Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I had bought this from PetSmart for $160 and saw the same exact unit on Amazon and other sites for less than $100. To be fair, I"ll give the positive as well as the negative of this product and be as accurate as possible. They may have a new design but same product number, as the ones you may buy at a store will be like mine with more buttons on the hand unit and the hand unit is much smaller. There is a small dog and big dog version of this model, exact same thing just different size collar and box. I spent the extra money and got it from a store because I thought the store would have a warranty return policy...but I asked and they don't. These have to be returned to the company so it defeats the purpose of buying it from a store thinking you can just bring it back if it breaks. Keep that in mind. It takes 2 watch-style batteries in the hand unit and 2 more in the collar. You WILL go through batteries often, so buy a lot if you purchase this. The unit has 16 different levels of shock, Low 1-8 and High 1-8. It has a beep button, a shock button, a +2 button, a (+) up arrow button and (-) down arrow button. The beep does just that. The shock button, is dependent on how long you press it. It takes a second to kick in, so it is not instantaneous. If you press the button and count to one onethousand, it will then start to shock. The plus and minus arrows just raise and lower the shock levels by 1. The +2 button will jump the shock up two levels when you press it, therefore if you have the current shock level on High 2, it will actually shock at High 4 when it is pressed. The shock itself is not like a nasty Taser shock with an arc or anything...it's just a pulsating shock with the strength of static electricity. The Positive = It works. I always try the units on myself before ever trying it on my pet, and it did work as it should. Very easy to sync and setup. The controller is small, on the new versions anyway, and has a clip if you want it on your belt. It has a wide range of adjustment so you won't have to worry how big or small your dog is. The Negative = It isn't strong at all, and this is the main reason I would not purchase this product and will be returning it. Using it on myself, I literally did not even feel a shock up to Low 5. After that, it was nothing but a pulsating tingle at best. When I had to use it on my dog, he did not even flinch or respond AT ALL until level High 3. When used, he just sat there licking the air a little. It wasn't until High 6 that he would wonder what is going on. Mind you, this is level 14 of 16, and he just stares at me. You will have to buy a LOT of batteries, because it only lasts 2 weeks straight before going dead, as even stated on the box. The only way to conserve battery life, would be to turn it on when you think he won't listen and then turn it back off when he does, which is not sensible. To put it into perspective, imagine yourself getting caught in the cookie jar and having to stick your tongue on a 9volt battery. It's nothing but a tingle, if your dog really wants that squirrel he sees or to go run off with that other dog, it won't stop him. I gave this collar a 2 star rating because it does work, and it can maybe work on certain dogs. If you have a dominant dog with a high prey drive, save your money for something stronger because I PROMISE you that you will be disappointed. I wish I would have read a review like this prior to buying mine. I have a 7 month old Belgian Malinois attack dog, and at 7 months he hardly responds to it when he is calm. It is impossible to think when he becomes an adult and is all amped up, this will do anything but be a paper weight on his neck. My dog is extremely obedient and is trained through positive reinforcement, but when he gets defensive he gets tunnel vision, this is what I need the collar for. That being said, if your dog is NOT a working dog and is of a weaker or smaller breed, it is possible this is all you will need, but it would be a gamble at best. It just simply isn't strong enough to teach or train a big dog and it will cost you in batteries in the long run. Save your money, get a strong one that will last you the life of your dog. It's better to buy a stronger collar and have it turned down, than to buy a weak collar just to find that it doesn't do enough.