I will also say that you should use caution with the stim setting on a timid dog. But I disagree that stim collars “hurt”. On low settings they literally feel like the dog is being tapped on the back. When you start using one you are supposed to put it on the lowest possible setting, and turn up only until your dog can feel it.
It’s actually kind of funny to watch this happen. My youngest dog (12 months now) turned around like “huh?” and then turned back to what he was doing, then I "tapped’ him again and exactly the same thing again - he turned around to see what touched him. At this low setting, though, it’s nearly useless on that dog. He can feel it but it’s not even enough to be annoying. But he sounds like the opposite of the OPs dog; I think I could beat him with a 2x4 and he’d bounce right back “thanks, may I have another?”
None of my dogs are sensitive, but my oldest dog is more so; and he finds the vibrate command to be more “scary” if you can use the word scared. He would prefer the stim to the vibrate, I’d say.
The way an e-collar is most often used as a training collar is as negative reinforcement – if you call the dog to recall, and it doesn’t respond, you apply pressure (stim, vibrate, whatever works for that dog) until it choose to respond to the command, and then you take it off when they do (R-). So - for my dogs when off leash, if I call them (usually with a whistle) and they don’t turn to me, I would apply stim. As soon as they do, I stop. So long as they keep coming back to me - I don’t touch it again, and then they are rewarded with positive reinforcement when they get back to me. So it’s a combination of R- and R+.
A perimeter collar is the opposite – if the dog approaches the perimeter it is warned, if it touches the perimeter it receives a shock. It’s P+ Positive Punishment. People who shock a dog for doing the wrong thing are using P+. People think of that as “mean” and a training “shortcut” but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t work - and sometimes can be a fast and effective way to teach them something. E.g. my youngest dog has received a few significant e-smacks for lunging at/antagonizing my horses. Even though there is a fence, this is dangerous behavior and absolutely not tolerated. (And, of course, I tried saying “no” and all of the usual things which were ignored.)
So @Live_Wire - you will have to think about the scenarios that make sense for your dog. What is the collar going to be used for, and how does it help you?
If you want to use it as a communication device – e.g. to call your dog, you could use the beeper or vibrate setting, and reward for attention (eye contact, for example). I’m still not sure how I would suggest using it to reduce prey drive (e.g. killing animals). That’s tricky; it’s a combination of commands and would need excellent timing, but especially because the dog is timid. Mistiming or overcorrecting might create new problems.
