The shock collar, remote training collar, or electronic dog collar is most commonly used in four areas –
- Keep dogs inside our property. Our dog is corrected every time he nears the fence-line. This is also known as an invisible fence or underground fence.
- Stop dogs from barking. The collar automatically delivers a correction whenever our dog starts to bark. If he continues to bark, the force, duration, and frequency of the shocks may be automatically increased.
- Train dogs and stop problem dog behaviors. Shock collars are most commonly used for off-leash training. However, some dog trainers and pet owners also use it for behavioral issues such as food aggression, and dog aggression.
- Teach dogs to stay away from dangerous animals and objects. A common use is in rattlesnake aversion training. A dog is shocked hard, but a very small number of times, when he nears a caged rattlesnake. This teaches him not to approach rattlesnakes in the future.
The use of shock collars on dogs is a very emotional topic. Discussions will often degrade into personal attacks, accusations of dog cruelty, and other types of name calling.
In this article, I will try to stick to the facts, and consider whether it is something I would use on my dogs. Note however, that facts are not always convenient, and facts are not always balanced between the two sides.
If you have already made up your mind about using electronic collars and are looking for validation, this article is not for you.
Electronic Collars vs. Shock Collars
Not all electronic collars are used as shock collars. There are three main modes – 1. Beep mode, 2. Vibrate mode, and 3. Shock mode.
All electronic collars have the shock functionality, but the beep or vibrate functions are optional.
1. Beep mode
In this mode, a beep is emitted whenever the collar controller is pressed. This beep can be used as a marker, in the same way that clickers are used in clicker training.
For the beep to be an effective marker, a dog needs prior training for associating the sound with a positive or negative consequence. For example, if the beep always precedes a sought after reward, then our dog may stop and wait, because he knows that something good is coming. Similarly, a dog may freeze or submit when he hears a beep, because he knows that failure to comply, will be followed by a painful shock.
The beep can also cause a startle response, similarly to blowing a whistle. This can be used to get our dog’s attention or to interrupt his current action. However, for this to work, we must only use the interrupt signal on very rare occasions. If applied too frequently, our dog will become accustomed to it, and just ignore it.
2. Vibrate mode
In this mode, the collar vibrates, similar to how our pager or phone vibrates to get our attention. Like the beep mode, this vibration can be used as a marker or as an interrupt.
Both the beep and vibrate modes do not deliver an electric shock to the dog.
3. Shock mode.
In shock mode, the electronic collar will deliver an electric current to the dog through two contact points at the dog’s neck.
This electric current will cause pain and physical discomfort to the dog, otherwise it would not be effective in conditioning him.
The amount of pain delivered to the dog will depend on three key factors –
- The power/voltage of the electric current,
- The duration of the current, and
- The frequency of the current.
The amount of pain that the dog actually feels, will also depend on the physical characteristics of the dog (e.g. size, skin, and fur), as well as the temperament of the dog. Some dogs are more sensitive to pain than others.
Sometimes, words like stimulation are used to describe shock collars. I even saw them described as gentle training collars.
Beware of these sales gimmicks. Accept an electronic collar for what it is. If you choose to use it, make an informed decision that is based on the actual pros and cons of the system, which I will discuss below. Note that the subsequent discussion is solely based on the shock functionality of remote training collars (not on the beep and vibrate modes).
The Good
1. Allows us to control the amount of pain delivered to our dog, and administer that pain from a distance.
One of the great challenges of implementing pain based aversive techniques such as leash jerks, muzzle slaps, and finger pokes, is in controlling the amount of force delivered to the dog.
- Too much force and our dog may break down, and become extremely stressed or fearful.
- Too little force and our dog will get habituated to the corrections, and just ignore them.
Master aversive trainers are able to deliver just the right amount of force, so that the dog will not repeat a bad behavior, but at the same time, he will also not become unbalanced and fearful.
