I like e-collars, it perfects off leash obedience, especially on a dog like Cujo who knows that when the leash is off I can't reach him, so an e-collar straightened him out real fast!!
I don't like choke chains, I've seen the damage they can do if you have a dog that doesn't respond to a light correction, I use a prong (prikker?) collar, not the big thick ones, but the 3mm links, smallest I can find, it's the only thing that gets thru to my stubborn dog :lol:
For example, if I take him to a very big field and want to practice his down/stay... with a prong collar, if I walk away from him 100 meters and he breaks his down/stay n starts running toward me, I need to walk back 100 meters, correct him, put him back, then walk away 100 meters, it drives me crazy... the e-collar means that I can correct him as soon as he starts to get up, without having to run back n forth. He has an excellent down/stay now, n the further the distance, the faster he runs to get back to me on the recall
