Training with Shock Collars—Why You Should Just Say NO!
Shock Collars are euphemistically called Electronic or E-collars or Remote Training Collars. Some pet owners and novice trainers train with shock collars because they are not aware of what they can accomplish with pain-free methods or of the harm they may be doing to their dogs by shocking them.
"Shock is not training - in the vast majority of cases it meets the criteria for abuse" says Dr. Karen Overall.
"We don't have to hurt dogs to train them." -- Becky Schultz
Invisible Fencing Systems--Testimonials from trainers about why they should be avoided.
Introduction
To use shock as an effective dog training method you will need:
A thorough understanding of canine behavior.
A thorough understanding of learning theory.
Impeccable timing.
And if you have those three things, you don't need a shock collar. --Author unknown
This page contains both objective information and subjective opinions from a variety of sources about problems and fall out related to using remote/E collars otherwise called electronic shock collars. Since I strongly believe there is no necessity to shock either pets or working/performance dogs in order to train them, the information presented here is intended to support that contention. If you are looking for a balanced viewpoint that includes a rationale or apologist viewpoint for shocking dogs, they are all too easy to find, but you will have to look elsewhere.
Question: Aren’t Electronic (remote/shock) collars just like other training tools in that they can be used appropriately or inappropriately depending on the skill of the trainer?
Answer: Although I have seen dogs respond to shock by screaming, yelping, and jumping in the air. I know that many trainers claim to use them at much lower stimulation levels that supposedly never produce that level of pain. However, Electronic/remote/shock collars now on the market have multiple settings (some have as many as 36 settings), thus giving anyone who chooses to do so, the option to inflict much more pain than merely giving the dog a mild stimulation/shock. Therefore, part of the difference between E/remote/shock collars and other training tools is that shock collars are purposefully designed to include the option of increasing the correction level from mild discomfort to severe pain.
Here is my personal position on Electronic/remote/shock collar training: Shock collars are not a training necessity. However, in hunting and field trial circles, use of the collars is so pervasive that there is actual psychological pressure to conform and accept shocking dogs as standard practice. Likewise, in spite of evidence to the contrary, some competition/performance trainers still believe they need to use shock to win and are able to rationalize causing their dogs pain and distress in order to meet their goals. Some pet owners and novice trainers choose to use electronic/remote/shock collars because they are not aware of what they can accomplish with positive training methods and that they may be needlessly hurting their dogs by choosing to shock them instead.
My own deeply held belief is that it is never ethically or morally acceptable to shock dogs when it is possible to successfully use other painless training methods.
While in theory I can agree with those who say they would only use shock as a last ditch effort to save the dog’s life (for example in the case of a dog facing euthanasia for killing livestock) when no other method has worked, I have yet to hear of a real life example that holds water when critically analyzed. More often than not these cases involve an owner who mistakenly believes that shocking the dog is an easy magic bullet solution and who is therefore not willing to use other management and training alternatives that would in fact work and solve the problem. Therefore in practice I agree with Dr. Karen Overall that there is rarely sufficient reason to shock a dog for training or treatment.
This is especially true for reactive and aggressive dogs. Punishment is counter-productive when dealing with problems of reactivity or aggression. WHY—
Punishment increases stress. Any increase in stress will generally tend to make the dog more rather than less aggressive.
Punishment can create a negative association in the dog's mind between the punishment and the object of the dog's fear/aggression.
By suppressing outward signs of reactivity without changing the underlying emotional state, punishment can produce a dog that strikes without warning.
It is very important for the dog to feel safe in the owner's presence.
And what about Electronic Invisible Fence Systems? This is what you won't hear from those who manufacture and sell IF Systems:
An E Fence won't keep your dog safe from other dogs that may wander onto your property.
An E fence won't keep your dog safe from predators such as coyotes.
An E fence won't keep your dog out of sight or safe from potential human thieves.
An E fence won't protect your dog from passersby who may decide to tease or torment the dog.
An E fence won't keep your dog from attacking other dogs, cats, or children who may wander onto your property.
Some dogs are willing to take the shock to jump the fence; determining an effective level of shock requires a trial and error process that can cause undue stress and pain for the dog.
The system can malfunction and if that happens, it can cause severe pain and injury to the dog.
Given these drawbacks, an E fence system should be a choice of last resort, and is never an appropriate choice for reactive/aggressive dogs.
