A shock collar is used to try and correct behavior problems in dogs. I would like to see our activities directed much more at providing massive education to dog owners about all their options. “Secondly, we have some evidence that getting an order, which previously was immediately followed by a shock or shocks, had obtained a negative connotation: for example one dog, shocked immediately after getting a “heel” command, yelped after getting the next “heel” commands without being shocked.”. For more information on dominance-based training, read Experts Say Dominance-Based Training Techniques Made Popular by Television Can Contribute to Bites and Trainers with Jackhammers Need Not Apply. 1 in 3 dogs yelp at the first use of electric shock collar and 1 in 4 yelp at subsequent uses. 2. Dog Training Collar 1 Shock Remote Waterproof Rechargeable 880 Yard Pet Large. I am not convinced. Laurie- There are many other reasons that dogs will do the things they attributed to stress, yet they failed to allow for any of them. Then data collection hours + the 100s of hours analyzing the video and then testing for reliability between observers (or training the observers). We’ve all seen studies where the results were due to errors in research design or methodology. A 2004 Study Reveals Some Answers. Regarding quotes that are from Steven Lindsay’s book (Since 2 volumes of his book are dated before the Shilder article I have to assume it’s’ from the 3rd book? Lou- One done with a collar on the market, available to JQP? I don’t know where we draw the line. Alls good right? One of the things the skilled trainer does is to not let the dog *guess* about how to turn off pressure. lifting a front paw, tongue flicking, licking lips and As Lou notes in his post, the type of shock collars in use were not mentioned. I taught a workshop in Athens, Greece a few years back. They are studying one aspect at a time as any good scientist does. If any company is really interested in further study on electronic collars you should donate collars AND study funding. I believe the “Tuskegee study” referred to is the one by Janet Steiss, Caroline Schaffer, Hafiz Ahmad, and Victoria Voith and was published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science in 2007, entitled, Evaluation of plasma cortisol levels and behavior in dogs wearing bark control collars. The facilitator asked if the group assembled could agree on training techniques that everyone could agree were inhumane. This was left to the dog trainers who are considered experts in their field. Dr.Yin the study did not answer the question that you asked in the title of the blog entry. “The enormous rewards the dogs experience during training, i.e., chasing down, catching a criminal and winning the sleeve, do not counter the negative effects of getting shocked. During the protection work they showed more paw-raising. And they knew which dogs were being subjected to which training protocol, when they were doing the interpretation.”. If we can train without pain, why shouldn’t we? They need to be shown what not to do and the consequences to the pet when they perform the technique incorrectly. If a dog is expressing some intense emotions, then he may yelp. Much of this information is humanized and out of context as it links with nature. It was published in 2004, some 7 years ago. For the observers to watch the dogs receive the shock corrections, and then later assess them on their anxiety in the absence of corrections, completely violates sound experimental protocol. Required fields are marked *. It can manifest itself in the group from which you base your study, HOW you acquire participants, what words you use to inform them of their rights/desired actions, the specific data that you collect, and the parameters that you set. It would be a variation on The Training Game that clicker trainers often play to remind themselves how difficult learning can be when we are not clear. This is repeated until the dog clearly indicates that he doesn’t want to enter the shock zone (and thus leave the yard), often by freezing, dropping to the ground, pacing and whining, etc. Videos advocating the use of electric-shock collars should come with a warning or be banned, the Blue Cross said. For instance, if dogs have received shock on the training ground do they show more signs of fear during non-training times in the same area when compared to dogs that have not been shocked? Until I tap Jester and he yelps loud and even jumps off the ground. What is effective as a training aid, distraction from an incorrect response or punishment via shock? Once your vet determines what’s causing the pain, he or she might suggest surgery or therapy in severe cases. Rather than the subjective observations to determine if the dogs were stressed, as was the case in Schilder, (where it’s easy to make a study say whatever you want it to say) these studies measured cortisol levels and so bias was not possible. Steve Lindsay has written 3 books but I can’t find any citations for work of his that appeared in peer-reviewed journals – where rigorous standards are set for publication. This may be the reason the authors offered in their conclusions, “Trainers and handlers should study learning theory far better and review the structure of the training in order to teach the let go command in an earlier phase and to reduce the number of mistakes. 5 out of 5 stars (1) Total Ratings 1, $319.99 New. This information should be spread so we all have the info we need to make educated decisions. And for what they are asking, the way they tested it is ok.