Some time ago, I got an interesting comment from Ethan in my Dog Shock Collar article.
In his comment, Ethan makes some interesting claims –
- Zap-collars are way, way, way more humane than keeping your Sibe on a leash.
- Once he realized I could reach out and touch him no matter how far away I was from him, everything changed. Like magic.
- Huskies NEED TO RUN. If you can’t run them, you shouldn’t own one.
[Click here if you want to view Ethan’s full comment]
Let us consider each of these claims.
Huskies need to run
The claims that Ethan makes, are commonly made by many proponents of shock collars. They usually start their argument with some breed trait, for example, Siberian Huskies need to run. Indeed, Siberians are bred to RUN. Furthermore, Siberians are a very independent breed, with high prey drive. This makes it dangerous to let them run free.
Ethan’s well crafted claim, as I understand it, is as follows –
Siberians need to run and are independent. Therefore, they need the extra oomph of shock collars to ensure that they don’t run away. Furthermore, dog owners who are too soft to use shock collars, should not own a Siberian because then, the dog would not be able to run free.
Let us look at what the Siberian Husky Club of America (the AKC-recognized national breed club) has to say about this.
There is one final characteristic of the Siberian Husky which we must point out — their desire to RUN. There are many breeds of dogs which, when let out in the morning, will sit in the front yard all day. Not the Siberian Husky. His heritage has endowed him with the desire to run and his conformation has given him the ability to enjoy it effortlessly. But, one quick lope across a busy street could be the last run that he enjoys, ever. Because of this, we strongly urge that no Siberian Husky ever be allowed unrestrained freedom. Instead, for his own protection, he should be confined or under control at all times. Sufficient exercise for proper development and well-being may be obtained on a leash, in a large enclosure, or best of all, in harness. If you feel that it is inconvenient or cruel to keep a dog thus confined, then the Siberian Husky is not the breed for you.
~~ [Siberian Husky Club of America]
According to the National Siberian Husky breed club,
Sufficient exercise for proper development and well-being may be obtained on a leash, in a large enclosure, or best of all, in harness.
Shock collars are not a recommended option.
Shock Collars allow you to reach out and touch your dog, like magic.
Indeed, one of the advantages of shock collars is that they allow us to apply a pain stimulus to our dog from a distance.
However, it is not magic and it is not a touch.
Proponents of shock collars do not like to use the term shock or pain. Instead they refer to the electric current or shock as a touch. This magical touch, they say, does not cause any pain.
All scientific evidence show that this statement is false.
Shock collars work because they deliver a pain stimulus. The pain stimulus creates an aversive response in the dog which discourages him from a certain behavior, e.g. running away from us. Independent dogs with strong prey drive have an extremely strong instinct to hunt and chase. To trump this instinct, we must deliver a very strong shock.
Scientific studies by Schalke et al. also show that shock collars increase the stress levels in dogs after a period of just 7 days. Furthermore, stress levels were elevated as soon as the test dogs were returned to the shock treatment environment even though no shocks were administered.
According to Polsky’s study, dogs kept in shock containment systems (i.e. invisible fence or underground fence), showed extreme aggression towards humans, over and beyond their normal behavior.
Based on all this work and rigorous studies, we know the following facts –
- Shock collars can work. In fact, pain is a strong motivator.
- Shock collars work by delivering a pain stimulus. If they were not painful, they would not work. If all you want to do is get your dog’s attention, then use a whistle and not a shock collar.
- Shock collars are extremely risky, can increase aggression in dogs, and can cause elevated levels of stress. All this will result in a lower quality of life for the dog.
Shock collars are not magic and they do not deliver a touch. We may use terms like gentle training collar or gentle current but that does not change the true nature of shock collars. If we want to use a shock collar, then we should accept it for what it is.
Zap-collars are way, way, way more humane than keeping your Sibe on a leash.
The National Siberian Husky Club of America disagrees, the scientific data disagrees, and many qualified trainers disagree.
I think there are varying levels of shock training, and every dog has different reactions. I have a shock collar that also has tone or vibrate options. I tested each setting on myself before using it on my dog. I have a big goofy young german shepherd mix, and the vibrate is great for getting is attention when he gets distracted or if I need to get him to stop barking (loud big dog woof) at birds in the front yard. I like having the shock option, and will use it if needed for safety corrections. If he’s about to run in front of a car or play with a rattlesnake, I will shock him.
I also have a siberian husky. She’s a different kind of dog altogether (I think she’s a cat in wolf’s clothing). I will enroll both dogs in aversion training for rattlesnakes this summer. I was able to get my husky to ignore or be nice to our house cats with distractions and treats, but I can’t see that working with snakes for obvious reasons. She needs to be afraid of playing the snakes.
I also have a hot line on my fence, because she is an escape artist. I put up the electric line after replacing the fence around our yard (a full acre) with a taller, stronger fence that still didn’t do the trick. I grabbed the line when we put it up to see how bad it is, and it freaking hurts. Anyone tells you different, they lie. I don’t like it, and I’m thinking of switching it out for the invisible fence with the collar that beeps before shocking. I feel that I have to use a painful deterrent, because one day my sweet girl was running on the highway 2 miles from my house. Another time she got out, she killed my neighbor’s chicken. Another time, we couldn’t find her all night. Luckily she came home, but she was scared of something by the time she made it back to us.
She gets lots of walks, attends weekly obedience class, and she is a happy dog. However, she’s also a husky that will dig, climb, or chew through a fence to find her way out of any yard to chase a herd of deer or wild turkey.
