PET SPECIAL
JULIE REARDON
BITING THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU
Petrainer 998DBB Waterproof Dog Training Collar
W
ith fanfare from animal rights activists, big box pet supply store Petco announced in early October that it will no longer sell remote-controlled, electronic training collars for dogs. “Electricity may be critical to powering your microwave, but it has no role for the average pet parent training their dog,” Petco CEO Ron Coughlin said in a news release. Electronic training collars, are derisively referred to as shock collars and widely claimed by those who’ve never trained a dog, to be cruel and barbaric. And like any tool, in the wrong hands they can be abusive and/or inappropriate. However, they are much more than simply remote delivery systems for corrections as modern ones contain tracking, 22 | November 2020
paging and attention-getting features. They use the same conditioning principles as bark collars and invisible fence containment collars, which Petco continues to sell. All these and, in fact, any tool that aids a person in the training of a dog have saved many, many more lives than they have harmed - including many dogs that otherwise might have had to be rehomed or put to sleep. Whether or not you like or dislike them, use them or not, there is no denying that training collars, including e-collars, are simply tools. Used properly, they have helped far more dogs than they’ve ever harmed. Used improperly, any tool can cause physical damage or worse, even a flat buckle collar. Even sadder, many dogs have lost their homes and even their lives because well intentioned and good hearted
owners tried to raise and train them like humans, or failed to train and socialize them at all. Some of the most recognized pet activist groups like PETA attempt to dramatize an everyday tool and make it seem like a wicked instrument of torture so that—except the minority of the people who understand their use and application—will be horrified and on board with the ban. Shock collar! How dare you burn up your dog in the name of training? When the truth is: there is not one single recorded instance of a dog dying from an electronic training collar. It’s simply not possible, because they cannot deliver enough electricity to even burn the skin much less electrocute a dog, even a small one. There are, sadly, many instances of dogs that died from lack of
training. They are euthanized daily in shelters. If you are not comfortable with the whole concept of electronic training collars, no one will ever force you to use one. If, however, you have a difficult dog and using a training collar might mean the difference between taking it to a shelter or training/keeping it, then that collar just saved a life. Bark and invisible fence collars work on the same principles and those devices have saved many families from having to surrender a dog that received multiple complaints for nuisance barking or running at large. Many homeowners’ associations in fact, are so restrictive about the kind and type of fencing allowed that an invisible fence is the only option for containment. The first clue of manipulation of the emotions of pet lovers are some of the terms
popularized by animal rights groups like Guardian and Pet Parent, or the reference to companion animals as “fur kids”. Dogs are not humans and do not learn and should not be trained as humans. Dogs do not do what we want because they love us. They learn because we teach them what we want and we repeat and repeat again and we praise when they get it right. Dogs do not learn from time outs. Dogs do not speak our language— nor we theirs. Within the training community, especially advanced training, there is some disagreement on the use of positive vs negative reinforcement as a canine training tool. Some maintain any negative reinforcement (punishment) should never be used to train a dog. And indeed, some dogs can do fine with basic pet obedience taught solely through attrition and positive reinforcement. But many, especially highly driven working and sporting breeds, learn faster and retain the lesson better, with the use of occasional reprimands, whether verbal or a pop on the leash. Timing is everything— to be effective, a correction must occur at the moment of the infraction and the infraction must be deliberate disobedience of a command the dog has been taught. Which brings us to the use of electronic training collars. These sophisticated devices TRAINING > PAGE 23
Old Town Crier
