Dog Shock Collars as Effective Training Tools?

Dog shock collars, E collars, Training collars, Correction collars they’re called many things and we’ve all seen the advertisements promoting the use of electric or shock collars for dogs:

“Is your dog out of control?”, “Does your dog bark too much”, “Do traditional dog training methods not work for your dog”, “Do you want to change your dogs behavior in hours instead of weeks?’…then we recommend you shock the shit out of them for that well adjusted, lovable 4-legged, family fun dog you’ve always wanted!

Really?  Should we seriously believe that sending an electric shock into your dog’s neck is going to change their behavior for the better?  Didn’t we believe the same thing about people in the middle part of the 20th century?  How’d that work out?

Shock collars for dogs are often given the cutsie nick name of “E collars” for dogs with “E” meaning “electric”, because the marketing people don’t want us to associate the fact that we are purposefully inflicting pain on our dogs thinking in some way it’s changing their behavior for the better.  It’s changing their behavior alright, but we’d argue, not for the better.

1 Out of 100

Did you watch the above video?  I would venture to say that this illustration represents 1% of the actual use of shock collars for dogs.  Did you notice that there was no one in the room? That the trainer was using a “mild” shock and then immediately rewarding the dog for the desired action?  Although this video seems humane, does she really need the dog shock collar at all?

The real life uses of shock collars for dogs are more apt to be found being used by the general, untrained public or in conjunction with the “invisible fence”, which is another way to shock the crap out of your dog when your not around.  Most people do indeed have good intentions about the use of shock collars for dogs, and in certain situations under a watchful eye, these dog shock collars can indeed be a useful training aid, even though I may personally think there are other more acceptable options available.

I most often think that the Humane Society is a little over the top with some of their stances, but I must say I have to agree with them when they say, ” The least humane and most controversial use of the shock collar is as a training device. “  The city of Wales in the UK actually banned the use of shock collars on dogs and cats.

Positive vs. Negative

Any dog trainer will tell you that there are two types of dog training aides; positive and negative.  We either reward the dog for good behavior or “correct” them for bad behavior.  Human psychology is similar often referred to as pain vs pleasure or fight vs flight or as Momma used to say, “get your butt over here if you know whats good for you!”

Examples of negative training aides, where the trainer is identifying the unwanted behavior, are chokers, pinch or prong collars and e or shock collars for dogs.  All work in the same fashion where the dog receives a negative physical result based off their action.  One problem with this is cross associations.  Cross associations would be like when your dog sees another dog and runs towards it and we try to stop them with our handy dandy dog shock collar and give them a wallop, but the dog may associate that shock with the fact that they are looking at another dog, not the action of pulling.

At this point, the owner is changing the dogs behavior with the shock collar, but maybe not in the way they intended.  If repeated enough, this will cause the dog to associate negative ramifications at the site of another dog and may lead to aggression towards other dogs.

Other side effects of using negative training aides include fear, anxiety and general aggression due to the pain caused by dog shock collars.  This study outlines some other observed consequences of using shock collars for dogs.

 

Happy, Stable and Fun!

If one wants a happy, stable and fun dog, during training it’s our opinion that shock collars for dogs are not the way to go.  Instead there are positive alternatives to dog training which don’t cause fear, pain or anxiety and are still highly effective and what’s more, have a longer lasting effect than simply inflicting pain through use of a shock collar for dogs.

Using treats is a great training tool.  A head collar or a flat buckle collar can also be used effectively to correct and reinforce the positive actions we seek.  Clicker training, although maybe annoying to other humans, is another safe and effective alternative to shock collars for dogs.

Under certain circumstances there is merit, albeit minimal,  in using a shock collar for dogs, but it should be short lived and with low intensity and performed by a professional dog trainer. For the rest of us, realize that there are no training aides that will change our dog’s long term behavior in a few short hours, especially by causing pain through a shock collar for dogs.  It takes time, it takes patience and it takes consistency to train your dog properly.