Electronic collars are becoming more and more popular. The problem with electronic collars, however, is that in the wrong hands--they can do a lot of damage to your dog. I have personally seen dogs develop serious behavior problems because the person using the collar was not experienced enough and their timing was terrible. Can you get results from an electronic collar? Absolutely, there is no denying that a lot of dogs do not leave the yard because of an electronic underground system. A lot of dogs have stopped doing certain behaviors from the help of an electronic collar, but the biggest problem is that in the long term--it can negatively effect your dog--and most of the time there are alternatives to using an electronic collar. Here I will outline reasons to go with another method.
Things You'll Need
- Open mind
Instructions
Remember that whenever you use any kind of negative training there will be side effects. There are no side effects associated with positive reinforcement. If a dog is constantly subjected to punishment, the dog will develop behavior problems. The most serious behavior problem developed from shock collars is aggression.
Realize that two big reasons a dog will develop an aggression problem from a shock collar are: confusion and pain. I've seen dog owners strap shock collars on their dogs and start to shock their dogs for behavior that they don't like. It's important to understand that what we consider bad behavior is normal, natural canine behavior. A dog barking, jumping, pulling on leash and not coming when called is all natural. Zapping your dog for not responding to your commands is not fair. A dog has to be taught each of these commands by POSITIVELY reinforcing the dogs behavior for doing something right, not punishing for doing something wrong.
Understand that cross association is another huge problem with electronic collars. I have seen this happen over and over again with electronic collars and prong collars. When a dog feels pain he will often associate it with whatever he is looking at. If you shock your dog for barking, but your dog is looking at another dog there is a very good chance your dog will associate the pain of the shock with the other dog. If this happens enough times your dog will become aggressive with other dogs.
Realize that when the collar does not get the results you are looking for, the amount of stimulation from the collar is increased. Increasing the strength of the shock will not help the situation; it will only increase the dog's confusion leading to bigger and bigger problems.