Bird Dogs & Training  |  05/17/2022

In The Nick of Time


2b29f866-d2fd-4ab7-927c-82ca69e22e88

SportDOG® SportHunter® 1825X Delivers Immediate Corrections When They Matter Most

By Casey Sill                                                                                                                             Photos by Daniel Sill

Dog training, like most things, is all about timing. 

Most contemporary dog trainers agree you have somewhere between 1.5 and three seconds after a dog makes an error to issue a correction before the meaning of that correction is lost. That means the window of time to create a useful learning experience is dramatically short, and fumbling with a collar remote for even two seconds can result in a lost opportunity. 

The E-collar industry is progressing rapidly. Many models now offer touch screens, GPS tracking and a litany of other high-tech options. All of those features have a useful place in the hunting dog world, but when it comes to training, the value of a streamlined, user-friendly transmitter cannot be overstated. 

Josh Miller is the owner of River Stone Kennels in New Richmond, Wisc. He trains Labrador retrievers at the highest level for both waterfowl and upland hunting, and said the SportDOG® SportHunter® 1825X is one of his go-tos for daily training. 

“I love the simplicity of the transmitter and that there’s no digital read out,” he said. “If you have that screen, because we’re so trained with our phones, people have a tendency to look down at it. When that happens you immediately lose contact with the dog.”

That can lead to those missed opportunities, but it can also result in mis-timed corrections that can further confuse the dog. 

“In the three seconds you’re looking down, the dog might correct the mistake on its own,” Miller said. “Then you issue a late correction and the dog is even more confused.” 


The SportDOG® SportHunter® 1825X transmitter has three buttons, and a dial to adjust the intensity of the correction. Each button can be programed for different levels of continuous or momentary stimulation, or tone/vibrate depending on the user’s preference. The 1825X also has a toggle switch on the face of the transmitter to allow for use with multiple dogs. It can be paired with up to six collars and has a one mile range. 

The transmitter’s ease of use, coupled with the range of the 1825X, makes it as useful in the uplands as it is on the training field. Miller trains both with and without a collar — the end goal is to be comfortably in control of a dog without the use of a collar, but even his top performing dogs never actually hunt without one. 

“Issuing immediate corrections is even more important while you’re actively hunting,” he said. “It’s not just a training tool, it’s a safety tool.”  

Issuing the right correction is simple if you’re just practicing “sit”-nick-“sit” in the house. But issuing a reliable correction in the heat of the moment, especially during a hunt when adrenaline is up, is a different situation altogether. 

Weapon manufactures often oversize the bolt release on military rifles to help soldiers reload in stressful situations when fine motor skills are compromised. The same principle can come into play with an e-collar, on a much less extreme scale.  If your dog tears off after a hen pheasant that’s heading toward a busy highway, you need to be able to issue a correction in a stressful situation not only without looking at your transmitter, but without thinking. The SportDOG transmitter allows you to do that easily and immediately. 

“It’s an insurance policy, a direct line of communication between you and your dog at long distance when even a whistle can’t reach them,” Miller said. “You don’t have to look down, you don’t have to fumble with a touch screen — it’s one push of a button to turn your dog around.” 
 

Casey Sill is the public relations specialist at Quail Forever and Pheasants Forever national headquarters in St. Paul, Minn. He can be reached at csill@pheasantsforever.org.