Unlike other aversive methods, remote training collars allows us to easily adjust the amount of pain delivered to a dog, and to keep that level of pain consistent in subsequent corrections. We can also administer the pain from a distance.
However, it should also be mentioned that the amount of pain actually ‘felt’ by the dog as well as the resulting response, depends on many different factors, not just the level of shock applied.
Although these devices are presented as a highly controllable method of modifying behaviour, via the controlled administering of pain/discomfort (the collars are designed to allow operator to set the duration and intensity of shock), an individual animal’s experience when a shock is applied will be influenced by numerous factors. In addition to individual temperament, the experience will be affected by the dog’s previous experiences, frequency of application, location of shock, thickness of hair and level of moisture on skin (Lindsay, 2005). Given that many of these factors are not easily determinable by the operator, this makes the device far less precise than suggested.
~~[RSPCA]
2. Can automatically deliver a shock correction to the dog, even when we are not there.
Another challenge of implementing proper aversive corrections, is using the right timing. We want to correct our dog as soon as he performs an unacceptable behavior, and stop correcting him as soon as he stops that behavior.
Electronic collars can be tied to a particular trigger event, such as barking or proximity to our fence-line. In this way, a shock is automatically and consistently delivered to the dog, as soon as he starts to bark or tries to escape. In fact, the invisible fence or shock anti-bark systems are convenient, because we do not even have to be there to deliver the corrections.
Shock collars such as these may sound tempting and easy to use, but unfortunately, consistent and automatic timing does not necessarily mean correct timing.
Studies show that automatic collars are risky, because tying a shock correction to a single trigger event, such as barking or proximity, is too simplistic and will frequently result in bad timing. This can subsequently lead to aggression and other dog behavioral issues.
There are some anti-bark collars that use sound aversion to stop dog barking, for example the Ultrasonic Anti-bark Collar. However, customer reviews have been poor because the sound stimulus is often insufficient to prevent the barking behavior.
3. The source of the aversive stimulus is less clear.
When we use other pain-based aversive techniques, it is usually obvious that the pain comes from us. This may teach our dogs to associate people with physical distress, which can also lead to fear. If this happens, we may lose some of our dog’s trust, and jeopardize our bond with him.
For example, when we apply a leash correction, it is apparent that the pain originates from the leash, and sometimes (if not redirected), from us. Therefore, the dog may decide to fight with the leash, or worse, with us.
This is less of a problem with electronic collars because the source of the pain is obscured, and there is no leash to fight with. However, because the pain comes from seemingly nowhere, our dog may mistakenly associate it with something he sees in the environment (e.g. another dog), the environment itself, or to multiple unrelated objects and events. This may cause misplaced stress, fear, and aggression, toward those objects.
Automatic shock collars also have a high risk of over-correcting a dog.
The Bad
1. May increase aggression in dogs.
According to Polsky’s study, dogs kept in shock containment systems (i.e. invisible fence or underground fence), can show extreme aggression towards humans, over and beyond their normal behavior.
Polsky’s results show that a big danger with electronic collars, especially automatic e-collars, is that they may cause dogs to make the wrong associations, and learn the wrong things.
Dogs may associate the pain from the shock with the environment or with objects in the environment (including humans , dogs, or cats), rather than with their escaping or barking behaviors. This may lead to anxiety or negative associations with those objects, which can ultimately result in aggression.
Some dogs that have been conditioned in this manner, may not want to set foot in the yard, for worry of pain. They may also start to attack humans and other animals, that wander too close to the fence perimeter.
Some dogs may get habituated to the shocks, and learn that if they can tolerate the pain close to the fence-line, they can escape. Once they escape, they are rewarded with no more shocks. In this way, the dog learns that escaping is a good thing, whereas staying in the backyard is not.
