re: Need some advice on training my lab

The E collar is a reinforcing tool not a teaching tool. The trick to training is reading the dog. Meaning guessing why an animal is doing what he’s doing at that time. I say guessing because you don’t know until you correct the dog. If your dog responds positively you more than likely read him correctly. Your goal in collar conditioning is to condition the dog to not freak out at the stimulation but to accept it as an extension of your control. You sound like you are very thoughtful in your training. My dad who was not a dog trainer gave me the best advice for training. I didn’t understand it or really paid attention to it. He said to train a dog you have to be smarter than that dog. Continue to work on reading your dog and maybe let a good trainer watch your training.