I decided to add this page after one of my clients brought his dog to me for help with aggression problems that developed following trying to train the dog with a shock collar. During our first session my client remarked that most of his buddies “really fry their dogs.” So, this page is dedicated to all the dogs out there who are getting fried even as you read this.
Beverly Hebert
Holly's Den
"Behavior Modification Training Guide for Reactive and Aggressive Dogs"
http://www.hollysden.com/aggression_guide.htm
Statement by Karen Overall M.A., V.M.D., PhD, Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Behavior
author of Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals
Use of Shock Collars-Tue Dec 6, 2005
There is never any reason for pets to be shocked as a part of therapy or treatment…There are now terrific scientific and research data that show the harm that shock collars can do behaviorally. At the July 2005 International Veterinary Behavior Meeting, held in conjunction with the AVSAB and ACVB research meetings, data were presented by E. Schalke, J. Stichnoth, and R. Jones-Baade that documented these damaging effects (Stress symptoms caused by the use of electric training collars on dogs (Canis familiaris) in everyday life situations. Current Issues and Research in Veterinary Behavioral Medicine, Papers presented at the 5th Int’l IVBM. Purdue University Press, 2005:139-145. [ISBN 987-1-55752-409-5; 1-558753-409- 8]).
This follows on the excellent work done by Dutch researchers, in cooperation with their working dog groups and trainers, that showed that working / patrol dogs were adversely affected by their ‘training’ with shock, long after the shock occurred (Schilder MBH, van der Borg JAM. Training dogs with the help of the shock collar: short and long term behavioural effects. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 2003;85:319-334).
Research meetings can be attended by anyone paying the fee, and most published work is available either in the public domain, from an organization, or from someone with a university library connection.
There is no longer a reason for people to remain misinformed. Let me make my opinion perfectly clear: Shock is not training - in the vast majority of cases it meets the criteria for abuse. In my patient population, dogs who have been ‘treated’ with shock have a much higher risk of an undesirable outcome (e.g., euthanasia) than dogs not subjected to shock, and I never recommend euthanasia. In all situations where shock has been used there is some damage done, even if we cannot easily see it. No pet owner needs to use this technique to achieve their goal. Dogs who cease to exhibit a problem behavior usually also cease to exhibit normal behaviors. The only data available support the idea that shock is neither an effective nor suitable training tool.
That said, it’s time we replaced everyone’s personal mythologies and opinions with data and scientific thinking. Such opportunities are now available, but are often not exploited.
For example, the statement: “ Major veterinary universities have tested E- collars since the mid 60’s when they were invented. No evidence of any damage, Physiological or psychological has ever been found.” is patently and wholly false. For the evidence re: data - see above. As for the initial statement - it’s WRONG. It’s a MYTH. The specialty college (ACVB) even conducted a census a few years ago to see if we could find ANY truth to this and there was NONE. We couldn’t get anyone to say that they had - or knew someone who had - participated in such tests and studies. This pattern of behavioral repetition is representative of the danger of myth, and also of the power of the scientific method. Science tells you when you are wrong. Myth allows you to steal credibility where none is earned. That particular myth has damaged universities too long, and it has traded on the reputations of people who neither endorsed that decision, nor supported the finding, and it must stop…I have never thought we could get via electricity what we couldn’t get by advanced training and hard work. --Dr. Karen Overall
An Informal Interview With a Trainer Experienced with the Use of Electronic Remote/Shock Collars
BH: Many shock collar trainers claim that they can use a stimulation setting/level on the transmitter that does not cause the dog any discomfort. How does the trainer determine that the level of stimulation will be punishing enough to be effective without going too far and causing the dog undue pain?
Other Trainer: You GUESS! And you may be right, or you may have a trembling mass of dog urinating and defecating all over himself on the lowest setting. Granted, most times you will come pretty close…we don't talk about the times where you guess completely wrong. The softer the dogs, the more likely the chance they will be extremely sensitive…And guess what a truly dominant dog may do? He knows where the leash pops come from - he knows where that other (shock) pain came from. I have seen it a couple of times that the dog whirled around to teach that human a lesson. In a group setting, another dog who just happens to be on the around may get the blame. You don't KNOW until you press the button. It is an educated guess, nothing more.
BH: How does the shock collar trainer avoid negative fall out from stressing the dog during this trial and error process of determining the optimal setting?
