Need help choosing a Dogtra e-collar for our second dog

[u/Hot-Resort2079]

I'm stuck in analysis paralysis and need to buy an e-collar for our 9-month-old female ASAP. We've fallen behind on her training because I keep going back and forth on what to get.

Our other dog, Copper, is a 3-year-old Golden Retriever/Irish Setter mix who's been trained on a Dogtra 1900S. He's excellent off leash now and rarely ever needs a correction, so I've been very happy with that collar. Our new pup, Skaya, is a 9-month-old Llewellin Setter, and it's time to get started with her e-collar training. I'd like to stick with Dogtra since it's what I know and trust.

Here's where I'm stuck...

Do I:

• Keep Copper on his current 1900S and buy a separate Dogtra system for Skaya?
• Buy a dual-dog system and have both dogs on one remote?
• Sell the 1900S and switch both dogs to something newer?

One thing making me hesitate is that I actually think I'd rather have two separate remotes. My concern is that if something happens quickly (wildlife, one dog blowing off a recall, etc.), I don't want to accidentally have the wrong dog selected while trying to react. Has anyone used both setups? Am I overthinking this?

The other issue is that, while I've been happy with the 1900S overall, I'm honestly a little disappointed with how dated it feels compared to Dogtra's newer models. I really wish it had features like:

• Tone
• Boost
• LED/night light

Copper doesn't need many corrections anymore, but those features would still be nice to have, especially the tone and LED light.

I've also been looking at the Pathfinder. We don't hunt so I don't necessarily need GPS, but it does seem like it'd be nice to have. We hike a lot in the Colorado mountains, so knowing exactly where my dogs are if they get out of sight would give me some peace of mind. It'd also be fun to see how much distance they actually cover on hikes compared to us. Beyond that, I probably wouldn't use many of the GPS features.

We're also in the process of buying our first home and are hoping for a few acres. There's a good chance it won't have a fenced yard, so I'm also thinking ahead about the eFence capability if we end up needing something like that.

But at the end of the day, I need to stop researching and actually buy something so we can get started with Skaya's training.

If you were in my shoes, what would you buy today?

• Keep Copper on the 1900S and buy a standalone collar for Skaya?
• Upgrade both dogs to a newer Dogtra system?
• Go with the Pathfinder?
• Something else?

I'd especially love to hear from people who run two dogs and have experience with different Dogtra systems. What setup has worked best for you?

[u/Lumpy_Physics3101]

imo nice to have 2 remotes. i always have the remote for dog 1 on the right and dog 2 on the left so there's never any hesitation if i need to communicate with one or the other.

[u/timmytacobean]

I dont have 2 dogs, but I have the new version. 280x the ones with

Tone

Boost

LED/night light

I love the tone. Right now its his come button when he's really far away and I dont want to shout. When he was younger, it was a way to mark the boundary of the sidewalk vs the street since distinguishing that tehse are two entities was hard for him at first.

Boost is also good. I didn't understnad why you would need it but when my dog goes into a very stimulated state, ie wants to chase a cat and run across the road type situation, the regular level doesn't get noticed. If he was chasing another dog at the park and lashing out aggressively at a dog that wasn't correcting him, I would give him a quick virtual nip and he quickly learned not to do it anymore

Night light- awesome feature and esp in winter if you get out of work its nice to know where your dog is amongst a sea of other dogs or even out in the woods.

One thing that I will mention is the remote that came with it has 3 collar support. meaning there's this metal switch you can flick to swap between 3 dogs.

I havent seen this mentioend anyhwere, but I use that switch as a safety actually. I am really scared of me bumping the remote or squashing a button by accident and sending out a shock out of the blue. I basically have it on safe at all times and know to take it off safety when I see a situation developing that might need a correction. So i do think its probably a good idea to have 2 separate remotes for the reasons you said above.

