Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Shopping for a new E-collar

I have a long legged brit and I live in wolf country.... I have to get him reined in so I don't loose him to wolves. The e-collar I have now beeps real well... and has vibration and... it works, but has no shock option. He dose seem to respond well to the beep when he wants to... and will turn on the vibration. He is a very soft dog....

But beeps and vibration are loosing their effectiveness, and I need to send a spark now and then... and my collar dosn't have the spark option it.

This is what I need... 3/4 to 1 mile range. Beep, Vibration and low level electric simulant... And above all, good signal delivery with out fail when I hit the button.

What is working without fail for you dog guys ? What should I buy ? Money is not limited.

3/4 to a mile is a long ways!

I'm using a DT Systems DD700 and it's supposed to work out to 700 yards - https://dtsystems.com/collections/e-collars/products/dd700

So far it works just fine.

The Garmin Tri-tronics Pro 550 is an excellent long range e-collar. Garmin offers two versions - one is just a correction training collar version and there other has the same features plus GPS tracking. They can be purchased from many retailers and Garmin strictly enforces M.A.P. pricing so there are no deals out there usually unless Garmin authorizes a sale. Two retailers that I like to deal with are Lion Country Supply in PA and Gun Dog Supply in MS. Edit to add: transmission distance is partially a function of fully charged batteries and the Garmin units have replaceable Lithium batteries so change them when performance starts to degrade.

Effective range for a collar is best condition at full charge and one can expect to see that cut up to half under the worst conditions with further decreases as battery charge lessens. At least in my experience and those of others in my training groups with several different brands of collars. A smart dog will adjust its range depending on cover but a 100-150 or even 200 yard cast is not unusual in the grouse woods.

After using Tri-Tronics collars since the 1970s, my current preference is for Dogtra products. I have two of the beeper/shock combos and like them. The one is going on 25 years with no issues yet. The other is only about a decade old. Garmin messed up what was the perfect collar for my use, the Upland Special II, by trying to make it do too much. I have a DT shock/beeper combo that was OK until it was subjected to an impromptu duck hunt on that trip and it stopped shocking. I picked it up when my luggage went someplace different than me and I was limited to what I could find. I have friends who use this brand and are satisfied with them but they don't place the same demands on their equipment as I do.

Something that has seemed to work well for me and many others to lessen wolf interactions has been to use a beeper collar on run mode. They work far better than bells as the electronic sound may be more irritating to the wolf. I started using them around 40 years ago and they have become a necessary part of my equipment. That +/- 5 second beep interval seems to alert wolves to the presence of humans and they typically avoid us. I own places and do a lot of grouse hunting in wolf country where I have seen this appear to be true with many friends and relatives seeing much the same. I saw far more wolves when I had Labs before switching to pointing dogs where I began using beeper collars. When digital game cameras came into being I often recorded pictures of wolves on the trail followed a minute or two later by pictures of my dogs followed a bit later by me. This was even with pups where the wolves tend to be very protective.

So, whatever Dogtra model has the features you want would be my pick. Garmin might have something suitable but after the fiasco with their version of the Upland Special I haven't bothered even looking at their products. DT Syestem might be an option if your needs aren't greatly over the norm.

Sounds like good advice from MT DD. I’d go with one of these. Remember you can add a Garmin watch such as the Instinct and view your dogs location if you get the plus with GPS. You won’t regret it.

Sport dog for us. They actually support the their product unlike other’s…..

Been using Sportdog for 30 years

I have a Garmin Pro 550, used it for 8? maybe more years on my two shorthairs.

Last year I upgraded to a Pro 550 Plus to get the GPS capability.

I have zero complaints with either unit. I don't see myself bird hunting without a GPS collar ever again. Builds lots of peace of mind knowing where the dog is in heavy cover.

I have several variations. The 550’s are the best if using to train. They allow easy stim level changes compared to track and train units. This makes them more timely for training and corrections. I also run the Alpha and TT collars on my tree dogs. I use a Garmin Instinct watch and rarely take the Alpha out of my vest.

I have the mini educator, it works to 3/4 mile, has 100 different shock settings, and has vibration, but no tone. Works well on my Airedale, but she's soft to the shock. Level 15 grabs her attention, 20 makes her yip.

Garmin Alpha, buy once, cry once!