Other Trainer: Well, you pray and hope for the best before you try it for the first time. To be on the safe side you start a bit lower than you think you need to, and you have to keep the environment in mind. You can't avoid fall-out as long as you don't control 100% of your environment and even then you might run into that one ultra-sensitive dog. You can minimize the potential for a wrong association, (what the shocked dog learns to fear/avoid) but you can't avoid it completely. In a lab you control the environment. In life you don't. And this is where zapping can backfire. That stranger or other dog or whatever is already a perceived bad thing. Now you add real physical pain to the mix and all the dog learns is to avoid and not to express his emotional state. One way to create a time bomb.
BH: Some E collar trainers tout their method as the best way to teach dogs basic obedience behaviors such as walking without pulling on leash. Would you recommend using a shock collar to teach loose leash walking?
Other Trainer: Having used the E-collar for avoidance training, (training dogs to shun snakes or not to chase cats or deer) which has more than enough potential pitfalls, the issue of loose leash walking is just not a big enough problem for me to be willing to deal with a much more complex can of worms…such as the clients being on their own to use it whenever and however they may see fit. I have to rely on them to take it off to prevent sores, to follow instructions so the dog does not become collar smart.
BH: OK, so what about the claims these trainers make that they can cure predatory chasing of other animals with the remote/shock collar?
Other Trainer: They don't cure poop. They just hope to put a strong enough lid on it. Like avoidance training might hold only so long when temptation and desire build up and then you need to refresh the pain and fear so they can override the desire to hunt...
Done properly, the dog will not become collar smart. That is always shitty work. If you have a collar smart dog you can make the e-collar a lifelong companion, give it enough time for the dog to forget, combine the collar with something else when that new piece of equipment (harness) is not being used, the dog thinks he is safe. How the owner maintains control depends on the owner. Do they refresh at the very first hints that the dog is merely thinking about it or do they wait till the bad behavior is in full bloom? If they see it early, usually one session will put the lid back on.
If it was true that shock could CURE it, then any other means of physical punishment would also cure it. But it doesn’t. Can't, since you are only dealing with the outward symptoms and not the inner motivation. For a soft dog with less conflict/stress it may last a lifetime and seem a CURE, but in reality it is only a question of time and circumstances… I bet at that point the dog will be even more stressed because he is most likely to anticipate the shock. If you have a toothache and take strong enough drugs the pain will go away. Cure? Marketing. Nothing but marketing. The modern human wants everything right now, without effort, with guaranteed results and preferably cheap. Fast food, weight loss, dog training. The modern human does not want the inconvenience of changing habits and lifestyles (even if temporary), does not want the inconvenience of investing time into weeks of training (how many drop out of an 8 week class?), the inconvenience of understanding basic dog behavior and basic learning theory. Smart marketing sells people what they want. It is primarily about selling.
BH: Have you ever seen that being shocked actually increase the subject dog’s aggression toward other animals?
Other Trainer: Oddly, I have never experienced increased aggression towards cat, deer, sheep etc. Strong avoidance yes. Increased aggression towards other dogs and humans I have seen numerous times.
BH: One shock collar trainer said that if she got a call about a German Shepherd that had just killed a cat, she sure wouldn’t show up with a clicker. So, what happens when instead this trainer shows up with her shock collar?
Other Trainer: I prefer my skin without additional holes and I would not bring my E-collar to the first appointment one way or another. I'd bring lots of paper, treats and a clicker just to evaluate the dog and create a relaxed atmosphere before I decide on anything. I think it is more than stupid and arrogant to walk in on your first appointment with cat blood still wet on the dog's muzzle, strap on the E-collar and go happily zapping away. It is plain unprofessional and just as dumb as her clicker example. I hope she has enough insurance because sooner or later she will need it.
BH: One of the toughest things I face in working with dog- aggressive dogs is helping the owners figure out ways they can get their dog around other dogs in controlled situations to do the counter-conditioning/desensitizing work, while avoiding letting their dog practice aggressive behavior in uncontrolled situations...So... wouldn’t shock collar trainers also need to practice repeat set ups, just as I do, in order to be sure that the dog’s avoidance response generalizes to more than one particular animal and situation?
Other Trainer: Most likely. One dog I worked using an E-collar on a cat killing issue had to go through several different looking cats before he was able to draw the conclusion that ALL cats are dangerous! Plus you most likely need different locations. Like working “Sit” only in your kitchen doesn't help in Petsmart…I have used it for avoidance training on the highest setting--I never had complete success after one session. Notice some people never leave the house without the E collar on the dog--Ah - you see that is exactly why they all claim they can fix it in one session.