2. May increase stress in dogs and reduce their quality of life.
Schalke et al. conducted an electronic collar training study on fourteen laboratory-bred Beagles. Shock collar training was conducted over 7 days, for 1.5 hours per day. Then the dogs were released to freely hunt for 5 days, and to hunt on leash for another 5 days. Schalke’s study showed that the dogs who
… were able to clearly associate the electric stimulus with their action, i.e. touching the prey, and consequently were able to predict and control the stressor, did not show considerable or persistent stress indicators.
~~[ Excerpt from ScienceDirect.com ]
However, the two other groups of dogs that were not able to so clearly predict and control the delivery of the shocks, showed elevated stress levels, with the highest levels present in the dogs that were arbitrarily shocked.
Most importantly, the group of dogs that received a shock for not abiding by a recall (Here) command, were also significantly elevated.
Even more distressing, is that the results remained the same when the dogs were reintroduced to the testing area after four weeks. Their stress levels remained high, even though they did not receive any shocks during this reintroduction period.
The results from Schalke’s study indicate that electronic collars are extremely risky to use even for the short term. Stress levels of the dogs were high after just 7 days, and were elevated as soon as they returned to the shock treatment environment. This is consistent with Polsky’s study, which show that dogs may associate the shock and stress they receive, with the environment itself.
This study provides strong evidence that shock collars are inappropriate for most kinds of dog training, as even common recall training will result in elevated stress levels, and a lower quality of life.
3. May weaken our bond with our dog.
Polsky and Schalke’s studies show that dogs often associate the pain from electronic collars with their environment, as well as with people, animals, and other objects in that environment. Even after shocks are no longer administered, the dogs still attach the environment to something stressful and negative.
Therefore, using a remote training collar on our dog may cause him to associate our home or backyard, with stress and pain. Or worse yet, it may cause him to associate the stress with other dogs, other people, or with us.
Remember that Schalke’s results show this negative attachment forming in a matter of 7 days.
Alternative to Shock Corrections
When I first got my Shiba Inu, I had a lot of problems with him. At the time, I was under the false impression that reward methods would not work on my dominant, stubborn, and aggressive Shiba Inu. Therefore, I was using aversive training and briefly considered the use of electronic collars, because the other aversive-based methods were not working well.
However, after doing a lot of reading, I decided to give reward dog training a chance.
Reward training is not a miracle cure, and it will still take a lot of work, consistency, and patience, to train our dog. However, reward techniques can work on dominant, stubborn, and aggressive dogs. It has worked well for training my Shiba. In fact, he stopped showing aggression toward me and others, after I stopped using pain-based methods.
Common Justifications for Shock Collars
1. Save a dog’s life.
Proponents of electronic collars sometimes argue that they are used to save a dog’s life, by preventing him from running into traffic.
It is important to note that off-leash recall is never 100% reliable, whatever equipment or training methods we may choose to use.
This is why there are leash laws in most neighborhoods. This is also why off-leash parks require dogs to be on-leash when they are in the parking lot area, or in areas that are close to roads and traffic.
I use a no-slip collar and secure leash to walk my dogs in the neighborhood. I also regularly check the collar and leash to ensure that they in good working order. Off-leash exercise can be had in fully enclosed spaces or large parks, where we are far enough away from traffic that a failed recall, will not result in an accident. Do not play Russian Roulette with our dog’s life.
2. Do not cause much pain, just a tingle.
Some people try remote training collars on themselves, and report that it only causes a tingle, so it really does not apply much pain to our dog.
However, to closely experience shock collar conditioning from my dog’s perspective, I would have to put the collar on my neck and surrender the controller to a handler. I will not know why, when, or where the shocks will be administered.
As I carry on with my day, I may feel the need for a smoke. I reach for it, and feel a tingle on my neck. It is just a tingle, so I continue.
At this point, the tingle not only persists, but increases in intensity. I am strong willed though, so I keep going. After all, that is exactly why I needed the shock collar in the first place.
