I think that many people don't quite understand the mechanics of training a dog with an e-collar and the temptation is great to simply slap one on a dog without doing the requisite groundwork.
This.
For me, positive training always comes first. That is the first road I try to take when trying to get to Rome. Then I have to evaluate on whether it is my fault the dog is not getting it, or is the dog ignoring me. Sometimes that is a fine line and I feel, most times, it is the handlers incorrect instruction and a willing, but confused dog that appears to be stubborn and itnoring, and the human cannot differentiate between the 2. An e-collar in those hands would be a disaster and will create more of a problem.
For me positive first. I am not really into clickers, most people get the timing off and spend more time trying to click and give cookies and fumble and it marks the wrong behavior by the time they are done with that.
Positive first, if the dog seems to ignore or confused, then I break it down further. From there you can tell if it is ignore, or not knowing with the dog. Then like with horse training, make the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy and rewarding. For me with puppies, when they come to you, always have a party. Even if you did not call them. I rarely do formal training sessions. We train all day every day. In the house, I call dogs and just give food rewards for coming then I go on about my business.
The problem is running away is a self rewarding behavior. Not much the human can do when the dog runs away and does not recall. It is easier to teach recall before the dog learns to run away. Untraining something that is a learned behavior is very difficult to do.
If one time the dog does not recall and you get your hands on it and you are mad and you negative reinforce the dog, it will be that much more difficult to catch it next time. Because it thinks, the next time I come you are going to (insert whatever angry impulse you have) me.
It is hard, I have been angry, and I really want to get onto that dog or have an e-collar and "let them have it". But I will not punish the dog. They have ignored me and went on about their business of being loose, and then I call again and they will stop. But I walk up, and I pat the dog because it stayed there, and I tell it good dog, and I put a lead on it and walk it back to the house. Then at the house, it gets a cookie.
Yes, I would like a good quality E-collar. But I will make sure that I am very comfortable with it. I have used them in the past and I am comfortable with it, but I do not want it to be my go too tool. It takes a potential life threatening bad habit for me to use that. Recall is one of the life threatening bad habit.