On another note on this thread--I got to meet and hear a presentation by Patricia McConnell 2 weekends ago. I so, so highly recommend her. I'm reading her book on emotions in dogs right now, but I definitely recommend "The Other End of The Leash" to any and all dog owners. It's a fascinating book on behavior and miscommunication from human to dogs and visa versa. I think it's a must have for anyone who has a dog.

I have not read all the responses as of yet as I read yours and stopped cause it made me smile. And I am in no way picking on you or anything. But the word negative and ecollar don't go in the same sentance for my dogs. I will have to do a video for you guys of Cody when he sees the darn ecollar. He LOOSES HIS FREAKEN MIND! Screams and screams and screams and jumps at me and spings circles to have that darn thing put on. HE LOVES his ecollar cause he knows he is going to get to go for a run in the woods, play with birds, go swimming etc. etc when it comes out. Tucson is the same way just not quite as exuberant! So if done properly and correctly the dogs tend to get excited to see the ecollars :0)

Works both ways though too. You can't be a truly good dog trainer without understanding behavior and communication. To clarify, McConnell's book is not necessarily a positive training book, it's a behavior book and explains a lot of body language, both dogs and humans. No matter what kind of training you do understanding communication through body language is critical. 

I think there are definitely positive training methods used at the top level in many other dog sports. It seems to me positive training has taken the longest to start trickling into the hunting world, but it's starting to slowly work in. 

Hey Moose1, thanks for your response.  You kinda told me what i wanted to hear.  A lot of people like me who grew up around well-trained dogs (but didnt take to do with the training myself) are probably curious about the intention behind using these collars.  My wee Kintra was always a pet who i was going to involve in canix, agility and nosework and besides recall (which is obviously important for ANY dog owner for safety reasons) i have always been rather dubious about the use of anything like that for a pet dog anyway!  I am pretty well-read when it comes to understanding dogs and have my own lifelong experience - i truly believe it's all about positive and negative association - but i have no experience in training for any sort of gunsport or anything.  I guess i just wanted to hear that the collar doesnt necessarily have negative connotations for the dog.  There's nothing better than seeing a dog going crazy because they've seen/heard something that means they are about to have a great time 

Please post a video of that when you get a chance Moose1, would love to see that

+1 on the dog excited to put on the e-collar!  Sadie can be in another part of the house.  If I take out her e-collar (which has a tag that jingles), she will come running, and start whining, and dancing in circles.  If your dog shows excitement when you grab a leash, I would compare it to that.  It means the same thing to the dog - they are going to get to go outside, play, be free...

Texas Belle:  Thank you very much for the kudos (as I see it).  I agree with your comment on learning.  Sadie gets her opportunity to learn during field-time, and I am amazed (and let her know) when she figures things out (she ran up a partially fallen tree one time to check out if anything was in the branches...  ...she came safetly back down when I did a "whistle-come").  I haven't done field trials, so I have limited expectations when it comes to what she does, or how she does it.  I am just interested in her safety, and not getting into trouble (we hunt in clubs that can be busy at times, and I walk her in suburb-ville). 

I think a lot of that is also based upon trust in the dog.  Pattern training comes from a lack of trust.  If you trust your dog, you are comfortable giving them the opportunity to learn, and figure things out.  I read an interesting article on this - I will try to find it (or maybe someone else knows of it).

No doubt if you use an e-collar correctly, your dog will not run away from you when you want to put it on, but run to you begging to put it on.

Depending on how I dress in the morning, whether I have time to take the dogs out for a run like most mornings, but sometimes work calls me early and I must show up on time.  If my running clothes are put on, Java knows where the collars are kept.  They are in a case from Tri-Tronics and she will go and try to pick it up, pounce it, scratch it, whatever to get your attention to open that box!