The intensity keeps increasing until finally, I drop the bad object. My hand shakes. The experience was unpleasant, and now I want relief more than ever. Unfortunately, I do not even have a patch, all I have is this locked-on collar that I cannot remove. My eyes stray and my hands start to reach again …
Electronic collars are NOT harmless, nor are they just a little tingly. If they were so, they would not work. Their use is illegal for children and non-consenting adults. Here is another case in Utah. Trying the collar on ourselves, and doing a single, short, expected shock, at low intensity, is *not* how the collar will be used on our dogs. It is merely a gimmick to convince us that the collars are innocuous. If they were truly so harmless –
- Why is their use banned for children and non-consenting adults.
- Why is there so much scientific data showing how risky they can be.
- Why are they on the “do not use” list of so many well-respected dog advocate organizations.
- Why would they “work” on our stubborn dog, when other pain based aversive collars such as prong collars or choke collars have stopped working.
Logic tells us that this is a false claim.
3. Everybody else is biased and dishonest.
Another common argument, is that those who point out the risks of remote training collars are biased and dishonest. Personal attacks or ad hominem arguments such as these are not only pointless, but they also discourage rational discourse and the exchange of ideas. More on bias.
In this article, I describe what attracted me to look into electronic collars as a possible training tool for my Shiba Inu, as well as some of the risks that were of concern. Based on the studies and articles that I found, I also include counter-arguments (if present) for each of those points. In general, I found very little scientific evidence to recommend its use, while at the same time, there are many studies that show the risks involved.
After reading the results of Polsky and Schalke, it is difficult for me to come up with cases where the shock collar would be appropriate in dog training. Perhaps the only case would be in animal aversion training, such as teaching our dogs to fear and stay-away from rattlesnakes.
If you know of supporting scientific studies or substantiated data which highlight the good of remote training collars, it would certainly contribute much to the discussion, so please share them with us.
However, based on current reliable data, shock collars are not something I would use on my own dogs or generally recommend to others. It is also worth noting that the ASPCA, AVSAB, RSPCA, Kennel Club, and Blue Cross, are all against the use of shock collars for companion dogs.
First dogs are not people and I’m tire of folks comparing them to people. You eat cows, chicken, fish and other meat so how humane is that. So stick a pipe in in it. Now of course you don’t want to abuse your pet but what is abuse. Some folks define abuse as keeping a dog outside on a lead or chain. I define abuse as not providing food, shelter, and proper non human medical care. What do I mean by non human. Well I would spend thousands of dollars to save my child’s life but no more than one thousand dollars to save my dog. So if my dog needs expensive life saving measures I will have it put down. I suppose thats inhumane. Now as far as shock collars go they are good if you don’t use them as a crutch. I would not use the invisible fence because you rely totally on shock to keep your dog inside the fence. Shock collars work best to train your dog with the goal of someday not having to use them at all. If you need a fence have a real one put up. Good Day1
Of course beating choking and physical abuse is obvious abuse too. But a lot of what so called animal lovers call abuse is not abuse it’s just treating an animal like an animal. Good Day!
Well endless money to save my child but you know what I mean.
I would never do such a thing to my dog. There is nothing humane on this.
I am wondering which shock collar to buy. I have a female English Mastiff who like to chase horses and bark at them. I need to stop that behavior a.s.a.p.
I’d appreciate any help you can give me
Thanks
I don’t use shock collars for all the reasons I stated above.
In cases where it is absolutely necessary, it may be best to consult with a professional trainer, and see what he/she recommends. A couple of people have mentioned Dogtra collars in the comments section.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-shock-collar-good-bad/comment-page-3#comment-140520
Hi
I have a Border Collie 20 months old…although well trained would bark when excited in play and training. When introduced to Sheep would also bark…I ended up getting a Dogtra E collar it really has been wonderful hardly any more barking much calmer around other dog’s and the next visit to the Sheep was so much better only a small amount of barking at the start of training…but a word of caution start at the lowest setting to begin with Mollie’s is set a no 2 which is little more than a vibration…Good luck
Roger
I have a SportDog collar in which you can regulate the shock level and also provides a pretty loud beeping function to use instead of the shock. If your dog is really problematic, you also have the option to maintain either the beep OR shock for a long amount of time. There is a button that keeps the stimulus for as long as you want without having to actually hold down the button.
