This is a question we often hear even before we start using the tools. It’s one of the most common questions that we hear, and my first response is usually, “We haven’t even started yet and you already want to stop? Why?” There is no set duration for using the tools. They work differently for every owner and dog. Consistency and time are key—the more consistent you are and the more time you put into the strategy, the faster your dog will learn and the less and less you will have to use the tools. Your dog will understand faster!
That does not mean that you can go cold turkey, either. If, three weeks after training is “over” (training is never really over), your dog seems to fully understand what you want him to do or not do, and you stop using the tools, your dog may make a mistake and suddenly you will have no means to correct that mistake. They might be great for a day or two or even a week, but eventually they will do something that requires correction and because you have gone cold turkey off of the tools, you will have no way to correct that bad behavior.
Now, you have a dog that has figured out that you don’t have the tools anymore and can now get away with bad behavior because you do not have the correction tools. He won’t just stop listening to you when it comes to that specific behavior, he’ll stop listening to you altogether. You will have created an environment in which your dog does not have to listen to you. He will start to test you and your other training tools.
This can be one of the most unmanageable dogs that has ever walked the earth. They will be perfect when their collar is on or when they see the remote, but the second that it is off, they will ignore you. Why? Because you have shown that dog that you are inconsistent. They know that they are not always going to be corrected when they do something bad—because they’ve misbehaved and you didn’t correct them. This isn’t a sign of a bad dog; just a dog that does not have a clear idea of what the rules and boundaries are. Which is to say, you haven’t created clear rules and boundaries for your dog, giving them plenty of leeway to misbehave.
Of course, there will come a time when your dog probably does not need the tools anymore. For example, what’s the point of having your dog wear a smart collar if you never need to use it? Most dogs normally wear collars and we don’t make any special effort to take those off of our dogs, so why are we in such a rush to take the training collar off? Most owners say that they are afraid that their dog doesn’t like the collar, but in reality, if a training collar is used in the right way, dogs love it! It tells them that something fun is about to happen (see my “How to Fit a Prong Collar” video, where you can see me putting a collar on Mila, who looks like she is excited by the sight of that collar).
Don’t be so eager to take off the training aids that you actually detract from your dog’s training regimen. Six to eight months is usually a good period of time to be consistent and then slowly ween your dog off of the tools.
