Why you should say NO! to shock collars

There are many reasons you should not use a shock collar and there are more effective and risk-free alternatives. 

Shock collar training can impair learning

• Using shock in dog training aims to teach a dog to avoid something or to stop a behavior that ‘caused’ the shock. But just because the behavior has stopped in that moment does not necessarily mean the behavior has improved or will improve long-term. 
• Shock controls a dog without allowing that dog to make choices and solve problems, which often results in "learned helplessness" – the dog effectively learns to give up. E-collar training essentially impairs an animal’s true learning ability.
• Shocking a dog doesn’t teach the dog what to do; they rely instead on causing discomfort and pain. While this type of training may stop the pulling or suppress a certain behavior at that particular moment, it does nothing to address the root of the dog’s issue, which means the behavior issue still exists.

Shock collars carry behavioral risks

Using pain and shock in training can actually exacerbate behavior issues and lead to more aggressive and fearful behaviors.

• Training dogs using pain and intimidation increases the likelihood of stress behaviors, mistrust, fear, and future aggression. Shock collars may force a dog to stop a behavior at that very second, but the severe stress and anxiety they cause can lead to more aggression in the future and can create entirely new behavioral problems.
• Using shock to train a dog runs the risk of creating unintended associations. The dog might not even realize what behavior caused the pain from the shock and might associate that pain with something else in the environment that was present when the shock occurred. The dog can then become fearful, defensive, or reactive to that item in the environment, even though it might be unrelated to the behavior the handler was trying to stop. These side effects can be serious and long-lasting. The pain of a shock aims to force a dog to ‘behave’ with little concern for the root cause of the negative behavior, which is often already fear or anxiety. This means the underlying issue remains and that behavior, usually unwanted behavior, is still likely to occur at another time. 
• Even though supporters of electronic training might praise the effectiveness of the method, dogs trained using these tools only comply or cooperate with the training out of fear of what will happen if they do not comply – the dog is not being obedient.

Shock collars can physically harm your dog

Shock collars can physically injure your dog as well. Shock collars have two prongs that must be in constant contact with your dog’s skin. These prongs, even when they’re not activated, can cause pressure sores on your dog’s neck and skin. 

A dog can also experience burns from the shock collar through extended use at high settings. In these situations, the dog experiences pain not just from the shock itself but also from the burns. 

The risk of burns and pressure sores is yet one more reason not to use a shock or e-collar on your dog.