Yes of course it can, Just praise the good behaviour , & tell them no on the bad behavoiur, EXPLAIN to the dog what is & what is not acceptable. Mine will all walk through a field of live stock with me, off lead, no problem at all. Youve got to be able to communicate with the dog what the rules are.

Thanks for the clarification.

I could possibly agree with the use of an e-collar if the results were GUARANTEED and it meant the dog had a better quality of life thereafter. However, it seems from what you have said, that you haven't yet tried other options and also that you have places to walk your dog where there aren't livestock.

For me, the use of an e-collar would have to be the absolutely last option on a dedicated sheep chasing dog. I would not even consider its use for anything less than a life-threatening problem.

I AM trying all the options that have been suggested to me so far (except a particular training centre that I can't afford) and there is ONE park I can drive to once a week maximum. There are livestock right outside by back garden - what if a tree blew over and crashed my fence down? If Spike could get out how do I know he will listen THEN?

He IS a dedicated sheep chaser! And he's been given TWO reprieves by our local farmer. He WON'T be given a third chance. Believe me, the feeling you get when you see your dog in a field of sheep and the farmer out with his GUN walking towards YOUR DOG......... is NOT a pleasant one. I am very VERY lucky Spike is still alive - and I am determined to KEEP it that way. IMO the best thing I can do by Spike is to train him to leave sheep alone when I tell him to and not ONLY when he is contained or tethered...... just in case.

So far the only truly productive method I've used has been the e-collar. In this case and using it the way I was shown to use it, I think there are cases of smacking that are FAR worse.

I am not sure whether you saw my reply to you on another thread about your dog chasing sheep, but I will repeat it here. I can see both sides. My first dog was shot dead for getting into a field of sheep by a rather trigger happy farmer It is not something I will ever forget or forgive myself for. I am now an assistant shepherd, my husband is a shepherd and we live in rural Scotland on a sheep farm. Recently one of our hoggs was attacked by a dog and had her face ripped open and her skull fractured. She had to be humanely destroyed. It was very distressing.

If an e-collar can help to save a dog's life and save distress and pain as well as death to sheep then I would probably give it a go if I had no other options.

Have you tried approaching the farmer whose sheep your dog has chased? Would he be agreeable to allowing you to train your dog around his livestock under controlled conditions (ie on a long line)?

Not sure if this has been posted already slightly OT but relevant

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7473597.stm

Following on from Mooblis thread and in response to your questions Sally, this is how I trained my boy. I arranged to do some work with him at a friends farm. I already knew that my boy wasn't a threat to the sheep in the sense of attacking them, so had no worries there.
Using a long line so the dog could only go a certain distance but have the freedom to move around without restriction around the sheep, I encouraged his good behaviour but then practised getting him to lie down or stop where he was. I didn't practise his recall at that point as was told not too. I also spent time walking straight though the flock (when they didn't disperse at a 100 miles hours) and getting him to leave and stay close. This was done on a short lead, then a long line. Finally it was offlead. After a few months of weekend training he seems to be fine now. I was lucky as I had sheep to practise on, and perhaps this is the way to go with yours, if your neighbours are farmers then go and have a word with them.
Moobli will be able to explain better and help you more as she works her dogs full time. It's a different style of training to typical obedience as your stopping some things and nurturing other instincts. Very rewarding. I won't be on one man and his dog though anytime soon.

It didn't though did it? It stopped him as he realsied he had the collar on...if it had WORKED you wouldn't be posting on here about him worrying sheep.
Exactly
As are thousands of other dogs, dogs don't have to be offlead to be happy. My old dog is not allowed oflead now as he hurts himself when he is, so the vet put a ban on it and he is a lot happier now.

Sally, you have already had a thread dedicated to how you could teach your dog without an ecollar, I fail to see why you need people saying the same things again....I'm starting to wonder about you...

Normally my dog is of lead where possible. I have control and due to a few thousands hours of training with him i know what he can do and how he reacts. Now he is confined in his bench and to 4 walks a day on leash( a long one). He is a very unhappy dog.
One of the tools i use in training is an e-collar. I use it when necessary just as i use other tools when necessary. Strong scents for teaching to track, food for reward, whistle etc. I also noticed that the uninformed jump to concussions based on perception and often advocate a substitute that is far worse than the so called diabolic e-collar.
I read in this thread that people are con damming the ecollar but are in favor of the scent collar.

What about the fact that when you stop pushing the button with an e collar the stimuli ends with a scent collar the scent rest in the dogs nostrils. So the dog continues to be punished. HAve you ever put your nose above a citronella bottle? A dogs smell is far better then ours. Have you imagined the attack on his nose? What about the just amount of stimuli? how do you dose a scent? You don't!!

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance...j_nvbk-1_sport

These dogs are trained with the use of ecollars. They don't seem to have been traumatized and the level of training exceeds anything present in Britain. If you don't believe this well train a dog to this level and come over and compete with us

I have to say I dont agree with any method that shocks your dog out of its action - either electric shock, loud air noise, stinkyness, anything
If you NEED to devert the dogs focus because YOU have made the mistake of having it in a situation that it cannot make the right choises then the devertion should at least come from you - a whistle or a shout
If that is not enough to distract the dog then it is up to you to be extra vigalant to make sure your dog is never in that situation
Because what happens if the dog gets out when the coller isnt on?? - It is not a quick fix - dogs are used to chasing sheep or whatever and it will take a while for positive OR negative training to work

that is another issue I have with some of these TV shows
they use clever camera cuts and comming back to a trained dog to make it look like the method worked 100% in 5 min instead of the hours of training needed

I can guarantee that the CM episode the dog was NOT cured in the time the TV maked it seem but with weeks or months of training

and dogs are smart - if it can figure out to do everything perfect on a long line then not when the line is off then it will learn pretty quick that the nasty thing only happens when the big coller is on - so it can still chase sheep without

Sally, lots of people have given you lots of positive ways to fix your problem. I am sorry that the people you spoke to before didnt give you more alternatives before you felt the need to try the shock method

I was one of the people who mentioned a spray collar, the one I referred to was not the citronella one but an air spray which has no smell.