Why Dog Owner’s should NOT use Shock Collars!
By Betty Laurin CPDT-KA, CDBC
Interestingly enough the shock collar industry is alive and strong. The pet owner drives the shock collar
industries strength. Most pet owners are attracted by the fact that when they shock an animal the
animal instantly responds by ceasing negative behavior. This is done by placing an electronic collar on
the dog’s neck tight enough for the two prongs on the collar to make contact with the dog’s skin under
the fur. So, you can imagine the sheer discomfort of wearing this collar on an everyday basis even
without being shocked. Once the collar is fitted snug enough for the prongs to make contact with the
dog’s skin, the hand held remote has the ability to shock the dog for whatever reasons the pet owner
feels necessary. Unfortunately most dogs suffer the consequences of pet owner negligence with this
powerful equipment as pet owners are unaware of what they are doing. The first problem is that dog
owners are NOT trainers, they do not possess the professional skills required to understand how to use
the shock collars. Further they do not possess the skilled timing to hit the remote at the specific time
that the behavior is happening and they shock their dog for behaviors that they should not be shocking
them for. To put it all into perspective, dog owners are ruining their dogs when they engage in shock
collar training at home and in public. Most shock collar advocates will disagree with everything that I
mention above and the reasons that they do is because the shock collar industry is a multibillion dollar
industry and the profit to be made by selling you a shock collar training program is pretty darn
profitable. The multitude of high end shock collars on the market today is staggering and the profit to
be made by trainers who engage into this practice on an everyday basis is even more staggering. Most
pet owners will pay $1500.00 and up for a board and train shock collar training program. Unfortunately,
many pet owners are unaware that their dogs are going to be shocked at some of these board and train
facilities but they certainly find out when they return to pick up their dogs. This is when things begin to
fall apart for most dog owners because again, you are not a dog trainer. I have always wondered how a
shock collar trainer really felt about handing over a pet dog owner’s dog to them with basic *here is how
to do it* instructions. I have been training dogs for over 40 years and it still mystifies me!
Let’s now discuss the adverse side effects of you, the pet owner, using the shock collar. I have already
discussed the fact that you are not a shock collar trainer and that you do NOT possess the ability to time
a correction properly. Now let’s discuss the shock collar settings. There are a multitude of settings on
the shock collar and most pet dog owners are totally unaware of what setting to use to stop an
unwanted behavior. Since every dog has a different sensitivity level, you will have to watch for specific
and sometimes very subtle body language from your dog in order to know when he actually feels the
shock/stimulation or not. Notice I used the term *stimulation* since I feel it necessary to use the same
jargon as shock collar trainers since this is what you have learned from them. Stimulation is SHOCK,
period. Shock is painful to the animal, period. If shock were NOT painful, the dog or whatever animal
you decide to shock would NOT stop doing what you are shocking him for – point in case.
Betty’s TLC Dog Training LLC
Copyright 2014
Now that you know that you are causing unnecessary pain to your pet, let us continue with a lot more
interesting facts about the fallout of shock collar training.
Environmental Fearfulness:
Dogs which undergo shock by pet owners can become irreversibly environmentally fearful. Let us look
at this scenario from a pet dog owner who engaged into shocking their dog for the following; going into
the garbage and jumping on both adults and children. The owner was instructed to shock the dog as
soon as the dog approached the trash can. The owner hit the remote and the dog yelped and jumped
away from the trash! Mission accomplished! The owner had a huge big happy smile on his face. Next,
the owner takes the dog for a walk down a busy street where there were lots and lots of people walking.
The dog owner hit the remote each and every time that the dog attempted to jump on anyone passing
them on their walk. After a few shocks, the dog walked perfectly next to the owner without ever
attempting to jump on anyone who continued to pass them on their walk. The dog owner was highly
impressed! I wonder if dog owners then start to get a feeling of euphoria or at least a huge confidence
boost. A few weeks pass and the dog owner is out walking his dog down the street when suddenly, the
dog begins to lunge, bark and growl at a trash can! On another walk, the dog sees a person coming
towards them and he acts the same way; barking, lunging and growling! The dog owner is mystified at
this new behavior from his dog so what does he do? He decides to turn the shock collar up a few levels
and teach the dog not to do this new behavior! Hopefully you can figure out why the dog began
engaging into the barking, lunging and growling but if not, let me explain how the dog sees their world.
