There are many joys associated with owning a dog and when you train them properly, they certainly can be a welcome member of the family. One of the interesting things about training a dog is the fact that there are not many supplies that are necessary to get started. Typically, you will just need a collar and a lead and from that point, you can go through a basic obedience.
Sometimes, you may find that it is recommended that you use a specialty type of collar during the training process. Some of these are designed for a purpose, such as keeping the dog from wandering while they are on the lead or perhaps getting their attention when they are going through the training process. Of course, collars can also provide decoration for the dog and can be used for identification as well.
One type of collar that is sometimes recommended is the shock collar. This can fall under the category of one of the aversive collars that are often used to train dogs that have specific behavioral problems. They are used as a form of punishment so therefore, they really have no place in any type of positive reinforcement training. Some of the types of aversive collars could include the problem or pinch, choke chain and as was mentioned, the shock collar. What is this type collar and should you use it as a training device?
Shock collars are sometimes used as a way to keep dogs from barking. If you have a dog that is barking regularly, you would place a shock collar on them and when they bark, it would automatically shock them along with giving them a warning noise that would act as a deterrent. The problem is, many people who use the shock collars don’t necessarily monitor the dog and it can be harmful or perhaps even deadly if something should happen to go wrong.
Another type of shock collar is used along with an electronic fence. The fence creates a border around the property and when the dog gets too close to it, the collar will sound a noise in order to warn them to stay away. If they get too close to the electronic fence, the collar will provide a mild shock and when they are close to breaking through it, the shock may be stronger. This is a rather common occurrence in most people don’t give much thought to the fact that a shock collar is being used for that purpose. Of course, with proper training, a dog would not go near the fence so there is not a problem of them getting shocked. After they are used to the borders, they can even wear a dummy collar that doesn’t shock at all.
One other form of shock collar is inhumane and it is a training device. It uses a remote control to shock a dog at a distance and far too many animals have been abused by this type of collar.
It is far better to use positive reinforcement and to avoid any of these negative shock collars for your dog. Positive reinforcement works quite well and it keeps your dog happy along with it.
