables can be replaced by the consumer. The Dogtra's have to be sent back in and I think they told me it would be $65. Again, minor detail.

ONE CRITICAL THING I FOUND: The Leerburg kennel sells a quick release strap (like a zip tie with a release button on it) for e-collars http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-PSC19-11892-PARENT-Cinch-It-Collar/dp/images/B001I460EM/ref=dp_image_z_4-2_0?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&img=0&color_name=4-2. I know the quick release works with both the Dogtra and the Tri-Tronics training collars and they are a MUST. The receiver that sits around the dogs neck has a strap - and it is a pain to use (both manufacturers). The quick release is a cinch and more importantly you can figure out precisely how tight you want the receiver to be around the dog's neck. Again, Ed Frawley at Leerburg has a great online video of this nifty add-on. For the first couple of weeks I used what came with the collars and it was a real pain. Keep in mind you will need nitrile gloves to get a good grip b/c you will need to thread this (zip tie like add-on) through where the strap was on the receiver (after taking off the strap, obviously). It is a very tight fight so I found the nitrile gloves were perfect and I didn't need to mess with vaseline. You thread the quick release strap once and then you will be taking the transmitter on and off the dog's neck by pressing a button on the zip tie.