(and from what I see when I see general public, schutzhund trainers, etc using the collars this is how I see them using it–same as in the study). Teach The Behavior First Without The Shock Collar. This mirrors the finding of another Ecollar study, done by Schalke (available online in 2006) where it was found “… animals, which were able to clearly associate the electric stimulus with their action … did not show considerable or persistent stress indicators.”. It’s possible that they did. It is NOT a sign of bias on the part of the researchers. Although using multiple trainers in this study introduced many variables, it raises questions to about the cost to the dog of using this aversive, the lasting effects of its use and in the end if it is counterproductive to producing a well-trained effective working dog. Dominance and influence as also completely taken out of context. When she ran with my dog she did not follow behind the lure, she paralleled my dog, about 10 or 15 feet to the right, and half way through the run she veered away and jumped into her owner’s vehicle Obviously this dog had experienced an E Collar training session that was very negative. The Schalke study ran 7 months —that’s 7 months of boarding for the lab dogs, 1.5 hours per day of training. And those are just the conversations that I know about. I have no judgement, I am just sharing the disturbing research I read in his book. Dog trainers who use e-collars often argue that when used properly, a shock from an e-collar is no different from another negative stimulus, like a tug on the dog's leash. I used a Dogtra collar, determined a level he could feel, then taught him to touch his toe to the cue word touch. If so, it indicates they associate the handler or being given commands with the reception of shocks. All in all these responses show that shocks elicit fear and pain responses. On that note, I’ve read the actual journal article, and I’ve noticed some points of contention that are easily answered within the article. Our insight into the animal’s point of view and awareness of how all our interactions affect them allows us and our pets to have fun and enjoy life together every day. I would argue even the simplest behaviors taught for husbandry of large mammals are more complex than what an average dog owner requires of a pet. Does it truly take a leap of imagination to suggest that the same holds true for domestic canines? What if the dog yelps because it hurt itself? Not an easy animal to teach recall to. The pro-collar camp takes a different stance. Realistically, there are a lot of other studies that should be done. Suddenly walking away is bad. Were the handlers experienced e-collar users? Also, less temperamental and less forceful dogs should be bred. As the title suggests, this study evaluated bark activated shock and spray collars. Sources: Schilder, M., Van der Borg, J., 2004. The technology has much improved. They actually videotaped the events and used 1-0 sampling (making it pretty easy to catch and code the behaviors) and then did inter-observer reliability tests So they did not take the measurements in the field. For me – I’ll go with the science, know that no experiment is perfect and look for additional studies to shed more light on this controversial subject. I plan to summarize this paper more fully in a future blog post. You dismiss the cognitive aspect of the relationship and its connection as it links with the device. The shock collar should be used minimally and only to initially gain your dog’s attention. http://www.TheTruthAboutShockCollars.com. Robin MacFarlane So how does he know which collars were used? For instance, if your dog barks like a maniac every time it goes to the backyard, using a shock collar when the bark can help your dog learn that barking is undesirable behavior. Out of frustration and coaxing by team members I bought a top of the line shock system by Innotech. If that were true, nothing would change. An obedience work session on the training ground which included the following commands—sit and down in motion, heeling in slow, normal and fast walking speed with changes of direction, and recall to the handler. Rather, the command was immediately followed by the correction, hence, increasing the likelihood that this type of aversion association would be made. The unit on the dog’s collar makes a beeping sound just before the dog enters the shock zone. The videos I have seen show pretty crude training technique. So I don’t see the results of this study as ‘dogs trained on shock collars are more fearful’ I see it as ‘incorrect use of shock collars produce fearful dogs’. Shock collars may end up causing dogs to feel demotivated and fall into a state of learned helplessness. It was like a big “knock” in my palm, with maybe some tingling sensation. If you have a Labrador it’s much easier in general, but a more sensitive dog…. I do know that for some of the dogs I have worked with they either don’t respond to the collar at a low level, or when I find that lowest level they will respond to, they have a startle, fear response (e.g. The current study was a field study vs a lab study and comes with all of the issues that one sees with a real field study. Actually I do state in the article that is was published in 2004. They purposefully used (but somehow avoiding naming) an obsolete Ecollar that is no longer made. I do educate. For that reason, the quote Lou provides means nothing to me. My company trains between 200 – 300 pet dogs per year with the use of remote training collars. And as long as you can’t do that it can be a scary experience. Overall they observed 32 shock collar-group dogs receiving 107 shocks and 16 control dogs who received other types of corrections instead.
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