Callie catches her small rubber ball, with her front feet, and legs! She uses them, to bring the ball to her mouth!

Do any of your dogs, use their front feet, to catch a ball? Callie does, and it is just hilarious!

All I'm saying, is that even though a lot of people don't approve, it worked wonderfully for us, because we didn't abuse it! We use positive reinforcement as much as we can also! I totally agree with you, that it is the best method! I used it with our first two dogs! Both came when called, did many tricks, and were very loving! We lost the first dog at 14 years, and the second at sixteen! They were both very well behaved! It didn't work with this dog, and the collar, plus positive reinforcement, did!

I know you aren't arguing; just want what is best for the dogs as I do.

I never said it was a perfect solution, or advised everyone to try it. As I said in my first post, it would depend on the dog, and the person, if you used it or not! If you have a bad temper, I'd advise you to never use it. If you have the patience of Job, and the dog doesn't want to listen any other way, you could try it! Just use the training video they give you, and learn to do it right first!

Let me reclarify! You don't get angry, and push the button, just because the dog isn't listening! You use the beep tone first, and if the dog still doesn't want to respond, you use the shock! It only takes a couple of times, for the dog to understand that they need to listen to the beep! After using the beep for a while, they learn to listen to your voice command! You never use it to zap a dog for being bad! Callie only ever got the number 3 twice, because she took off after a bunch of deer! That was all it took! Now, she watches them run, but listens to me, when I tell her no! Without the collar on!
My husband and son and I, all used the collar on 3 on each other! It didn't hurt, only startled you! The rest of the time, we only used the 2 setting, and that wasn't very often. Like I said before, I love my dog, and didn't want her to run off, and get killed! She seems to be much more relaxed now, and knows that she is a part of the family, but that we are in charge! We spent the early morning, with her laying on my chest, with her head under my chin! Such a sweetie! If you are someone that can't control your temper, I wouldn't advise you using a training collar! If you can, and are very patient, and loving, it will work!

Well, I know that this subject was controversial when I last posted on the subject, but I wanted to update, just to let you know that the collar training has worked very well for Callie! She hasn't really worn it much at all, for the last two months, and she knows the boundaries of our property, and comes back when called. Maybe not the first time, but she comes, even when chasing a rabbit or squirrel! She doesn't go onto the road anymore, but stops at the front of the property, (If you tell her, no) even when a squirrel is on the road! When she obeys, we tell her what a good girl she is! She is very sweet, and loving, and isn't as insistent to have her own way anymore! She is much calmer and relaxed than she used to be! We most always used only the beep sound on the collar, and if we used the shock, it was on 2, which is 230 milliamps, which is about like a big static shock, which doesn't hurt, but startles the dog! We now can go for walks in the field, without the dog running away, even though she runs and runs around us, and she comes when called, maybe not the first time or two, but she comes! I guess it depends on the dog, and the person using the collar, you can't use it as a punishment, only as a training tool, but if you have a very difficult dog, that won't listen no matter how hard you try, I believe the collar was what did the trick for us! Callie is our third dog. The first two dogs, trained beautifully without a collar, but Callie was very headstrong! She still is, but she is much more obedient now!

I buy the Canine Carryouts, in the Beef flavor? They are soft, and you can really squish them down in there! It takes quite a while, for Callie to get it out of there!

Callie has to be in her crate when we are gone, so I sleep on the sofa, and she sleeps with me, or on her bed beside me, with her blanky covering her up. She still has to go potty at 3 in the morning, so we can't move to the bed yet! It is upstairs, and hubby has to go to bed earlier than I do, and she wakes him up. Hopefully, when she is a bit older, she can hold it until he gets up at 5.

That sounds good!
I am working with the positive reinforcement, and for the most part it works, just in that instance she goes "deaf". I also "clicker" train Callie, and she loves that!

Yes, I trained her to stop, come, stay, now, sit, roll over, shake left paw, right paw, beg, lay down, but for some reason, when her mind gets set on something, she can't hear me! The beep gets her attention!