I get many, many owners asking questions about electronic collars (or shock collars as they are also known) so I wanted to write an entry about my honest opinion on these devices. While writing this, I already know that some will not agree with what I have to say and that is fine. This entry is an opinion piece, my opinion. If you do not agree, well, then I guess it is a good thing we live in America where it is your right to disagree! :)
The first issue I have with shock collars is that companies are marketing them as "electronic collars" because that is more politically correct than shock collar. In this article, I will refer to them as shock collars because that is what they do. The companies marketing them have tried very hard to get away from the name "shock collar" by telling pet owners that the collar's effect on the dog is no different than the mild static electric shock that you get from walking around your house with socks on and touching a metal doorknob. I call baloney. They are saying that a shock like that is enough to deter a behavior. Think about it, has the electric shock you get from touching the doorknob ever deterred you from leaving your house? I may not look forward to getting into my car during the times of year I know static electricity is at its greatest but I can honestly say it has never actually kept me from getting in my car and going somewhere. So if it doesn’t deter our behavior, what makes you think a shock like that would deter your dog's unwanted behavior you have tried EVERYTHING else humanly possible to get rid of? The answer is it wouldn't. That means the collars either don't work, or you are kidding yourself if you compare it to a static electricity shock.
The second (and even bigger) issue I have with shock collars is their misuse by dog owners. This will be a good time to address trainers that use these shock collars "responsibly". There are many dog trainers who use these collars as only a part of an entire training program to help with a dog that is extremely stubborn or working with a dog at a great distance away (i.e. hunters). I still believe that, even in the situation stated before, it is a tool of convenience rather than necessity. What I mean by that is the collar makes the training easier for the trainer, not the dog, and is not actually necessary for the training. However, that is not the worst misuse of this product. What I see more often than that is dog owners purchasing a shock collar with the idea that the collar will train their dog. This could not be farther from the truth. Shock collars do not train your dog, they are only the consequence for bad behavior. It is up to the owner to figure out how to communicate which behavior is getting the consequence (and which behavior we would rather they exhibit). Let's set up a hypothetical scenario with my dog "Tru":
Tru is a Corgi who used to get riled up easily and bark at people ,dogs, cats, squirrels, and occasionally nothing outside. So let's say I decided to purchase a shock collar because I was tired of her behavior. The first time she exhibited the behavior I pushed the little red button. Now, she knows she has just been shocked but has no idea why. She may not even realize at first that it was something that she did to cause it. Will she eventually avoid the shock in the future? Probably, but since no one explained to her exactly which behavior was unwanted and which reaction would have been more desirable (training) she will simply stop ALL the behaviors she was exhibiting when the shock came. Which could include: being outside, interacting with people or other dogs, running, barking, doing her "business", etc. Some of those were unwanted behaviors but some were not. So what kind of dog will this give you in the end?
The answer is a dog that is afraid to exhibit any behavior for fear of getting in trouble. I am not saying that an experienced handler that uses this tool as merely a part of an entire training program will end up with a dog like this (but they might). What I am saying is, a novice dog trainer (and some not-so-novice too) who use it as a quick fix and expect the collar to do all the work will end up with a very confused dog.
I can spot this dog a mile away. Most people who see this owner and dog say "wow he sure listens well!" What I see is a dog who cowers every time his owner speaks to him because his first reaction to a command is the fear of being shocked if wrong.
Imagine what game shows would look like if we shocked the contestant who had the wrong answer. (I sure hope there isn't a TV executive reading this right now, thinking "What a great idea!")While some might find it entertaining to watch, I would venture to say we would have to make people be on the show and they wouldn't want to answer any questions because of their fear of being wrong. Then when they did answer, because we forced them to, they would probably flinch as they spoke the answer, bracing for that shock even if they were pretty sure they knew the answer.
Well folks, this is what we are doing to our dogs! Instead of making training fun and rewarding for both of us, we are running some sort of twisted game show where the prizes don't matter because they are overshadowed by the consequences of being wrong. Now don't get me wrong, I do discipline my dogs when they are in the wrong. However, only after I have taught them what I expect of them. I also do not use methods that are more extreme than most dogs need nor do I focus only on when they are wrong. Who wants to be taught that way?
Another reason I don't believe that shock collars are a good alternative is because, just like other "training equipment", we either become dependant on it, or we must figure out how to wean them off of the equipment (See my previous blog entry If you take this handy dandy pill, you can have a trained dog?) . I have had many owners who I have quizzed about using the shock collar say, "Well it works...as long as he is wearing it." In other words, they associate the collar with the punishment and will only behave when wearing it. At this point you either have them wear the collar for the rest of their life or go to work weaning them off of it (which, interestingly enough, I think is more work than doing all the work without the collar from the beginning).
Finally, if you are turning to a shock collar because it is your last resort in training your dog because nothing else has worked, you probably need to take a good look at your training methods as a whole picture. The reason I say this is because, if used as intended, a shock collar is simply the consequence for not doing what you have asked of him. If you find yourself at this "last resort", chances are one of two things has happened: 1. You are not communicating as effectively as you think. In other words, if other consequences have failed, it could be because they are still confused on what you want them to do. In this instance, raising the consequences when your dog is still confused will not lead to success. 2. If you have gone through all of the lower levels of consequences and they have all failed, then you have already taught the dog perseverance. If he can resist the threshold of punishment long enough YOU will give in and he will get his way. Since this precedent is already set, a shock collar will only raise his tolerance for punishment and he will eventually be able to exhibit the behavior even through the pain of being shocked because he knows you will quit using it if it doesn’t work. Reaching this point with ANY dog, requires a serious makeover to your entire training program, not just his discipline.