BH: Yet the entire case that remote/shock collar proponents make for this training method/tool is based upon its supposed speediness, effectiveness and ease compared to positive training approaches!
Other Trainer: True, but do you really expect truth in advertising? Isn’t plastic surgery easy, virtually pain free, with no complications or side effects, no risk of death or permanent disfigurement - and thousands of people are more than eager to part with their money.
Statement on Training Dogs With Shock Collars by Cathy Toft, APDT #63420
I thought it might be helpful to discussions of shock collars to share with the group here that I trained for 2 years with Jim Dobbs who helped Tritonics to develop and test its shock collars. Before everyone recoils in shock (no pun intended) this was back in 1995. I had just been introduced to dog training and was horrified and dismayed at what I thought was stupid, illogical anthropomorphisms of traditional dog training. When I tried to train my dogs to herd sheep, that was the last straw. In my introduction to dog training, I was told to choke, hang, yell at, hit, and throw objects at my dog to train her. There had to be a better way.
I
chose to train with the best trainer I could find because I knew what a
potentially powerful method a shock collar is and how much damage it could do if
you didn’t know what you were doing. I doubt that most people would be fortunate
enough to have one of the best e-collar trainers arguably in the world only a
few miles away and spend the effort I spent to learn from him. By the way, I
took much of what he taught me about dog training in general into my R+
(positive reinforcement) only training and depend on it to this day. But my
point here is that I learned from the best how to use P+ (positive punishment)
and R- (negative reinforcement) as training tools.
In a nutshell, if P+ were the only way to train a dog, I became of the
opinion that a shock collar was the least objectionable P+ method. That's why I
learned to use one. If a shock collar is used correctly, it seemed far less
inhumane than those other ways and far more effective, which was part of being
less inhumane--the punishment (pain, fear) was brief, precise, and
impersonal--it was precise in the sense of being precisely timed and precisely
calibrated to the dog's pain threshold.
I abandoned that approach when I was introduced to the clicker two years later, because I found that method of training just as precise, far more humane, and when correctly used, far more effective. Although *Bob Bailey states that he does rarely use punishment to train an animal, as I explain below, P+ is not a tool I would ever plan to use as the foundation of my training.
What I
took away from what I learned about training gun dogs and herding dogs is
interesting in hindsight. What I learned is that the shock collar works best
(least bad) for dogs bred to have high pain thresholds and trained for
instinctive work for which they have a strong drive, i.e., herding and hunting.
The dogs are willing to work through pain to do the work itself, which is highly
reinforcing. The shock collar works far less well or not at all for obedience
and agility respectively. The dogs that do best with shock collar training are
those that figure out they can keep the collar from going on (i.e. trainer is
skilled and timing is perfect).
With that hindsight and first hand experience, I can now look back at training
with a shock collar, like your anonymous trainer, and say the following:
1. When used correctly, shock collars are probably the least inhumane
way to train with P+ as your foundation modality.
2. To learn to use a shock collar correctly is not easy. It requires
finding an expert to learn from and many months of learning how to use
it.
3. Therefore JQP cannot be trusted to use a shock collar correctly ever,
and thus it is a cruel tool to place in the hands of the ignorant.
4. If a person does know how to use a shock collar correctly, I would argue
that even the most skilled trainer should never use it as a foundation training
tool. Why? Because no matter what your skill or modality of training, trainer
error is part-and-parcel of training. It's not that you're always a bad
trainer...it's because training an animal always involves the unexpected and the
unpredictable. You need to read an animal absolutely correctly every time, you
must think rapidly/instantly on your feet, you must always have a plan for
whatever arises, and you must always have perfect timing. These
conditions make avoiding trainer error impossible Bob Bailey has some comments
about what method is "forgiving" but I'll just say here that if you are going to
make regular training errors, using P+ ensures that your training will fail to
produce reliable behavior far more than will training exclusively with R+.
5. On that note, P+ training of all kinds produces stress in animals (including
humans). Individuals under stress at the very least cannot learn optimally.
