Shock collar discussion
This whole subject leaves me beyond sad. First let's be honest and call it what it really is. A collar designed to deliver electricity in the form of a shock at varying levels of intensity to a living being; a shock collar.
I have been working with the discards of dogdom for almost 58 years. I have trained in all fields. My specialty is Red Zone Dogs who are the next step away from the needle. From Dobermans, Giant Schnauzers, Beaucerons, Amstaffs, Pit Bulls, Bullies of all ilks, Shepherds, Weims, Mastiffs, Danes, Boxers, large and small mixed breeds down to Papillons, Bichons and Yorkies who have done so much damage with their teeth, (removing limbs or lives from other dogs, removing body parts from or doing damage to humans) of whom their former trainers and even their vets have recommended death as a solution. These dogs have gone through "drug therapy, pinch collar, choke collar, choke them into unconsciousness, e-collar (terrify them with e--lightening), flood them until they hopefully learn helplessness "therapy". The result being they have zero trust in humans and are now locked into survival mode.
If e-collars were the "humane tool" they are purported to be then why aren't we using them in our prisons? Aren't humans who murder and rape at least as bad as dogs who bite (or, heaven forbid don't come when called)? Think of all the money we would save? One guard could sit at a monitor and watch the actions of a hundred inmates. An infraction would bring an immediate jolt. No more rape, terrorizing on new fish, or drug sales. One guard, his monitors and many e-buttons.
Or why not use them in the high schools for difficult students? Just a little jolt for insubordination. Or rig them on petioles so that they get a jolt if they come within 100 yards of a child? After all we can at least "explain" to the humans the principals and then assure them that the electric shock will not kill them.
A concept we may never explain to the dog. The dog just lives in fear which, as I have seen in my long career, is not really conducive to true learning or rehabilitation. If it were then why not start our children with e-collars from the day they walk into school? Certainly that would speed learning and assure less anti-social behaviors, no?
Sound ridiculous? No more ridiculous than to put them on an animal who is already confused as to his role in the human world and has NO understanding of electricity except to fear it above all things. Anyone bother to read about the e-collar studies they did of the wolves and the calf in Yellowstone? In the end the wolves did not learn to be adverse to the calf but what they did learn was that when they came close to each other (in the pursuit of the calf) they received a hit of lightening. The result was the complete breakdown of the pack and their complete dispersal once they were released again into new territory. The trust in each other was irrevocably annihilated by the e-collars.
When allegedly violent and aggressive dogs come to my classroom the very first thing I ask their human to do is to take off the dog's leash (no corrective collars are allowed. Flat collars only). The dog works, from the first moment with me, untethered. This relieves much of the anxiety of "self-defense" taught to them by their previous trainers or humans. The dog is taught that his cooperation is the most valuable thing he can give and that his safety will come from that and not his fear. Cooperation is innate in a pack animal; once they KNOW/ARE SHOWN how to cooperate it comes as a huge relief to each and every one of them.
The dog is taught to cooperate and trust again by our trust in his ability to do so. Because of this we have no recidivism when the method is continued at home. Dogs who could not be with any humans or other animals are now living in peace and safety with all. And I don't suffer bites by any of the large dogs with whom I work. They don't ever feel the need.