Should professional trainers use these methods? I will leave that decision up to them hoping that IF they choose to, they are educated on how to use them correctly. Should novice dog owners use them without the help of a professional? Absolutely not, and once you weigh the pros (are there any?) and cons of using these devices I hope that you chose not to use them at all.
The first issue I have with shock collars is that companies are marketing them as "electronic collars" because that is more politically correct than shock collar. In this article, I will refer to them as shock collars because that is what they do. The companies marketing them have tried very hard to get away from the name "shock collar" by telling pet owners that the collar's effect on the dog is no different than the mild static electric shock that you get from walking around your house with socks on and touching a metal doorknob. I call baloney. They are saying that a shock like that is enough to deter a behavior. Think about it, has the electric shock you get from touching the doorknob ever deterred you from leaving your house? I may not look forward to getting into my car during the times of year I know static electricity is at its greatest but I can honestly say it has never actually kept me from getting in my car and going somewhere. So if it doesn’t deter our behavior, what makes you think a shock like that would deter your dog's unwanted behavior you have tried EVERYTHING else humanly possible to get rid of? The answer is it wouldn't. That means the collars either don't work, or you are kidding yourself if you compare it to a static electricity shock.
The second (and even bigger) issue I have with shock collars is their misuse by dog owners. This will be a good time to address trainers that use these shock collars "responsibly". There are many dog trainers who use these collars as only a part of an entire training program to help with a dog that is extremely stubborn or working with a dog at a great distance away (i.e. hunters). I still believe that, even in the situation stated before, it is a tool of convenience rather than necessity. What I mean by that is the collar makes the training easier for the trainer, not the dog, and is not actually necessary for the training. However, that is not the worst misuse of this product. What I see more often than that is dog owners purchasing a shock collar with the idea that the collar will train their dog. This could not be farther from the truth. Shock collars do not train your dog, they are only the consequence for bad behavior. It is up to the owner to figure out how to communicate which behavior is getting the consequence (and which behavior we would rather they exhibit). Let's set up a hypothetical scenario with my dog "Tru":
Tru is a Corgi who used to get riled up easily and bark at people ,dogs, cats, squirrels, and occasionally nothing outside. So let's say I decided to purchase a shock collar because I was tired of her behavior. The first time she exhibited the behavior I pushed the little red button. Now, she knows she has just been shocked but has no idea why. She may not even realize at first that it was something that she did to cause it. Will she eventually avoid the shock in the future? Probably, but since no one explained to her exactly which behavior was unwanted and which reaction would have been more desirable (training) she will simply stop ALL the behaviors she was exhibiting when the shock came. Which could include: being outside, interacting with people or other dogs, running, barking, doing her "business", etc. Some of those were unwanted behaviors but some were not. So what kind of dog will this give you in the end?
The answer is a dog that is afraid to exhibit any behavior for fear of getting in trouble. I am not saying that an experienced handler that uses this tool as merely a part of an entire training program will end up with a dog like this (but they might). What I am saying is, a novice dog trainer (and some not-so-novice too) who use it as a quick fix and expect the collar to do all the work will end up with a very confused dog.
I can spot this dog a mile away. Most people who see this owner and dog say "wow he sure listens well!" What I see is a dog who cowers every time his owner speaks to him because his first reaction to a command is the fear of being shocked if wrong.
Imagine what game shows would look like if we shocked the contestant who had the wrong answer. (I sure hope there isn't a TV executive reading this right now, thinking "What a great idea!")While some might find it entertaining to watch, I would venture to say we would have to make people be on the show and they wouldn't want to answer any questions because of their fear of being wrong. Then when they did answer, because we forced them to, they would probably flinch as they spoke the answer, bracing for that shock even if they were pretty sure they knew the answer.
Well folks, this is what we are doing to our dogs! Instead of making training fun and rewarding for both of us, we are running some sort of twisted game show where the prizes don't matter because they are overshadowed by the consequences of being wrong. Now don't get me wrong, I do discipline my dogs when they are in the wrong. However, only after I have taught them what I expect of them. I also do not use methods that are more extreme than most dogs need nor do I focus only on when they are wrong. Who wants to be taught that way?
Another reason I don't believe that shock collars are a good alternative is because, just like other "training equipment", we either become dependant on it, or we must figure out how to wean them off of the equipment (See my previous blog entry If you take this handy dandy pill, you can have a trained dog?) . I have had many owners who I have quizzed about using the shock collar say, "Well it works...as long as he is wearing it." In other words, they associate the collar with the punishment and will only behave when wearing it. At this point you either have them wear the collar for the rest of their life or go to work weaning them off of it (which, interestingly enough, I think is more work than doing all the work without the collar from the beginning).
Finally, if you are turning to a shock collar because it is your last resort in training your dog because nothing else has worked, you probably need to take a good look at your training methods as a whole picture. The reason I say this is because, if used as intended, a shock collar is simply the consequence for not doing what you have asked of him. If you find yourself at this "last resort", chances are one of two things has happened: 1. You are not communicating as effectively as you think. In other words, if other consequences have failed, it could be because they are still confused on what you want them to do. In this instance, raising the consequences when your dog is still confused will not lead to success. 2. If you have gone through all of the lower levels of consequences and they have all failed, then you have already taught the dog perseverance. If he can resist the threshold of punishment long enough YOU will give in and he will get his way. Since this precedent is already set, a shock collar will only raise his tolerance for punishment and he will eventually be able to exhibit the behavior even through the pain of being shocked because he knows you will quit using it if it doesn’t work. Reaching this point with ANY dog, requires a serious makeover to your entire training program, not just his discipline.
Should professional trainers use these methods? I will leave that decision up to them hoping that IF they choose to, they are educated on how to use them correctly. Should novice dog owners use them without the help of a professional? Absolutely not, and once you weigh the pros (are there any?) and cons of using these devices I hope that you chose not to use them at all.
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