Dog Training Collars: Efficient Control and Education

Which hunting dog collar should you choose?

Close-working hunting dogs

If your dog normally remains visible or works close to the handler, a remote training collar may be sufficient. It can reinforce recall or deliver a familiar tone or vibration cue when the dog has already been trained to understand it.

For close-range work, the longest advertised range is not necessarily the most important feature. Handheld ergonomics, quick access to the controls, water resistance and battery life can make a greater difference during actual use.

Hounds and dogs working out of sight

Once a dog can leave the handler’s line of sight, GPS or radio tracking becomes the priority. The system should provide the dog’s position, direction of travel and distance, particularly in woodland, steep valleys and large hunting areas.

A tracking system can also make it easier to recover a dog at the end of the hunt and help the handler react quickly if it approaches a road or moves outside the intended hunting ground.

Tracking and training from one handheld

Combined systems bring together dog tracking and remote training functions in a single handheld device. They suit hunters who need to follow their dogs while retaining fast access to tone, vibration or other training functions provided by the selected model.

Tracking one dog or managing multiple dogs

A system for one hunting dog

For one dog, a complete kit containing a handheld or remote transmitter and a compatible collar is usually the simplest choice. Always check the contents of the pack to make sure you are not buying an additional collar that requires a separately sold handheld.

Available options include the eSEEK GPS handheld and collar kit, the Iocus Polaris system with Nova collar and the Dogtrace X20 GPS tracking system.

Multi-dog tracking and pack management

When tracking several dogs, the maximum number of compatible collars is important, but it is not the only consideration. Clear mapping, rapid dog selection and easy identification by name or collar colour become essential during active hunting.

You should also check the availability of additional collars and the actual number of dogs supported by the selected handheld. Depending on their configuration, systems such as the Garmin Alpha 300i, Iocus Polaris and SportDOG TEK 2.0 are designed to manage multiple dogs from one handheld.

Comparison of hunting dog collar systems

GPS dog collar and training collar brands

Remote training and bark-control collars

If location tracking is not required, a purpose-built remote training system may be easier to operate. The Garmin Sport PRO and SportDOG SportTrainer systems are designed for working with a dog from a handheld remote.

A bark-control collar serves a different purpose and does not replace either a GPS tracker or a handheld training system. The Dogtra YS300, for example, is intended specifically for barking management and should be adjusted to suit the dog’s size and sensitivity.

GPS, mobile coverage and offline maps

A GPS collar uses satellite signals to calculate the dog’s position, but that position must still be transmitted to the handler. Depending on the system, this may be achieved through a radio link, a mobile network or a combination of different technologies.

A radio-based system may continue communicating without mobile phone coverage, provided it remains within its effective radio range. Connected features may still require a mobile network. Where offline maps are supported, they will normally need to be downloaded before entering an area without coverage.

How to choose a hunting dog collar

• Type of hunting: close working, pointing dogs, hounds or tracking wounded game.
• Number of dogs: a single collar or simultaneous multi-dog tracking.
• Terrain: open ground, dense woodland, mountains, valleys or areas with limited mobile coverage.
• Required functions: location, tone, vibration, training, track history or boundary alerts.
• Battery life: sufficient operating time for the hunt and the journey home.
• Compatibility: the exact handheld, additional collar and mapping platform.
• Durability: protection against rain, mud, impacts and immersion, depending on the model.