I used the shock function maybe 5 times on my dog and she immediately understood, I only used it on the third degree out of eight possible degrees for the first shock. After that, I keep the shock at the first and very lowest degree and that’s more than enough for her. Even though I maintain the shock available to me, I only use the beeping now to get her attention. That’s all I need. I also use a lot of positive reinforcement whenever she comes back to me when called and gets away from other animals when I tell her to. I am totally for shock collars when used like this, you honestly don’t need much.
Also, I would like to point out I know a professional hunter who uses bloodhounds for work. He has three collars and usually a pack of 8-10 dogs. He will put the collars on the “leaders” and will only use it on them when they don’t come back after having been let loose and called for. They are great dogs, but they are working, hunting, BLOODHOUNDS. These dogs have been bred to hunt and chase down large, wild animals therefore their training needs are very different from a house pet.
There is another method of E-Collar training that can be used with Prongs and other ‘corrective’ methods. Call it a Positive E-Collar/Prong. Basically the dog goes through a series of training to aclimate to the collar. You give the most minimal of corrections only enough for the dog to notice, and after each correction you give a high value reward. The dog is still corrected, but learns that the correction, while a deterrent, is a positive thing. People who I’ve spoken to who have done this report that the corrections, rather than kill the dogs drive, will actually add to their willingness to perform and reduce the negative effects of the correction. The dog still doesn’t like the feeling, but they seem to ‘understand’ that this isn’t a bad thing. It’s all in how you present and train the animals on the equipment, and hardly anyone thinks to do this. They slap a collar on and begin.
Ahoy !Unfortunately I am uncertain what to do. My mother is trying to force the use of a shock collar on my american bull dog, Zoe. I dont feel its necessary.My mother and I have different views on how a dog should live. Zoes well behaved. My mom has never liked my dog so it feels personal. SHE WONT let it go. ANY suggestions? Merci beaucoup.
One possibility is to consult with a good professional trainer. Getting a professional to consider the situation will give an outside, more objective perspective. Also, family members may be more willing to listen to a good trainer/behaviorist, because they are seen to have authority and experience in the area.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
There are also many studies and many articles by prominent behaviorists and dog advocate organizations that talk about the risks associated with shock collars.
https://www.4pawsu.com/IAABC_Ecollar.pdf
http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/are-electronic-shock-collars-painful-or-just-annoying-to-dogs-a-new-study-r
There are more links in the article above.
if your mother does not like your dog then her opinion is biased and shouldn’t be considered
I have an 8 month old Bernese Mntn Dog who weighs about 80-85 pounds, and he’s a joy 90% of the time. He’s highly intelligent and has learned sit, stay, down, etc very well. However, he listens to my husband FAR more than he listens to me. We put him in puppy training classes and hired a private dog trainer to help us with his behaviors. He’s extremely mouthy and bites me non stop, sometimes breaking skin, but mostly bruising my arms. I look like I am in an abusive relationship!! He also jumps on everybody and then he paws us non stop. I have bruises on my legs from his claws after he has dragged them down my leg.
We have tried rewarding him for good behaviors and we’ve associated “no” with the behavior and no treats when he doesn’t something undesirable.
Since we have exhausted other methods, we are turning to a training collar. We are not really fond of using this method, but we feel that this is a last resort. It has to stop! We hope that a few shocks with proper association of “No” will train him to stop biting, jumping, and pawing us or others.
