Both these Borzoi puppies (17 and 8 months) are ecollar trained. Both of them are wearing their ecollars in this video. Both of them are running free and playing. I don’t have a set rule for when I ecollar train a puppy — but I probably do it earlier than others because I have such big dogs. I did 8 weeks of free shaping recall and engagement with Leshy before ecollar training him, and the last 4 weeks of that I was MASSIVELY hankering to start ecollar training because it just wasn’t sustainable. At 6 months old, even with all that free shaping, Leshy’s hormones kicked in and his prey drive went WAY up. 👀💨My fastest recaller became my most selective listener. What was I to do? It was actively detrimental for me to keep Leshy on a leash — he was already 30 inches tall at 6 months old, and I OBSESS over his nutrition and muscle growth. If he didn’t get enough exercise, he wouldn’t build muscle. If he didn’t build muscle in pace to support his growing giant bones, there could be serious weakness and structural defects down the line. That’s how dogs get injuries on the field, how they develop dysplasia and arthritis out of nowhere. 🙃For those of you thinking, “why not just let him run in the backyard?” First off, have you had a Borzoi? They are 30% larger than GREYHOUNDS. If a greyhound can’t stretch their legs in a suburban garden, a growing borzoi puppy sure can’t either. And secondly, (and this is a Hot Take Hill™️) I will die on — it is a demonstration of slightly snobbish ignorance to assume every Borzoi owner has private, fully fenced, acres of land for their dogs. I know this is the norm in the US, for Borzoi breeders to refuse to place a puppy with a potential owner unless they have very specific yard requirements. But what about teaching recall? What about giving puppies ample off lead time to chase and explore new places? I’d love to see a clause in a puppy contract that says “recall in 3 new places a week!” 🤗 So yes, I taught Leshy recall with the ecollar as a puppy, just like I did Irida. Now I breathe a sigh of relief knowing he’s getting enough exercise. And we can move onto other training 😌 #borzoisoftiktok #giantpuppy #ecollar #puppytraining #ecollarssavelives