Sport Dog 800

[JSGorder]

Any thoughts on this collar?

[citori]

If it is not Tri-Tronics, Dogtra, or DT Systems, in that order, it is not worth the money spent. Innotek/SportDog/etc. are cheap for a reason and that is to take advantae of first time buyers who do not know any better. Between the design, quality of components, care in assembly, and user ease these units fall far short of adequate. I have seen numerous examples of these "tools" in action and all have invariably failed at an unacceptable rate. Common maladies are poor shielding in which the reciever delivers a shock due to stray radio transmisions or shock not being administered when the transmitter is activated, the intensity of shock changing on its own, poor water resistance, internal connections breaking loose under normal use due to poor workmanship, batteries not holding a charge for even as little as a single day, no secondary parts support once the company stops the model number, and a host of other problems though these are some of the most common ones. I will say that these companies have had good customer service with quick turn around on what typically is a new unit but then it seems they have had a lot practice doing this. This is also changing as this market segment is now eating each other with one company owning all or major parts of the others after which the warranty is not being honored. I've owned TT collars for about 30 years (my first one, which I still have and use, has an extending metal antenae and was used when I bought it way back then) and have had great service from both that company and another that services and refurbishes obsolescent models. That this last company has nothing to do with the cheap units is further testimony as to the cheapness of these units. Spend slightly more money and get a tool that is going to last for the long run as well as be able to do the task assigned.

[llewellynman]

Well, hate to be disagreeable, but I have a Sportdog 1850 (I think). I've had it for 4 years. It holds a charge, is easy to use, has never failed, has always delivered the proper stimulation, has been in the water hundreds of times, been dropped, banged, bumped and every other thing that happens on a hunt, and I have never had a problem. I think I paid $350 buck or so, for this, so not sure what you consider expensive, if you consider that cheap. Nothing against any of the brands Citori mentions, but I don't think you can go wrong with any of the major brands.

[citori]

Innotek bought out Sport Dog a couple years ago (or maybe they are under the same ownership umbrella like Winchester and Browning) and the quality has dropped off accordingly since then. Sport Dog would have been tied for my number three choice otherwise though there is a gap between them and TT and Dogtra. One needs to keep an ear tuned to the business world and I would not have known this if not for a conversation with a new Sport Dog owner and recognizing a change in where the collar was to be sent. Current company repair philosophy seems to be to replace units sent in with brand new ones rather than fix the old. One person I am familiar with is on his 5th new collar since last spring when he sent in his old one in for new batteries. Even within brands there are quality differences between the lines, the lower cost Tri-Tronics lines does seem to have a greater number of problems than their upper levels. Then again, to keep costs down corners have to be cut somewhere and they seem to be doing so better than the competition as one can get them repaired and find refurbished models from another source besides the manufacturer.