training tool

so i've mentioned before how jefferson goes absolutely nuts when anyone leaves our house (in addition to when people walk by, cats taunt him from the window sill, etc.), and we hadn't yet found anything to make him stop.  we've progressed from scolding him to spanking him to using a pinch collar, which works wonders on our walks but is tough to use when he's running crazily around the house and we can't catch him.  but none of those work.  well, i think we've found the solution. 

this past week, i was doing a little browsing on amazon.com and went into the pet section, where i immediately found a bunch of different training collars.  we had been thinking about buying a remote control shock collar to use as our latest attempt to cure him of his crazed separation anxiety that is making him super stressed and also ruining our dining room window sill.  some people in my agility class have them from bass pro shops, which are really nice and targeted at larger dogs for hunting and behavioral training, but those are $200+, and i thought that was kind of a lot to spend, especially if we didn't know how well it would work. 

well, i found a remote control shock/vibration collar for just $25, so i was more than happy to drop a few bucks on that!  i read the reviews, which were good for the most part, and we didn't get our expectations set too high but were anxious to try the collar out.  and it arrived last night!  after figuring out how to match the collar and remote, we tested out the shock on ourselves before letting jefferson try it out.  it definitely hurts, but i don't think it's enough voltage to seriously hurt him. 

we tried it out when i left for work this morning, and i think he's going to learn quickly!  when he started to go crazy and run around, billy gave him a little zap, and he didn't bark but instead just went to the couch (his "post" for most of the day) and watched me leave.  poor guy!  we felt kind of bad, but i think in the longterm, it'll be a good thing.  apparently, he didn't even want billy to hold him and was just sad :(  so, hopefully this will stop the madness shortly and the collar will have served its purpose! 

are we being totally mean?  i don't totally think so, but part of me still feels bad for the little guy.  but i guess it'll be worth helping him to calm down/de-stress and preserve our house :)