Guns DO NOT kill people. Spoons DO NOT make us fat. They are inanimate objects that require a PERSON to do anything. They are inert. E-collars are the same – they are an inert tool that in the hands of the right, knowledegable person can do wonders. In the wrong hands, they can do harm.
Why would anyone use an eCollar on their best friend?
Those who campaign to ban eCollars will tell you they are bad because they cause pain. Those who campaign to be allowed to continue using them maintain this is untrue and that the aim is to improve communication and even save lives, not to punish or to inflict pain. These are the two opposing factions of the debate and you are not likely to convince a member of either part to switch side. So it is. The debate stands.
Here is what I know:
Properly used, an eCollar is operated at the dog’s ‘working level’ which is the lowest stim setting the dog is able to feel, often a level so low that a human cannot feel it. It can be hard to tell the lowest level the dog can feel without experience – it can be as simple as a blink. I ALWAYS make my ecollar clients try the collar on themselves so they KNOW what it feels like. At a low level it feels kind of like a TENS unit….kind of a weird tingle. Remember when you were a kid and stuck your 9V tongue on a battery? Kind of like that too. The collar’s purpose is to communicate with the dog, even when the dog is out of reach. For an excitable, bouncy, pushy dog, it’s used much like a tap on the shoulder and clearly says, ‘Hey, you might be on the other side of the field but I am still here and I need you to listen to me.’ For a nervous, anxious dog, can be a reassuring touch that says, ‘Relax. I am still here looking out for you. You are quite safe.’ Most collars have beep and vibrate functions which have no electrical stim at all.
OK, says the anti- eCollar movement, but what about when the dog doesn’t respond to the working level, and a little more convincing is needed? Ultimately, it has to be turned up until it hurts or it won’t work, right?
Well, yes and no. When the eCollar is turned up from the working level, the concept is to apply pressure or discomfort rather than pain. Imagine, if you will, that you are lying on a comfy sunbed, relaxing lazily and enjoying a cool drink when, guess what? You realize you need to go relieve yourself! You really don’t want to get up, so you just ignore the pressure on your bladder, at first. Eventually, however, that pressure becomes more intense until it is uncomfortable enough for you to decide you have to go and find the rest room. That’s what the handler does with the eCollar. He applies just enough pressure or discomfort to get the dog’s attention, no matter what else the dog is doing. As soon as the dog breaks off chasing the squirrel, barking at the jogger, running towards a busy road etc. and turns his attention back towards the owner, the pressure is removed and the dog is rewarded. Different situations will require different levels of stimulation – in a calm, relaxed environment a low level of stim will do, where in a high distraction/ drive scenario the stim level will need to be turned up to get the dog’s attention – the key is to start low and dial up from there as needed, always working on the lowest stim level possible. The same dog might require different stim levels in different situations.
OK, say those against eCollars, but why would you want to make your dog uncomfortable? He’s your best friend and best friends don’t make best friends uncomfortable if they don’t have to, right?
Right. However, the truth is that some dogs can be so excitable, so prey driven, so focused, that there is no command or cookie in the world that is going to stop them once they get started. For those dogs, this means that they have to stay permanently on lead, muzzled, or maybe be rehomed or euthanized. There is ideology and reality. The reality is that problem dogs often will flunk out of purely positive training programs, end up returned again and again to shelters or flipped from home to home on craiglist; these dogs are often euthanized or become institutionalized. We have to be realistic and it is not always a warm and fuzzy, every-one-gets-a hug- and-a-trophy world. Sorry kiddos. We all learn from discomfort …if I gorge myself on ice cream until I get sick, the discomfort of being ill hopefully teaches me not to do it again (again, not the spoons fault.) If my teenage daughter gets caught sneaking out at night after curfew, hopefully the discomfort of being grounded stops further sneaking out. It is how we learn, dogs and people.
A modern eCollar is a tool, like any other. Used properly it can provide many dogs with a freedom and level of safety they could never have without it. Many times, it has been used to save lives. Can people misuse it and hurt a dog? Yes, potentially, although it should be remembered that it is only powered by a tiny battery so exaggerated claims it can be used to seriously shock and electrocute dogs are just that, exaggerated. You will see propaganda pictures online of dogs with holes in their neck from an ecollar; these injuries are caused by point pressure necrosis from a collar being left on too long, which is neglect on the part of the owner and has has nothing to do with the stim level or ability of the collar. It’s like saying a flat collar is dangerous because it can become embedded if not removed or properly sized. To be honest, if people want to hurt, scare and punish dogs, there are many easier and cheaper ways than using an eCollar. Those who do buy and learn how to use them do so to give their dogs a better quality of life, not a worse one.
Whether you and your dog need one or not is your decision but, for the sake of those dogs that do need one, everyone needs to understand the truth about how and why they are used. I ALWAYS recommend that you consult a professional when purchasing a collar (cheap ones are not consistent with their stim and have other problems) and have someone teach you how to use it. Do all dogs need an ecollar for training ? No. Do I push collars on people who are uncomfortable with the tool itself or uncomfortable using it? NO. It IS a tool that is wonderful in the right hands and right situation. If it is not the tool for you, awesome, but don’t judge others for using a tool if it works for them – that is THEIR choice that they have made for THEIR dog. You wouldn’t want someone telling you how to raise your kids, so don’t think you have the right to tell others how to train their dog as long as it is done is an educated, humane and appropriate fashion.
pranak9 