This sounds exactly like my husky boy. And yes, he too is a cat at heart. My phone registers his photos as a cat.
He runs with me often, still, he escapes constantly. I will drive around looking for him, and he will come out of nowhere and race beside my car. This is absolutely terrifying. I too had the shock collar with vibration setting until water damage took over the remote, and the vibration worked like a charm. I did not ever need to use the shock. And I even attempted it at first with him, but it didn’t ever seem to effect him. I think his fur is just too thick to feel anything. Which is fine by me since I quickly realized how well the vibrate setting worked for him.
I love this article, Shibashake, and it is right on the money. As a trainer, I have seen way too many clients who have come to me from trainers or use the “touch” technique. They are all aggression cases. These dogs are horribly stressed. I think it is important for everyone to know that dogs are not machines. I hear often “I want my dog to go to the beach and not run away.” “I want my dog to farmer’s market like everybody else’s dogs.” But in many ways, dogs are like people in the fact that they have likes, dislikes, phobias and preferences. Some dogs are fearful at farmers markets, others love it. Some dogs like Huskies are predisposed to running away. A dog beach might not be a good place for them. The important thing to ask yourself is why do you want your dog to do these things and who is it for, you or the dog? Getting back to shock collars, their use is way too prevalent and in my experience, they should never be used. I have seen too many sad cases to count.
Different strokes for different folks, I have a Labrador and a Siberian Husky with some pure wolf genes in him, I use the shock function from time to time for his aggressive behavior.
However, not just the shock is used, I’ve implied with a lot of different and very unique training methods on the wolf-husky hybrid. Some dogs with aggressive injuring causing behavior might very well need to use the shock function to be corrected, as well as a similar training method that I’ve done in the military.
I have very successful and well-behaved Husky that I can allow him to walk leash-free, he is only 3 years old. People often asked me, how do you train an animal that has wolf gene in him, I said, “If people can train a tiger in the circus, I’m sure I can change the personality for my Husky-Wolf pup.
My Labrador on another hand never needs shock function, the only vibration is good enough.
Again, like kids, and humans, that why kids have boot camps, correctional facilities, and special needs schools for aggressive children in this sociality.
I have a 5 year old female purebred Siberian Husky and she’s the best. But when I take her to the dog park, it can be difficult to get her to leave. To me that’s not the problem, I’d love to be able to take her to the beach or lagoon but I’m afraid she might wander off or refuse to listen to me. I was thinking about getting a shock collar, are the collars that just vibrate instead of shocking a dog? I don’t want to hurt her, I just want to be able to get her attention.
Yes. I have one that beeps vibrates or shocks. I have never used the shock on either one of my huskies
I use the vibrate or tone on both my dogs( husky/German Shepard mix and a German short haired Pointer) I have on rare occasions an used the shock collars( on their frequency) to stop them from doing something they could have gotten hurt. Be very careful when you do try using the foother th first time. Huskies will sometimes get scared and run so they need to be reassured by hat you are the person to come back to. Be in a large enclosed space if you do this. It has immensely helped with training . Specifically gaining their attention, recall, leaving things alone and “reminding them” no no areas. Make sure to you do get a shock collar( if you do) that allows you to set the frequency to you’re dog. Basically my dogs will perk their ears up when I vibrate or shock them. You do not want to harm them. I use the Mini Educator. It had a tone/ vibrate and 2 shocks. The fi at button or shock you specifically set to your dog( high enough to get their attention nd low enough to not hurt them) the secret Nd button is 5 levels higher then that( there are like 100 levels or so the difference is there but not extremely high) the higher shock is only really used if there is danger Anf when used ( only 2 times) they have never went to that area again. (Snakes) we do a lot of hiking and adventure and usually they are both off lease. We do training with them with treats and the ecollar, individual training and training together. Also they know we love the shit out of them. All of this may not work for every dog but I feel as long as you’re dogs love you they will respond as long as you give the time and patience. Btw , GSP was gotten at 13 weeks and my Husky mix was added to our family after she was extremely abused and no training at the age of 10 months – 1 year. Just so you know i context. I have done my due diligence and read quite a bit, but I am not an expert nor am I claiming I have done everything right, but my dogs and I have a wonderful relationship and they enjoy their lives and I have piece of mind that they are trained enough to where I trust them and they trust me. Everyday is a new adventure so we always hope to keep them happy and we all live long enough to try the next adventure. I hope something I wrote helps someone. Thank you.
Thank you for this particularly rich and interesting platform. A 2 years male Sib husky also lives in our family and I am also currently figuring out a way to avoid stressing situations with my dog. Aspen was adopted as a puppy and has been regularly trained with help of professional trainers. He is gentle, calm, returning when off leash, responding to commands. The King of huskies. Some days. The worst traitor some others. In Switzerland, shock collars are illegal and reward education mandatory. Through my humble experience (Aspen is our first dog), I came to the conclusion that 1) you will never be able to trust your dog at 100% always and this is fair since a dog is not our property nor a slave, but a dependant company we have agreed to be responsible for. So we have to accept this part of the risk. 2) There is always the possibility to exercise on leash (running, biking, sleding, skiing, etc.). Yes, some days motivation is low, but the dog will help. And of course I would be tempted by the electric collar some days when the stubborn dog is ignoring me or would run in the other direction. But the dog is our own mirror and his behaviour a good opportunity for our own questioning. Electric collar is an easy way. But nobody said education is easy. It is challenging.