Crafty,
I am having some very good results with this electric training collar. There was a tape and a little book that came with the unit that had some good tips. But when she is far away and I call her and she looks but doesn't come...then goes about her own business...a quick press of the "Nic" button just as she thinks "screw him" gets her attn and she starts heading back my way.
There is a positive vibration mode and she has associated the vib with doing the right thing now and there is usually a snack when she comes back. When she starts comming back pressing the vib, generally gets here running back toward you.
Like I said, when she was nearby or in the back yard, it really is not needed but when she is a long ways away and I call her and she thinks...outa-sight-outa-mind and bolts...this does the trick.
Where I live there are a lot of places for her to explore (swamps and woods) and when she get her nose into something interesting and is .25+ mile away from you, you tend to become less significant. This seems to do the trick for the distance problems.
The unit I got was for training field dogs is compact and is waterproof (a must for me) and has a 500 yard range and it really seems to work at 500 yards too. No spam but this is the unit I purchased:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...results1.jhtml