When a dog is focused on ANYTHING in the environment; people, places and things, and you initiate a
shock (punishing stimulus) when they are focused on that person, place or object, the dog then forms an
association between the shock and the person, place or object. The feedback that the dog gets is that
the person, place or object just shocked him! Ironically, most pet owners are unaware of this. If the dog
owner continues to shock the dog around people, places and objects, the likelihood of the dog
becoming environmentally fearful is great. Many dogs have suffered under the hands of their owners
who engaged into shock collar training to the point of no return. Many dogs become so environmentally
fearful that they then become fear biters or so withdrawn that they act and appear almost robotic or
even worse, they live the rest of their lives in a learned state of helplessness because they cannot shut
the shock off. Dog owners who shock their dogs generally use intermittent punishment meaning that
they are continually changing their criteria for shocking their dogs. Intermittent punishment can drive
an animal insane and pet dog owners are very much unaware of this fact.
Let us look at the case of Billy a 35 pound, 9 month old poodle mix. Billy came into his first class with me
recently. I limit my group classes to no more than 5 dogs per class. As Billy walked on to the field, he
did so with his tail completely tucked under his body. Billy’s eyes showed me everything I needed to
know, he was absolutely terrified of everything and everyone. I observed Billy and his owner out of the
corner of my eye as they were practicing their first exercise. Billy just sat there with his little tail tucked
under his body, refusing to move an inch. I continued to watch and listen to Billy’s owner who sternly
barked out commands to Billy. His owner commanded Billy to look at him but Billy avoided making eye
contact with him. Then the owner tugged on Billy’s leash to try to get Billy’s attention which only
Betty’s TLC Dog Training LLC
Copyright 2014
caused Billy to cringe and attempt to climb up the owner’s leg. Billy’s case is not uncommon and is
actually becoming an epidemic. I walked over to Billy’s owner and asked if Billy had always been this shy
and withdrawn. Billy’s owner responded by saying, “oh no, he actually came back from the trainer’s like
this.” That was all the information that I needed to understand why Billy was acting the way he was, he
was sent away to a shock collar trainer. I questioned how old Billy was when he was sent away for
board and train. He replied that Billy was about 6 months old. Then I asked the owner what he used the
shock collar for after Billy returned home. He replied that he would have never been able to housebreak
Billy without the use of shock and that he would never have been able to keep Billy from jumping on
people without the use of shock. I could see that Billy was terrified of anyone approaching him, he
would immediately run behind the owner and try to climb up the owner’s leg if anyone came close to
him. Billy sat in his first class motionless, trembling, and refusing to move with his little tail tucked
under him as tight as he could possibly tuck it. Most owner’s are unaware that once a dog feels a shock,
they run to what they perceive as a safe place in an attempt to turn off the painful shock, that place is
generally next to the owner. This is why shock collars appear to work so well when teaching a dog to
come when called; once the dog feels the shock they fly back to the owner in an attempt to turn off the
shock. So I ask you “is your dog responding to the word “come” because he likes you and/or is bonded
to you or simply out of “fear”? What should have been a wonderful training and socialization
experience for Billy only proved to be his worst, worst nightmare due to the owner’s ignorance about
shock collars. Billy was afraid to move for fear of impending shock even though the shock collar was
not on him. He learned to stay in one spot to be safe and away from impending shock. There is nothing
more heart wrenching in my opinion than to watch a young puppy sit in a state of terror. In order for a
dog to learn new behaviors they must experiment. Experimentation requires the dog to move around
but Billy was so terrified that he could not move. He missed all the fun that all the other dogs were
having. Billy was so stressed that he even refused to eat all the wonderful treats available to him if he
had just tried to move around and do simple basic behaviors. When a dog is at their highest point of
stress, they will refuse to eat. We can only imagine all the other things the owner decided to shock poor
Billy for at home and when out in public. In my professional opinion, no dogs or any other animals for
that matter should ever be shocked in the name of training but the United States allows this profitable
market to continue……
For more information on why you should not shock your pets, please see the attached materials:
http://www.banshockcollars.ca/
http://www.joelwalton.com/shockcollars.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/matthew-offord-/electric-shock-collars-for-dogstruth_b_4642213.html
http://avsabonline.org/uploads/position_statements/How_to_Choose_a_Trainer_(AVSAB).pdf
Please see page 4 of this link:
http://avsabonline.org/uploads/position_statements/Combined_Punishment_Statements1-25-13.pdf
Betty’s TLC Dog Training LLC
Copyright 2014
http://www.petprofessionalguild.com/shockcollars
http://www.appliedanimalbehaviour.com/article/S0168-1591(06)00382-0/abstract
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159197001457
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159108003717
Betty’s TLC Dog Training LLC
Copyright 2014