Thank you very much for the compliment, Beamer. It is appreciated. If I am going to apply myself to something, I want to be the best at it that I can be.

I will say this. I have never had a dog that was just a pet. All of my dogs have been working dogs with jobs who also happened to be pets. Up until my current dog, they were all herding dogs because as I have mentioned previously, my family has a ranch. So I grew up with the understanding that you must spend a great deal of time, energy, and effort to train a dog to do what you want.

My current dog was no different. We sought a trainer because I had never trained a service dog previously. Since my current pup was for the safety, assistance, and protection of my wife, I did not want to learn as I went.

There is a huge difference in her attitude and behavior from when she's in "I'm just hanging with Dad and enjoying life" mode and "I am on the job and performing the tasks I know are required of me" mode. For example, this past Sunday we were headed out to my parents for the usual Sunday family dinner. She was loping along at my side, bouncing happily on her paws, and her tail wagging a thousand miles a minute. Across from me is a wooded area. A feral dog came bursting out of the undergrowth, barking its ass off, and her attitude instantly changed. She immediately got in front of me, put her butt firmly against my legs, and leaned forward. Her ears were up and forward and she was growling softly. It was a warning growl to the other dog. When the dog shifted directions, she did too to keep it front facing to her and to continually put herself between the feral dog and I. The feral got the message and took back off in to the undergrowth. She then sat at my feet, looked up and over her shoulder at me, and waited for her release command. I gave it to her and she sprang right back in to her usual, relaxed self.

All of that is training and it was done, in part, with a stim collar.

As I said upthread, a tool is just a tool and shitty owners are going to be shitty owners. Blame the human, not the tool.