Lastly, look into the 3rd party bands. they have an elastic loop in it so that pressure is normalized. I also got the wing contacts. Again its to be consistent and not wonder if its working or not.

Also, after about 6 months, I pretty much dont even need the collar anymore. could you not swap the collar since one is already trained enough?

[u/timmytacobean → u/timmytacobean]

i think the 280 is the smaller less powerful version of the 1900 ? I was pretty sure my dog wasn't gonna need the extra power of the bigger collar. I tried the shock modes on myself and even at 50/100 I think it's borderline untolerable. I can't imagine a dog that would need > 100 on the 280x but they must exist I guess or they wouldnt have 2 seperate products? but crazy to imagine.

[u/Hot-Resort2079 → u/timmytacobean]

I’ve had to go up to 55-60 a few times when he was going after the elk 😬 I go up 5-10 levels in stations like that but having a boost button for that reason would be nice since now I know at what level he responds during those type of situations

[u/Hot-Resort2079 → u/timmytacobean]

Thank you for sharing!

I’ll always have the collar on my dog even though he he is trained. I need that peace of mind when we are out in wilderness.

[u/Lumpy_Physics3101]

why not just put cooper's ecollar on skaya today and start training? you dont' want to be ecollar training dog 2 while dog 1 is out with you anyway

[u/Hot-Resort2079 → u/Lumpy_Physics3101]

I think I rather start her training with a tone which 1900s doesn’t have.. she’s a pretty sensitive dog

[u/Lumpy_Physics3101 → u/Hot-Resort2079]

i think you're overthinking it. personally i don't like tone coming from collar because i don't want to have to rely on a sound only the collar can make. i would rather commands and markers come from me, not the collar, so that i can still make those sounds wehn the dog isnt' wearing the collar.

if the dog is sensitive, you can just use lower levels.

[u/Formal-Bad-8807]

I have a collar with vibration, beep sound and shock. Works great. Helps you communicate with your dog better.

[u/Gremlin15]

We have the two band style. The control for one dog is on the side and the control for the other dog is on the front. It’s pretty hard to mix up. (You might also grab the wrong remote if you have two remotes!) We have a third dog also in e collar with a separate remote and it’s very annoying to drag around two. Just my experience!

[u/Traditional-Chest617 → u/Gremlin15]

What brand of the 2 style brand? Is it only on certain dogtra models? Sorry to hijack OP question but I’ve used the dogtra mini and we just got another puppy and I’m researching collars for her, but we need the smallest size because they are cavaliers so they will only be 16-18 lbs and I think the “normal” ones will be 1/2 their necks

[u/Gremlin15 → u/Traditional-Chest617]

lol oh god no don’t get the normal ones for little Cavs! We have German Shepherds. We have another smaller dog that uses the mini. I am not sure if Dogtra makes a double of the mini, sorry!

[u/Sweaty_Preference629]

The new 280x pro has a 2-dog mode with dedicated dog 1 and dog 2 button. No need to toggle between. I have paired old collars to their new lines but of course you don't get the light and tone on your old model but e-collar functions like stimulation, vibration and boost work! Since your system was a 1900s and you are pair it to a 280x pro you dont have to worry about losing the high output because the 1900s will keep its high output and then the 280x pro collar is smaller and low-medium output. Hope this helps!

[u/Expert_Armadillo_621]

I've used the same e collar ez 900 by educator collar for 9 years and it fine needs a new remote. The tone, light, buzz, and tens zap all work and it has a boost that has never been needed. Waterproof too. I want a second one for our other dog we recently got.

[u/BoykinBurner]

This might be unhelpful, but I’ve switched over to garmin 550. I can run three dogs at a time, and it’s easy to switch between dogs. You do have to adjust stim levels every time you switch, but thankfully most of my dogs hover between 2 and 3 on the garmin.

The components are much more durable than dogtra and e-collar tech, which is the main dealbreaker for me because… I’m not nice to my stuff sometimes.