I’m looking for recommendations for training collars as I know they are expensive, so I want to purchase one that is good quality. I’ve read a lot of bad reviews on those that are carried at PetSmart/PetCo. Does anybody have a recommendation of a collar and where to purchase it?
Thank you.
In a situation like this, I would get help from a good professional trainer.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Dogtra collars work well. Just google them and you will find plenty of places to buy them.
Hi I have an 9 mth apbt that is mouthy an jumps on my 17 year old son.. have tried everythng bout a training collar off ebay that has beep vibration an shock. Have been using it for almost a week on the beep setting works wonders… no need to try vibrate or shock because she responds very well just to the beep which is set on setting 7 so very low setting just enough to get her attention. As soon as she starts to jump on him I press button to beep tell her no jump an she is getting better dveryday..good luck
Hello, I just read your page and it was very helpful. I’m having an issue. I have a 4 year old husky I rescued 2 years ago. She is absolutely perfect and I have done a lot of training with her. She was known for being an escape artist before I adopted her. Since then she does not try to sneak out door and escape BUT if she does escape she will RUN. For example my dad was playing with her on her leash and her martingale must have been too loose and she slipped her collar and immediately without even thinking twice ran away! I run after her because if you don’t she will just keep going and I need to at least keep her in my view. I can yell her name or commands but NOTHING phases her, I mean NOTHING, she just gets in this mode to run. It is becoming extremely dangerous for her… she doesn’t even realize the cars and has ran through traffic before (not a busy road). Like I said, she sits, she stays, she comes, when I do treat training with her but all of that stuff becomes useless when she is running away because she won’t listen. I just started reading about shock collars, because I don’t see many more options in order to keep her alive if this happens again. I mean I’m not lazy, I secure everything, and I myself have NEVER been the one she escapes on..but I can’t trust other people to take the same precautions. Another example, the other day we were at the dog park and some idiot let her out of the fence!!!! With some help from other people we caught her thank god…I’m just not sure what to do and I really need some help because she is my world and I can’t keep letting her risk her life like that.
p/s my names jessica btw lol
I do a lot of recall training with my Huskies (in enclosed spaces or using a long line), and it can really help. One time, Husky Lara escaped from her martingale while interacting with one of my neighbors. Because of our recall exercises, she came when I called her back. 😀 So I rewarded her extremely well for it and then slipped her collar back on. Since then, I am careful about who she interacts with, and I tell people not to hold-on to her collar, because that is how she slips out of it.
Here is a good list of recall training techniques from the ASPCA-
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/teaching-your-dog-come-when-called
As for enclosed dog parks, we took Sephy there when he was young but we stopped after a few months because he was picking up a lot of bad behaviors. The environment was just too unstructured and chaotic for Sephy. Smaller, more structured, and well-supervised play-groups work out best for my dogs.
Here is more on our dog park experiences.
I think that a big part of dog training involves ‘people training’; training ourselves, and those who are around our dog. Managing my dog’s environment, carefully choosing his friends, and setting him up for success, are also important aspects of training and shaping my dog’s behavior.
Having trained gun dogs and bird dogs before, I can say “Recall” is an obvious must. It’s somewhat different than a “Come” command, in that the dog is actually in some sort of pursuit of prey. It’s extremely easy to get dogs to chase things on command, getting them to break off and return on command is another thing. There are a few simple techniques, but first does your dog see you as the leader?
I assume she will “Go Away” when you tell her. She will “Stay” for 20min or longer. She will “Heel” or walk behind you when “YOU” take her for a walk and not yank you down the street? These exercises (plus others) are the building blocks. You have to walk before you can run. Calling a dog back after it’s “prey instinct” has been fully activated is not just running, it’s sprinting.
Here’s a very good technique for the “Recall.”
