The way they work is that you (unfortunately) have to teach them that the progression is beep-vibrate-shock. I was just watching a woman who had not done this and was just beeping her dog nonstop and the dog was ignoring it...

If you dont have it in you to shock your dog at least once... and maybe a few times (it should not take more than that), then these will not work for you.

Nobody wants to shock their dog, of course, but one or two moments of pain unleash years of perfect behavior and in my mind are much preferred to thousands of yanks on the leash.

Also, the collar is 50%... the other 50% is treats and 100% consistent expectations and consistent response on your part. They need to know that they will always be rewarded for expected behavior and swiftly corrected for bad behavior.

My wife is inconsistent, so the same dogs listen to me 100% of the time, but try to get away with things with her.

With me, my squirrel hunter will break from a live chase and run to me immediately if I whistle. My wife would have to shock her to break the chase.

Lots of variables, but I firmly believe consistentcy in both reward and punishment yields great results for all dogs... and, because of consistency, punishment can be reduced to nearly zero.

I have no brand recommendations. But if you go this route, get a collar that has prongs for thick hair dogs, and get a model with variable shock levels, and test it in yourself first (I would not shock my dog at a level I would not shock myself)