As a person who has witnessed both the right and wrong usage, of shock collars, I knew they were not inherently evil. Many people bash shock collars and claim they are inhumane. However, I have learned of different situations in my Vet Tech training that my mentors used to illustrate the good of shock collars. Knowing there are pros and cons to both sides, I wanted to learn exactly how effective a shock collar is for training and whether it has negative, lasting effects on the dog.
Jason Goldman explained that shock collars are a form of training called ‘operant conditioning’. Operant conditioning is a way of training that provides negative or positive punishment, or negative or positive reinforcement.
Positive punishment is adding a negative stimulus the animal does not want to avoid a situation. An example of this is jerking on a leash, electric shocks, spanking, yelling, etc.
Negative punishment is taking away something the animal wants in order to remove the behavior. An example of this is when a dog jumps on you and you turn your back to the dog to not give them attention. It is the attention they want, so removing the attention lessens the actions.
Positive reinforcement is adding something that the animal desires to elicit the action. This is the most common method of training. The best example is giving an animal a treat when it does what you want.
Negative reinforcement is introducing a stimulus, then removing the stimulus after an animal performs the action desired. An example of this is when a trainer will pinch the ear of a dog. The dog will open its mouth in response and the trainer will put the dumbbell in their mouth. After this is done, they stop pinching the ear. So, a stimulus is applied and threatened, then removed.
Now, as is illustrated by the examples above, shock collars function off of positive punishment. Many people may already know how a shock collar works, but a shock collar applies a small shock (often the intensity can be altered by the owner) to the dog as the trainer pushes a button. Sometimes these collars will have a warning system that issues a beep before the shock. This is to alert the animal they are going to be shocked if they do not stop the behavior. The very beep of this mechanism can actually be considered conditioning too. You condition the animal until they learn to connect the sound with the shock. So when the sound alerts, they will act in a fashion to prevent the shock.
So how does one use a shock collar? The problem with shock collars is that many owners do not use them properly. Used correctly, it’s a tool just like any other. Used incorrectly, a shock collar is detrimental to teaching. For example, a shock must be clearly linked to an undesired behavior, but the shock cannot be linked to the owner. If the animal associates the shock with the owner, instead of the behavior, this will actually break down the trust of the animal in the owner. Not only will it destroy that trust, but it will begin to destroy the bond between owner and animal. Without a bond, they have no desire to please and may begin to act out even more. One cannot rule with fear and expect perfection. Additionally, the shock must be done immediately following the unwanted behavior or an animal will not be able to associate the behavior with the pain of the shock.
One study, done by Jonathan Cooper, reflected several studies done on shock collars and the effect on dogs. He rounded up 63 dogs in the UK. None of these dogs had any experience with shock collars in their lifetime. They also were older than six months. All of these dogs had some behavioral issues the owners wanted to fix. Roughly half were male and half were female. The dogs were then split into three other groups. They kept it fairly even in sex, age, and breed between the groups.
Group ‘A’ was trained with shock collars. Two trainers who were nominated by the ECMA (Electronic Collar Manufacturers Association) trained this group. In addition to the shock collars, dogs were rewarded with food, play, or praise as well.
The same trainers worked in Group ‘B’, but they did not use shock collars in this group. The trainers were used for this group as well to control for any variables related to how the trainer’s trained, and their own personalities influencing the dogs.
In the last group, Group ‘C’, there were two new trainers. These trainers were from the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers). The training period in all groups lasted for five days total and consisted of two fifteen-minute sessions each day. Dogs in Groups B and C wore deactivated collars, just in case the stimulus of wearing the shock collar had an impact. This was also done so those viewing could not tell who was in what group.
The results of the study were quite interesting. 91.8% of owners reported the behavior in their dogs was improved from the training. Owners also reported no issues at the one week follow up, and again no issues at the 3 month follow up survey. In addition to the follow up surveys, the dogs were brought back in. No aversion or anxiety was noted and the groups didn’t show significant differences.
Another thing noted was that there were no differences in the groups based on corticosteroids in the dog’s urine. Why would they test for corticosteroids? This is a strong marker to indicate stress physiologically. Salivary cortisol, another marker, was measured in the dogs too. Group ‘C’ was higher in this than any other group.
Dogs in Group A and Group B spent roughly half their time walking around during their training sessions. Dogs in group C would often stand instead of sit or walk around. C also showed more licking of the lips that was thought to be food related. However, dogs in Group C showed more environment interaction, such as sniffing around, and were observed yawning fewer times than either Group A or B.
Dogs in Group A were more tense during training (25% compared to 4%) and held their tails lower (9% compared to 0.8%). Dogs in Group B also held their tails lower (6% compared to 0.8%). Dogs in Group A also yelped more (0.5 times per training session compared to 0.1 times per training session) and panted more (20% compared to 10%). Being tense and holding the tails lower are clear signs of distress.
What does this all mean? Well, it means that shock collars are a tool, when used correctly, that are effective for training a dog. They do no lasting damage to a dog. While it’s a perfectly acceptable method of training, the study also goes to show that animals trained with positive reinforcement displayed the same level of behavior modifications as dogs with shock collars. I’m not going to stand there and scream about the inhumanity of shock collars, but are they really necessary?
If you ask my opinion, I do not feel that shock collars are an effective tool to be used by the general population. Many people, especially those that I have witnessed using shock collars, use them inappropriately. Many cannot afford to have a dog trainer come out and do this for them. I would say they should use positive reinforcement, as it works out well for most dogs. Considering that positive reinforcement is easily, and cheaply, attainable, I feel it’s a better alternative.
Based on my own knowledge as a dog trainer, I will say they are just like any other tool and you must know how to use them. I prefer positive reinforcement, by far, but shock collars not inherently evil. In aggressive dogs, it may be more necessary than in a dog learning basic obedience. Like all tools, they have a time and place.
Sources
Alexander, Melissa C. “A Clicker Training Primer.” Clicker Solutions, 15 June 2001, http://www.clickersolutions.co…ress/positive-punishment/.
Goldman, Jason G. “The Science of Dog Training: Is It Okay To Use A Shock Collar?” Gizmodo, Gizmodo.com, 10 Sept. 2014, gizmodo.com/the-science-of-dog-training-is-it-okay-to-use-a-shock-1632740695.