There are so many different types of dog training collars that you can choose from today. When I first started hunting, there were about half of what is available on the market today. I've seen a gradual shift in the transmitters over the years and now many of them have LCD screens. I've always preferred the larger types of transmitters as I often wear gloves when hunting, but there are some out there that are as small as a keychain.

Some of the dog training collars will deliver a correctional sensation to the dog. These do not hurt the dog and are simply a way of correcting misbehavior either in the field or off. I have found these to be the most effective way to train my dogs. I believe any dog can be trained easily using electronic collars.

There is a difference in range of sight as well as sensation levels in dog training collars. Some of them will give you over 100 different sensations and others will only have a few levels. I prefer more levels so that I can start at the lowest level while training my dogs and work my way up. There have been very few cases where I have had to use the highest level and that was one when one of my dogs was in danger.

Range of sight is important, too. But you have to remember that a training collar that gives you 2 miles of range may do so in a wide open field, but not in the woods. So bear that in mind when considering range. Anything that blocks the range of sight will interfere with the signals sent to the dogs.

Multiple dog training systems are also very common today. A serious hunter who wants to work several dogs can train up to 6 dogs at a time using these systems. It is important for them to know which dog is which so that they are not correcting the wrong dog. The only problem with these is that hunters often end up mixing up the dogs, which is the reason for the color coding systems on most of these units today.

There are also dog training collars that give rewards for good behavior, although I personally prefer the human pat than the collar reward. I have a pretty good understanding of my dogs and their nature and want to bond with them when we go hunting. My rewards are better than a collar reward and the dogs seem to appreciate it. My dogs are not just hunting companions, but members of the family.

Finally, there are the dog training collars that send beeps. I found these to be useful for smaller dogs, training one pet dog at a time, but they can be confusing when you are working several dogs and may not be corrective enough for a large dog.

All in all, there are many different types of dog training collars that you can use today when you are training both hunting dogs such as gun dogs and even household pets. The type of training collar you use depends upon how many animals you are training, their size and their use. It is also important to know that you still should use voice commands and rewards as part of the natural process of training your dogs.