Many people think of remote training collars, or e-collars and they have in mind the old shock collars that used to be used by field trainers.
Those collars were archaic compared to the precise, low-stimulation collars used now.
Even field trainers don't used the old shock collars anymore.
Remote training collars today carry a very small charge.
The goal in training is not to use the low-level stimulation at all.
You don't want to punish the dog.
Rather, you are teaching the dog to avoid the use of stimulation altogether.
Many people mistakenly assume that the collars are simply used to punish the dogs but that's not their purpose.
When using a remote training collar to obedience train your dog you should begin my first training your dog to know the commands.
Your dog should already know what you are trying to teach him.
If you are working on Sit, Down and Stay then your dog should already know what these commands are, otherwise you wouldn't need to use this type of collar.
There would be no point in using it if your dog had no idea what you were asking him to do.
The remote training collar is more of a "proofing" device.
It improves a dog's performance after he has learned the basics of a command.
If your dog has already learned the basic commands of Sit, Down and Stay then you would place the collar on him and teach him that there is a low-stimulus correction if he doesn't sit when you give the Sit command.
Your dog will act to avoid the correction and sit promptly when you give the Sit command.
The correction is quick and short and it's important that it is given exactly at the moment when your dog does not obey.
The greatest benefit of the remote training collars is that they emphasize to your dog that there is an immediate downside to not obeying.
Advocates of these collars say that they are gentler than choke collars and prong or pinch collars because they are used quickly and then stopped.
The dog is taught to avoid the stimulus so they don't have to be used at all.
These same advocates are somewhat divided about how much a dog should wear the collar.
Some trainers believe that the dog should only wear the collar for training.
Others believe that the dog should wear the it much more so that he doesn't get "collar wise" and think he only has to follow commands when he has it on.
In either case, you should continue training with the remote training collar until your dog has developed firm habits of obeying your commands every time.
Trainers emphasize that you have to make training fun for your dog.
The remote training collar is like any other collar.
It can be misused.
Used properly your dog can learn whatever you want to teach him as long as the training continues to be fun.