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 Slid off Jul 12, 2010
It took me awhile to figure out how to assemble this collar as the directions were a little confusing, but once I did, I thought, hot diggity, I can get my dog to stop barking now and in a humane way! Alas, that was not to be. The working part (box) of this collar is so heavy that the collar wouldn't stay on my 22 pound dog because the plastic adjustable part (that tightens the collar) was defective -- it kept sliding off. I followed the directions to the letter, and even called in my husband to check it out. I put the collar on my very active dog and before I knew it, he had it off and in his mouth. Kind of defeated the purpose! It was a lot of money for something that did not work. Sending it back for a refund would take time I just don't have, so now I have a $96 (shipping, etc.) item sitting in my garage collecting dust. Next time, I'll try it before I buy it!
 Battery Pig! Jun 30, 2010
I purchased the SprayCommander (model DSP18123) a few weeks ago as a more humane (than a shock collar) means of training our German Shepherd not to bark as much.
When the unit works, it actually does a good job of getting the dog's attention and providing the necessary negative feedback needed to change undesirable behavior.
HOWEVER, the following issues leave me with no alternative but to rate the product as inferior and not worth the money:
1. The 6V battery (at $5 each) only lasts one (1) day! Yikes.
2. The remote control is flimsy and poorly designed
3. There is nothing "automatic" about how the unit works
For me, issue #1 above is completely unacceptable. Yesterday, out of desperation, I decided to give the unit one more try and put in a new 6V battery. I think we pushed button #1 (beep) two or three times to confirm the unit was working, and button #2 (short spray) once as well ... and the unit was dead the next morning. Apparently, the unit draws down battery power even when not in use (probably the radio receiver).
I might be willing to invest $5 a week for new batteries, but $5 per day??? No thanks!
I regret purchasing the unit and would never recommend it to anyone.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Spray commander May 18, 2010
This is a wonderful product. However, the DVD that was supposed to be included was not. I was told by my trainer that other that purchased this product had the same experience. So just know that before buying it that the training DVD while it says it is, is not included.
 Dead Batteries Feb 26, 2010
I had to reorder the product because I thought it was broke. I found out later the one sent had bad batteries in it.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Nipping Nipping in the Bud. Dec 23, 2009
We have a new Standard Poodle puppy, "Belle". She will be trained a number of activities including obedience, flyball, and scent Tracking. For the formal training we will be using the positive reinforcement of the Spray Commander #1, Button - "Beep" or a Clicker. But, for issues of what I consider 'pack transgression' or safety issues we have/will be using the remote spritz from the Spray Commander, buttons #2 and #3 on the remote.
We ordered the Multivet Spray Commander in Mid December, timed to arrive when our pup was 11 weeks old and our Grandchildren were due to arrive for the XMAS holidays. I was very concerned with Belle's obsessive nipping and biting of pants legs and shoes. This habit was very annoying and dangerous for her to be underfoot. Trying to correct this behavior with the traditional `no', using positive reinforcement to distract her to another behavior, or removing her from the scene were generally ineffective or, at best, proceeding so slowly nothing would be accomplished by the time the grandkids arrived. We didn't want to have to segregate the new puppy from the kids so I was counting on the Spray Commander for help (and wasn't disappointed!).
Two spritz's with the scentless spray was all it took to cure the problem.
This product is GREAT. It is instant, can be operated remotely, the correction is not associated in the dog's mind with the human owner. It is just like nature teaches a young dog what works and what doesn't. Biting a thorn bush gives an instant lesson. Biting my grandchild's pant leg gave a similar, instant, lesson.
None of the correction was associated with me.
What is very important to me, is the ability to apply correction at the exact time of the infraction means the behavior is corrected with an absolute minimum time and fuss; minimizing strain to all of us (and especially the puppy). IMHO it is much more `positive' than so called positive correction techniques with the clicker (or spray commander beeper) that take much longer to achieve. Having said that, positive clicker or commander beeper training is the way to go for formal obedience training.
Before buying the product I reviewed the posts. There were some concerning posts about poor customer service. As a test, this morning I called the 1 800 303 0244 service line and immediately was able to speak to a customer service person. Admittedly this was a contract service and not the company itself, but it does indicate to me that the company is working on resolving a poor image. Also, I signed up to their forum [...]. Also see [...] for info. I'd say that the general forum trend is very positive.
The product involves electronics and spraying liquids under some pressure. Given the electro-mechanical-hydraulic nature of the product, I assume their will be some problems down stream. There is just more to go wrong than with an all electronic product. From my experiences with customer support and the web so far I assume they will be handled professionally.
I had a small issue with the remote. It has 3 buttons. #1 is for the positive 'beep', #2 is standard spray, and # 3 is major spray. The 3 buttons are all the same size and degree of recess. I was concerned with the possibility of accidentally pushing the wrong button, and once, it false triggered when I picked up something that bumped against the remote in my pocket.
I have corrected that by velcro'ing thin pieces of plastic over the #2 and # 3 button to make them harder to trigger. (I've also forwarded a suggestion to Multivet).
As another nit, I thought the instructional CD was pretty lame - more advertising than good dog training instruction.
Nevertheless, most users will have dog training books that adequately explain how to use positive (beep or clicker and treat) or Negative (spray) reinforcement. Note it is an instruction `CD' not a `DVD'.
I plan to use the spritzer function of spray commander for controlling territorial access (prevent kitchen access or fence jumping), correcting food stealing from the coffee table (done remotely with a web cam to monitor the potential scene of the crime), and snake/car proofing. I will NOT use the negative spray for formal training - relying instead on positive 'beep' or click and then treat training.
All in all, a good product. I'm not giving a 5 because of the remote and CD issues. Note: when talking with the customer support person, she said they were working on improvements. I hope they can come up with a remote that is tailored specifically for this function rather than just duplicating a 3 door, garage door opener remote. But,,,, none of my objections prevent successful use of the product - they are 2nd/3rd generation improvement issues.
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