First use a short leash, then try a longer and longer line. (I use fifty feet.) Put your dog on “Stay” then back off a few feet. Wait a few seconds then say excitedly “Come” and tug on the leash towards you. If the dog doesn’t move or turns a different way, just reel them in like a fish. All the while praising them and making them feel happy to be near you. If you want to do the treat thing, then that’s the time to do a small one. I however don’t feel a treat is necessary. If you’ve bonded with your dog correctly and established the leader and protector role as you should then your happy voice and rubs on the chest are truly sufficient. Always try to combine hand signals with audible signals together. Try this exercise for 10 or 15 minutes every few days. Your dog will respond to your signals regardless of which one you use as long as they can see or hear you. They do it out of respect and love to their leader.
Thanks for your help. Unfortunately I have done all these things. Rae (my dog) comes when she is called in a closed area off leash. I make her stay and hide in the bathroom then whistle she comes..I make her stay using only hand signals and then wave her to me, she comes. The problem is I can NOT get her focus on me when she is running away. I can scream, whistle, wave go completely crazy and it does not matter. Same with other people., they can call her over and she won’t even look at them. I don’t have a lot of experience training dogs but I do have a good amount. I work at an animal shelter and it seems I can fix a lot of issues just not this one, and that’s why I need help. I will continue working on these things with her..but everyday that goes by seems like another day at risk of her escaping and getting hurt. I didn’t want to train her with the shock collar, I wanted to have it in the case I had to stop her before running onto the highway for instance which we were very close to last time…
I have a Husky a little over a year old and have recently implemented using a dogtra e collar for off leash training because she would do the same thing your husky is doing, RUN! I only use it on trails when hiking or camping. I use the commands wait with a vibration when she gets ahead of me to stop her to wait for me and come with a vibration when she is a ways behind me. I will also use no with a vibration for unwanted behaviors. At first you may need to shock your dog a few times to get its attention to stop running but after that the vibration will do the trick. Im on my third day with my husky and she listens to everything i say while out hiking only using the vibration. Great training tool. Keep a pocket full of treat so when she comes directly back to you you can reward. Good Luck.
I Have the same problem friend.
I have a 4 near 5 year old female sib. husky. She is generally well behaved and ive completed 3 obidience courses as top off the class with 80%+ scores. She is dominant but never attacks or bites. however she often gets barked at and snapped at or bitten. in respond shell toss them over growl and hold then releases them no harm done. She always just wants to play but does not allow another dog to snap at her without apparent reason. She does approach overexcited but stays polite. To drain energy and give her more exercise id love to have her offleash. I live in a major city but we do not have any fenced in dogparks. I have agility jumps and stuff and a large grassfield outside but again no fence. Also i take her on rides to run alongside my horse in a very large park, during that time she does tend to be more reliable on the recall and staying with me. I trained that with dashing off on the horse which triggers her to follow and keep up(could be just because she respects the horse). But sometimes it takes longer and i leash her near the roads, but still scooters etc give me a scare when she shoots out infront off one to say hi to another dog. However on longboard or bicycle she just doesnt recall or sticks close the moment another dog/ cat/ rabbit/sheep/running person comes in sight. On leash she will pull me over which can lead to an accident, most off the times i can tap her neck or jerk the leash briefly and just keep moving and shell calm down and stop pulling. Sometimes she breaks free and i have no chance to get her back easily. Training her is nearly impossible as she is not interested in any type off food when focussed on something. She will even pull her head away from it. Also praise or toys are not interesting. She has a desire to please me which were fine for basics but with these more fun distractions i just cant get her attention. Im leaning toward trying an vibration collar with elongated pins just to keep her on the field for agility. I was banned with her from the dog club as others found her look scary and let their dog run offleash at her which had led to a few pinning down without harm. But deemed her aggressive at the club by members( not by the main trainers) And banned from all trainings except obidience/ which i already did in 3 difficulties. All trainers ive contacted in the past just told me shes impossible as she just doesnt accept treats/toys etc. and only a poke/ tap timed right has helped with her. I dont want her onleash all the time and unable to give her the exercise and play she really needs.
