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Free Spirit FS-25A Remote Trainer | 
 enlarge | Brand: Innotek
Category: Kitchen
List Price: $149.99
Buy New: $99.99
You Save: $50.00 (33%)
New (7) from $99.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 163325
Media: Misc.
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
MPN: FS-25A
UPC: 762964181026
EAN: 0762964181026
ASIN: B0000AVW6U
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Offers seven stimulation levels with instant boost from the miniature transmitter | | • | Up to 250 yards of range | | • | Rugged, waterproof collar | | • | 1 oz. transmitter | | • | Rechargeable NiCad battery. |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
This compact remote trainer is ideal for reinforcing commands and stopping unwanted behavior such as digging, chewing and barking - from up to 250 yards. It offers seven stimulation levels with instant boost from the miniature transmitter. A rechargeable collar battery provides long life and convenience.TransmitterOperate the collar with the miniature, 1 oz. transmitter that provides 7 levels of continuous stimulation. CollarRugged, waterproof collar receiver uses rechargeable NiCad battery. RangeUp to 250 yards of range.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Works Just Fine July 17, 2008
I've been using this training collar for about a week, and it's quite effective. here's the summary:
1. Power: i'm using this at level 2 (of 7 levels) on a 55lb australian shepherd, and that's more than enough stimulation. The hand held controlled has a 2 level boost switch (in this case, allows user to change quickly from level 2 to level 4) - on the boosted level, the dog pretty much stops activity immediately. This dog previously barked through an anti-bark shock collar, so i was ready for this collar to not be powerful enough. It's plenty powerful.
2. Battery Life? - not sure about this quite yet... but i'm not sure what the other review was referring to - this unit is rechargable, although the controller has a rechargable battery. You do have to turn on and off the unit.
3. Changing the stimulation levels: the instructions are not that difficult to understand. You do have to read through the instructions (not so hard) and the switches (next to the battery in the hand held controller) are very tiny - possibly an issue is you can't see tiny things (get your 12 year old to do it!).
4. Effectiveness: after watching the included dvd (do watch it - it's not obvious how to best use this powerful device) i was able to do some simple re-inforcement and some aversion training pretty effectively. I think if you use this collar incorrectly, you could make your dog crazy and have a negative effect. use it carefully.
5. Durability: i cannot comment directly about this unit, but i have another Innotek product (bark collar) and it's about 3 years old and going strong (used effectively on another dog).
6. Support: i called the support 800 number - they were pretty helpful. They encourage calls to help with training. Not bad.
overall this is a solid product.
 Works terrifically, but fairly confusing to set correction levels until explained. June 1, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
We have a VERY stubborn American Bulldog that we got this collar for. The results have been amazing. His response to this collar has been SO impressive that others at our bark park have gotten a similar collar for their dog. Some of those dogs have not responded quite as well as Walter has (our dog), but it sounds like it is because several of these owners expected the collar to simply work instantly like magic without any training. They weren't willing to do their part by properly training. This is the dog owner's fault, not the dog's.
The training that is recommended/required and comes with the collar on a video is a very important element to your collar working correctly. If skipped, your dog will only be confused by the collar and become neurotic. Walter caught on quite quickly, but he was almost 4 years old when we started using the collar with him.
This collar is a very effective tool when used properly and responsibly. It is a way to communicate with your dog, not punish. The use of the collar requires immediate praise/reward when your dog shifts to the behavior that you DO want. THIS should be your emphasis when using this collar, not the actual correction. The correction should only redirect your dog's attention from the undesired behavior to the desired behavior. Emphasizing the positive will make this a positive experience for your dog.
Many of the members at our park viewed the collar as a bit cruel at first, but after they have seen how well our dog behaves (most of the time) and after hearing us say we would rather our dog experience a moment of discomfort than a potentially dangerous or harmful experience... they see our point. Besides, there is nothing cruel about this collar unless it is abused. It is not designed to inflict pain. It merely creates momentary discomfort just like a leash, a collar, a gentle swat with rolled up newspaper, or any other mode of correction viewed as acceptable in the dog world today. When used correctly, this is a humane, safe, and tremendously effective tool in training your dog.
The ONLY real complaint I have about this collar (and the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars) is that the instructions for setting the levels are extremely confusing. The chart displaying the switches gives an appearance of there being only 3 switches... when there are actually a total of eight. The included instructions fail to explain why this is, from what I can see. I finally got this explained to me by a very nice Innotek customer service representative. The three switches in the chart refer to only the far left three switches of the eight switches in your collar's remote control. The remaining switches are for setting the tone to go along with the correction (switches 4 and 5) and making your collar unique if you encounter another dog/collar or if you want a second collar for a second dog (switches 6 through 8). Once this was explained to me, I have since had no problems understanding how to set Walter's collar. It's a great product and we plan on getting another for our new Great Dane pup when she is old enough.
 Didn't work for my lab May 7, 2005
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I have a 1 year old black lab. He did not show any reaction to this device even at the highest level. I then tried the unit on myself. I could only feel a shock if the 2 shock prongs were in direct contact with my skin. I put a piece of paper between the prongs and my skin and I felt nothing(even at the highest level). All this was done after calling customer support to make sure I was operating the device correctly. I also tried putting the 2 shock prongs on my dog's thigh as he lay sleeping. I pressed down hard and activated the shocker, He showed no response.
There are also a few other things I did not like about this device. The way you change shock levels is not user friendly. I needed a magnifying glass to see the switches. Also the owners manual that comes with this device is not well written. Granted I usually try to figure things out myself before reading the owners manual. With this device I didn't totally figure it out until I had read the insructions 3 times.
One last thing, I think the receiver that goes on the collar is too heavy. The collar would have to be choke-tight in order for the device to have a chance of working.
Too hard to change level; eats batteries August 16, 2004
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
First, let me say that this product was immensely helpful in teaching our dog not to run away. I don't worry about him any more. I know that when I say "come", he'll come. However, there are a couple shortcomings.
The biggest problem is the battery life. Even with relatively infrequent use, the collar needed its batteries replaced at least monthly, costing about $6 each time. We later switched to a rechargeable. (The remote batteries last a good while.)
You have to open the remote and set DIP switches to choose the base intensity. Then when you press the button, the dog is shocked with that intensity. If you slide a "boost" switch on the side of the remote, it brings the intensity up by two levels. For our dog, this wasn't flexible enough. For indoor training (e.g. enforcing the no-dog-on-the-rug rule), a level of 3 or 4 would have been sufficient. However, even using the "boost" switch would not have been enough when he was running away outside. Our dog needed the maximum stimulation plus the boost to overcome the allure of running away. But that level (without the boost) would be excessive for indoor training. Ultimately, we purchased a "Command Series" trainer from Innotek that gave us more flexibility.
One thing we miss about this trainer is the small remote with a single button. You can easily keep it in your pocket, and discreetly push the button when guests are over. Or, if you have to push it fast, you can often just slap your pocket, feel the button and push it through your pants. The button is nicely designed to be easy to feel (seated in a depression in the remote) without being easy to accidentally press.
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