A liitle background first: I have two Sportdog 1825 Collars. I run one on my dogs neck and the other is used as a flank collar. We did the Rick Smith Whoa post method for teaching whoa. The system works great! We generally operate on a one low around the yard when training. When we get out in the field it sometimes goes to 2 low or 3 low but not to often.
Now here is my problem. I don't think the collars are working correctly. I noticed an unusual response from my dog while using the flank collar. She always stopped on a one low. But then one day one low didn't work. I thought I forgot to turn the collar on. I checked and it was on. I tried again and nothing with a one low. I went to 2 low and she stopped but it was a much harder stop than on a one low. Not quicker but just a stop that showed she really felt the stim. At home, I took the collar off checked it with my test light and it appeared to be working okay. However, I don't think it is delivering consistent stim. I used it on my hand and I felt varying levels of stim. Sometimes I would feel a gradual increase from 1 low to 4 low. Other times I wouldn't feel anything until I got to four low. Or I would get jolted with say a 4 low level of stim on a 2 low level. I compared the level of stim from my flank collar to the neck collar and it feels like there is a one level difference in stim between the collars. So a 1 low on the flank collar is a 2 low on the neck collar. First question: Shouldn't they produce the exact same level of stim when they are set at the same level? There are times when I give a 1 low stim and it doesn't even seems like she feels it. I have seen her react before so I know she has felt it in the past. My second question: is my hand a good method for testing the level of stim coming from the collar?
Oddly enough, I had this same thing happen with a brand new Sportdog 1825 back in July and they replaced it, not questions asked. I noticed a couple of weeks ago the same thing happening again to the replaced collar and the (new) neck collar. I called sportdog, relayed the problem again and then sent me two new collars, again no questions asked as they were under warranty. But now I am having the same issues. Am I going crazy? What are the chances of this happening again? I know what I feel on my hand and what I see from my dog but this is driving me nuts. I am trying to train but I don't have confidence in the collars and I am worried I may be over stimming my dog which isn't fair to her. Are there any other Sportdog 1825 owners on here that have had issues like this? Could this be operator error somehow? I turn them on, put them on my dog, train, take them off and turn them off. How hard is that? I have made sure they are fully charged, I have paired and repaired and reset them to factory defaults but I still feel they are not operating properly. If anyone can shed any light, suggestions, experiences, etc. I would greatly appreciate it!