Electronic dog collars, good or bad

[Mpower]

Don't, a shock collar in this case boarders on abuse in my opinion.

[BigWaterFisher]

I have 3 labs, all of them have been trained by me. No trainers or obedience schools involved. I never have used a shock collar, they're unnecessary. Anyone who gets a dog should be prepared for the time commitment into working with them. You cannot expect to get a dog and for it to know how to behave perfectly, you need to spend a lot of time with it. (so does your wife if you want the dog to listen to her as well).

I've shocked myself with a shock collar... they aren't pleasant. If your dog is misbehaving sometimes a simple raised voice or slap on the snout is all that is necessary. I'm not talking about beating your dog either, just a hit so that they know what they are doing is bad behavior. Hitting them lets them know that you are the boss, and it actually hurts less than a shock from a collar. Again... I am NOT talking about abusing your pet, in no way do I think that is ok!

Dogs are loving creatures, they will forgive you almost as soon as you yell at them. They want your love and approval, if they know you're angry, that gets the message through a lot better than a random shock. If you don't correlate the bad behavior with a negative response, the dogs will be confused as to why they are being shocked.

Frankly, if people don't have the time to work with their dog, train it, play with it, and love it like it should be loved... they shouldn't have one in the first place. I'm not saying that your a bad owner, I'm saying you need to expect to have to put in a lot of time with them. Especially when they are young.

[hemlock]

I guess everyone has their opinion, but a shock collar, when used properly, is no more painful than a slap on the nose. I would argue that tapping a dog on it's nose is worse than a gentle shock. Also, it's tough to slap your dog if it decides to chase another animal or run across a road. Do you slap it when/if it comes back?
I agree with a lot of what you said, but I think there is a misconception that a dog is yelping when he is shocked with a training collar. All the new collars have various settings to allow an owner to graduallyincrease the degree of the correction until the dog notices. Too many people abuse their dogs, either physically or with electronics. Also, basic commands and behavior should never be taught with an e-collar.

[chflnghair]

I use a Sportdog E-collar, model 3225. It can be used as a tone or vibration along with shocking. I almost always use the vibration mode. It gets their attention when I need a slight correction for lack of handling. Since I have beagles that seem to sometimes like deer better than rabbits, that's when I shock them with out any verbal commands and I shock them till they're at my feet. It makes them think that the deer is shocking them. It works every time if done right.

One more thing. DON'T LEAVE THE COLLAR ON THE DOG FOR A LONG TIME.........................EVER!!!!! I did it once for 5 days and the metal probes dug holes into their necks and got infected. Hope this helps.

[lacywbosu]

Have a 3.5 yr. lab. He is the smartest dog I have ever owned. Used the collar maybe 5 times ever. Situation used was when he was over 100 yds from me and he thought maybe he could ignore me, the whistle, hand signals, and focus on whatever smells he was whiffing. The immediate zap at that distance just cannot be done any other way. Without the radio signal, your check cord may not be long enough. Sure not gonna run him down. If you give the come command and he comes then you scold him it gives a mixed signal. Lots of love, lots of treats, lots of repetition is all that remains. An abusive owner can take a check cord, leash, his hand, shock collar or whatever and be abusive. A loving owner can figure it out easily and make a shock collar work well.

[Fish-er-man]

Originally Posted by BigWaterFisher

I've shocked myself with a shock collar... they aren't pleasant. If your dog is misbehaving sometimes a simple raised voice or slap on the snout is all that is necessary. I'm not talking about beating your dog either, just a hit so that they know what they are doing is bad behavior. Hitting them lets them know that you are the boss, and it actually hurts less than a shock from a collar. Again... I am NOT talking about abusing your pet, in no way do I think that is ok!

I have a vizsla and if I hit her she looks at me like what the he** was that for. She does not understand physical punishment of any kind. She does understand a training collar though. I think if used properly and if your dog already knows the command they are a great tool. Yes you must be consistent that is the biggest part of training a dog in anyway training collar or not. Mine is trained to come with the tone so I would be lost without it. Some dogs do not respond well to them though so its something you have to find out for yourself. But like I said the dog needs to know the command so they know why they are being punished. I don't know how hard you hit so I was unable to compare it to my collar but you must hit yourself if you know this.