"I'm so frustrated, I'm ready to just go out and buy a shock collar!"

Mac, a wonderful family pet who developed some serious aggression towards strangers after a trainer insisted on a shock collar.

Over the years, I have been contacted by many dog owners who, desperate to address their dog's training or behavior issues, are willing to do almost anything to stop it. Of course, they don't want to use shock on their dog, but in the back of their mind they think that if nothing else works, a shock collar is the ultimate solution.

At least 25% of the dog owners we work with have tried a shock collar before contacting us for help. These include remote training collars, bark collars and "invisible" fencing. Many of those have done so at the direction of another trainer. What they found was that the behaviors either stayed the same or, in many cases, got worse.

All training and behavior modification, regardless of the equipment used, requires the owner or trainer to have sufficient skill, timing and commitment to be effective. These skills do not come from a box.

The question for purposes of this article is not whether or not the collars are humane, but whether or not they will work for you. The question is, are they the quick fix they are imagined to be?

TIMING AND SKILL

If you have ever tried to learn a new dance or a sport, you know that it takes more than a couple of lessons to become proficient. The same is true of the skill it takes to become an average trainer. This includes understanding how and why the equipment works, when to use it and when not to use it. Gaining this skill and understanding takes time and practice.

Here's a test: Purchase a clicker and sit with your dog in a quiet room. Whenever your dog gets up to walk, click every time his right front paw comes off the ground. The click has to happen while his paw is in the air, not before, not after. Sound tricky? Now imagine having that same timing and concentration, but with a button that will deliver an electrical shock to your dog.

A recent study tested the effects of poorly timed corrections with a shock collar on dogs. It found that dogs who were corrected with poor timing suffered significantly more stress than dogs who were corrected with perfect timing.

If you can't master the timing and skill necessary to teach a simple behavior with a clicker, you will be a disaster with a shock collar.

COMMITMENT

Training a dog to stop a behavior does not take 2-3 repetitions. Depending on your dog's genetic predisposition to that behavior (barking Beagles, herding Border Collies, etc.), your dog's history of successfully practicing that behavior and your ability to be consistent will all determine how long it will take for your dog to learn not to do that behavior and whether or not you will be successful.

There is no such thing an easy, long-term solution for a particular behavior. Even if an aversive like a shock collar temprarily suppresses the symptoms of a problem behavior, the root cause of the behavior is not addressed. Eventually, new symptoms will appear and the new symptoms are often worse than before.

WHAT IS YOUR DOG LEARNING?

Dogs learn by association. If you have ever opened a plastic bag in the kitchen and your dog came running, eyes bright with anticipation, it is because your dog has associated that sound with some sort of food treat.

The association is often much stronger to something painful, as the brain struggles to take in all it can about what caused the pain, so it can avoid it next time.

"Dogs don't generally associate punishment with their own behavior. Rather, they tend to blame punishment on something that just happens to be nearby when the punishment takes place."

-Alexandra Semyonova, The 100 Silliest Things People Say About Dogs

I recently worked with a family who purchased an invisible fence for their property. The dog would see people walking down the road along their property and run out to greet them. Each time he did, he would receive a shock from the collar. Within three months, he began exhibiting serious signs of aggression towards anyone who came onto the property. The family eventually relinquished the dog to a rescue because they did not feel he was safe around their children.

Worst of all are the dogs who are punished for exhibiting aggressive displays when they feel threatened. Aggressive displays are not the same thing as aggressive acts. An aggressive display, such as growling or baring teeth, are all designed to increase distance between the dog and the threat. If a dog is shocked for exhibiting those displays, he will learn not to growl or bare his teeth. Since neither of those are an option, the next best way to make a threat retreat is to bite it.

There is no guarantee that what you think you are teaching through punishment is what your dog is actually learning.

ARE ALL BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS THE SAME?

Another problem is that the marketing campaigns for these collars assume that all dog behaviors have the same cause and solution.

If your dog is barking, punish it and it will stop. However, if your dog is barking due to separation anxiety, and an electrical shock is added to the environment when it is left alone, is that going to reduce the anxiety that is causing the barking? No.

If your dog is exhibiting aggressive behaviors towards other dogs and you shock him when he sees another dog approaching, is that going to improve his view of strange dogs? No.

Dogs are not carbon copies of one another, with identical behaviors. Every dog has a different set of motivations, experiences and behaviors, all of which dictate the cause and solution of that individual dog's behavior problems.

CONCLUSION

After personal experience with the use of a shock collar and the problems I have seen that occurred after clients have used them, in addition to the success I have seen and experienced using positive training methods, it is evident that shock collars are not a quick fix for the average dog owner and, more importantly, often not a solution at all.

I recently had a man insist that shock collars were very effective "if you know what you're doing." In my experience, if a trainer really knows what they're doing, they would never have to rely on shock collars to mask poor training skill.

ADDITIONAL READING

Electronic Training Devices: A Review of Current Literature PDF

Shock Collar Study PDF

Shock Collars

Invisible Fences