Yes, all learning is stressful for dogs, even that induced with R+, but the
level of stress and the quality of stress is quite different with shock
collars. Dogs being trained with a shock collar can become very shut down
I've seen them shake with fear. Bob Bailey has distilled this problem for
trainers with his usual brilliant simplicity and insight: it's Pavlov on one
shoulder, Skinner on the other. (You can hear more about this in his new DVD).
He says that if an animal is concerned about its very survival, it cannot
learn. We also refer to that as a dog being in a limbic state. Shock collars
alone are able to put dogs into limbic states, and in that state they are unable
to learn with operant conditioning (in this case, the R- quadrant).
Therefore, I concluded that no matter what my level of skill in using a shock
collar, and no matter how improved that method was over old fashioned jerking,
hanging, yelling, shaking and hitting, any training using P+ is
ultimately inhumane and ineffective if P+ and R- are your foundation
modalities. Bailey says that, although he uses P+ rarely, this is a method one
never puts in the hands of a novice trainer. P+ must be used only by the
most skilled trainers and even then rarely, not as a foundation tool.
For these reasons, because shock collars have the potential to inflict far more
pain and fear in the hands of the ignorant and the ill-willed, the shock collar
is even more cruel than the usual methods of traditional dog training when used
by the vast majority of people.
If my own experience in training with shock collars (back in the bad old day of
traditional dog training) gives me any additional credibility, I think I have an
obligation to use my experience and knowledge to ban their use by the public and
average pet owners and dog trainers.
The following posts originally appeared on dog trainer discussion email lists and are reprinted here with permission of the authors:
A couple I know down the street just gave their 14 month old GSD to a guy (recommended by their vet!!!) for one week 1(former canine officer who purported to use "positive training" and "training to suit the dog's personality."). The dog came back "trained" for $950 plus a nice new electronic shock collar. Apparently, the owners were so "wowed" by the off-leash heeling past other dogs, cats, people etc. that they forgave the use of the collar! Since returning, the dog has attacked each of my dogs on two separate occasions and now has developed a full-blown people aggression problem - all those shocks while he looked at ME walking the dogs by and reacted. You can hear his yelps from one block to the next when he reacts, and then gets shocked because he won't and can't listen to their requests to quiet.
Lisa Signorelli
Providence, RI
I worked as a Sr. Trainer at a PM for over 6 years and have spoken to literally hundreds of people who came in to buy shock collars. I can honestly say that only about 5% of them intended to use the collar with instruction from a trainer. (Most shock collar trainers sell their own tri-tronics collars, not the cheaper ones from the box stores).
The examples of dogs refusing to go outside after one shock are true, I have talked to several owners who returned collars for this reason. Had one client who bought a bark collar (I didn't recommend it), the dog was out with the family, barked, got shocked, began screaming and running wildly, they husband finally got hold of the dog and got the collar off, the dog bit him 3 times in the process. The family had to begin extensive reconditioning to allow anyone to touch the dog's collar...The dog would try to bite when anything came near the collar. (Now that's fallout).
For the record, I am not 100% against shock collars, have used one in the past, under certain circumstances, would use one again. However, I would like to see them out of the pet catalogs (Foster and Smith, etc.), out of the box stores, and only sold by trainers with some sort of certification showing that they know how to properly use one. I too think that would be a huge step.
Sue Conklin
The Puppy Nanny LLC
Pelzer, SC
I am Jan's Engineer she mentioned in a previous post. "Ground" refers to the return path for the electricity. We normally diagram circuits as if the electricity originates through the Positive terminal, then through the wire to the load, then returns through the ground wire to the negative terminal. This works for flashlights, dog collars, Budweiser signs, and Nuclear power plants. Electricity flows through a circuit to accomplish the task that we
request of it. Shock collars use the dog's skin for part of the circuit.
In the collars, there are two terminals that contact the animal's skin. When the circuit is activated, One terminal is energized. The "load" is the animal's flesh, and the other terminal provides the ground: return path. Note that even though the two terminals on the collar are only a few centimeters apart, the electricity follows the path of least resistance. If the skin is dry and nonconductive, the voltage in the collar is high enough so that the electricity can
spark through the skin into moist, conductive tissue underneath. This tissue is full of nerve endings and quite sensitive. Repetitive zaps in the same place can leave a burn, although the damage from an individual zap is quite small, but real. When I tried the anti-barking shock collar, it left darkened patches on my skin where the electrodes had been in contact....and it hurt. I am heckuva bigger energy absorber than a bichon.
Jim Casey