No Shocks, Please

Unfortunately, we as a society have gotten use to pushing buttons to get things done because we're on the go all the time. Many people bring dogs into their already too busy lives and do not make the time to learn about them; patiently teach them or provide for their needs. As a result, problems arise and, because we are who we are, 'we' think nothing of using the latest button pushing technology to 'fix' our dogs too.

BEFORE you reach for an all-too-easy-to-buy SHOCK COLLAR to stop your dog from doing x, y, or z (or all three), please consider the following points:

We can never really know what a dog is thinking, even dog behaviorists and trainers can only make educated 'best guesses'. This is one of several reasons why dog training has shifted towards methods that use positive reinforcement and away from or limiting the use of punishment. When using punishment to modify or extinguish behavior, the potential for fallout is substantial. Regardless of what 'feel good' marketing phrases manufacturers use to sell collars that shock dogs, the primary purpose of an electronic collar is to add a significantly unpleasant consequence in order to end or redirect a specific behavior.

Any tool in the wrong hands can be dangerous! Shock collars have great potential to cause more problems than they solve. Proper timing and control of the environment to limit communicating the wrong information to the dog is critical because dogs learn by association. What a dog sees and feels while he or she is experiencing a shock may not be what is anticipated by the user of the collar. It is possible that the improper use of an e-collar can have indirect, but lethal consequences to dogs, that is, that it exacerbates an existing behavior problem or causes one that is more dangerous. This tool should not be used by non-professionals and should be considered a last resort for use on pet dogs. Most of us in the field of animal behavior discourage its use altogether.

It is not 'good science' to draw conclusions about a dog's perception of the shock based on how a human being experiences it. It would be an apples and oranges sort of thing at best. Many people put the collar on to feel the 'stimulation' and then, make the assumption that their dog will experience it in the same way! People are able to anticipate and prepare for the shock. That ability is simply beyond a dog's capabilities.

Dogs do not 'reason' as we do and a response, when receiving a shock, indicating that they 'never knew what hit them' is common. A dog's senses are very different from our own. Our four legged companions are literally more grounded (electrically speaking) than we are. This may translate to their being more, not less sensitive to electrical charges. Lightning-storm-sensitive dogs often huddle close to copper plumbing pipes in bathrooms to dissipate the electrical charges from their bodies to ground. Still, other dogs are thunder-sensitive and seek shelter in their panic to get away from the noise. Owners of such dogs report that their dogs responses range from 'catatonic' or shutdown to 'kinetic' or frenzied. Dogs are individuals and respond to each situation as their experiences and conditioning dictate.

Dogs cannot read our minds. However, with respect to nature, dogs have what even the scientists studying this phenomenon refer to as ESP (Extra Sensory Perception). It has been well documented that dogs and other animals know beforehand of impending natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and even the tsunami in South East Asia. One Californian actually gathers this 'data' to predict when an earthquake will occur because there is evidence that dogs and cats run away from home more frequently in earthquake prone areas.

A dog's superior sense of smell gets him into trouble with some people in spite of how helpful it has been to others. It is estimated that a dog's sense of smell is up to one-hundred times better than ours. This is why dogs are able to detect specific chemical compounds in bombs and cancers of the skin, lung and bladder. They are able to do so even when chemicals are present in small amounts and at low concentrations such as is the case when a dog can 'smell your fear'.

Dogs are said to (1) be able to hear sounds at higher octaves than we are capable of hearing and, (2) hear a noise in the same way in which we hear it but when it is four times the distance away as when we can hear it. This means that a dog can hear a whisper from twelve feet away that a person  can only hear from three feet away. Many people owe their lives to their dog's ability to hear so well. This is very good reason why yelling at a dog makes so little sense, when, quite frankly, a whisper will  do.

Dogs have been serving people throughout history... alerting us to intruders; working livestock; saving us from fires; detecting seizures; leading the blind; searching for and rescuing lost loved ones; detecting bombs; and more. Today however, it seems that many people view dogs more as our enemies than our best friends. Dogs are not conniving, vengeful creatures. DOGS ALWAYS HAVE A REASON FOR DOING WHAT THEY DO.  Like us, they get bored, frustrated, scared, and angry, yet unlike us, they do not have choices. They do not 'know better', but, we do. Without training, a dog does not know how to live with people. Dogs too are a product of their environment.

Most people love their dogs deeply, considering them to be members of the family, and understand that dogs have a way of teaching us a lot about ourselves. Through dogs, we interact with people we would not otherwise meet; learn to live more in the moment; make time for walks in the park or  hikes in the woods; and, perhaps most importantly, focus on something other than ourselves. When we meet the needs of our dogs and involve them in our daily lives, they do not have problems that need to be fixed. Instead, they are joyous, wonderful beings that add to the fullness of life. The love of a dog... is unconditional. Please, please, please. No shocks.

Vera E. Wilkinson - written in May 2006