Fitting Your Dog’s E-Collar
You’ve got your E-collar for dogs, but how should your dog wear it? You don’t want to cause him any unnecessary discomfort! Set in the wrong place, you imagine those two leads might be uncomfortable.
Your dog’s e-collar should ideally be worn directly underneath your dog’s chin or jaw-line. This is the best position it can be worn, preventing your collar from loosely sliding down or around your dog’s neck.
The actual pronged device itself should be worn directly underneath the jawline. You want that dog e-collar receiver box high on the animal’s neck.
How tight should an E-Collar for Dogs be?
You’re looking for a nice, snug fit. You don’t want your dog to be able to remove or move the collar! While you want the collar snug, you certainly don’t want it too tight!
When it comes to any collar on a dog, we have a pretty universal rule of thumb. You should be able to fit two fingers between the dog and the collar attachment. If you can’t, or you have to really struggle to get those two fingers underneath the collar, it is too tight.
- Too loose and your e-collar might either slide around or fall any which way. The leads might not contact the skin, and nothing would happen when you tried to activate it.
- An e-collar too tight can damage your dog’s skin or cause other wounds.
What About the Contact Points?
There will be two contact points on any electric collar. These will be connected to a receiver box, which contains a circuit board, antenna, and battery. In order for your dog’s electric collar to work properly, those contact points (both) need to be able to contact your dog’s skin.Make sure there isn’t a mat of hair between the contact points and the skin.
You should feel a little bit of resistance when trying to move the receiver box down or around your dog’s neck. This means it won’t slide around or fall down as your dog runs, or when he moves throughout the day.
Don’t Shave Your Dog’s Neck
Some owners might have difficulty with densely double-coated dogs. There is never a need to shave your dog’s fir! You might consider asking your groomer to thin the fir around that neck with their thinning shears.
You can also ‘wiggle’ the collar box back and forth three or four times in order to separate that dense fir, allowing the two leads to make contact with the skin.