Your thoughs on reaching my goal?
This article from the ASPCA has a good list of recall training techniques-
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/teaching-your-dog-come-when-called
However, many Huskies have high prey drive and they love to run. My Huskies are very attuned to motion, and when there is a running cat, squirrel, or deer nearby, their instinct will take over and they will give chase. Distance can help and I also do desensitization exercises to raise their reactivity threshold.
However, the instinct to chase is always there, so for safety, I walk them on-leash using a no-slip collar. They get off-leash exercise in fully enclosed areas.
I walk her on a non-slip collar or harness. I live in europe with no fenced in fields, unless i drive a few hours. I have had heard/done/tried all the tips on recall but it was very nice to reread and see them summed up. Very nice refresh! Also tried the gorgonzola they suggested. In training she wont take it. So no magic treat for training 🙁 . Ive started a daily obedience routine during her walks to make her sharp and paying attention to me. Hope this refresh for the both off us and will help in the long run. Also took her to run with the horse as its raining so no scooters and she was excellent on her recall. After the energy draining she was also better with the wild bunnies and other dogs. One soft jerk got her to ignore them. (This shows me that she just needs to be drained more which i cant seem to do onleash, so i will try out a vibration collar with a policedogtrainer supervising for an offleash correction, i will lend the horsearena so she cant run away should she panic/run/ignore. Also will i let her wear the collar indoor and outdoor without using it so she can get used to it first) I wish i could use a more positive method but the moment i come with praise, treats or toys she fully ignores me. Is there a way to get her interested in any off them? She does play ; retrieve balls and tug-o/war( if i say drop it she does immediatly). Or playfight. And she takes food from me outside, But each time i try to use it combined with training she wont accept it. However a stranger( after a few times with the same person shell ignore him/her aswell) can get her to sit or any other command for a dogcookie. Shell put it down on the ground and wait untill i give it to her or look at me untill i say its ok. I have never trained this behaviour, she started doing it after about 9months off age. She loves searching games so i might start training her for search and rescue or local competitions(also a reason to have a reliable recall), but one training and step at a time. I really want to do a positive training as i know its more effective(not a touch or stern voice, which i now use). Please toss me some creative ideas!! Ive ran out off them. Im willing to try almost anything.
In terms of reward motivators, I think it very much depends on the individual dog. Both my Sibes are very food focused, so that is what I use with them most of the time. I make sure to only reward them for good behavior.
My Shiba Inu is not very food focused but he likes to explore, he likes new things, he likes to play games, and he likes playing with other dogs. Therefore, those are the things that I use to motivate him. In addition, he is more food motivated when he is hungry, so when I need to motivate him with food, for example for grooming, I do it before meal-time. There are several types of food that he likes, so I switch them around so that things are fresh and new, which helps to strengthen the motivator *for him* (because he likes new things).
However, as I have said before, both my Huskies have high prey drive. Once instinct takes over, they are no longer capable of learning or listening. The instinct to chase is very strong, so if I wanted to use shock collars or other pain based techniques, I would have to apply an extremely strong stimulus. Some dogs are more sensitive and feel more pain, so the amount of pain felt also depends on the dog.
A vibration is most often used as a marker, in the same way that we use a verbal “Yes”, “No”, or clicker. A marker often has to be associated with a consequence for it to carry any meaning. For example, in clicker training, the clicker marker is associated with food and other rewards, so that our dog learns to associate the marker with a positive consequence. This is also known as charging the clicker/marker.
Similarly, a vibration alone isn’t going to do much unless it has been “charged”. In the extremely short term, there may be a startle response, but that isn’t going to last for long. If vibrations alone solved prey drive issues, everyone would be using it.
Therefore, in most cases, we are talking about applying pain or shocks, which presents a very different value proposition. Shock collars carry many serious risks, as has been shown in numerous scientific studies. In addition, they are not fully reliable. This is why the ASPCA, RSPCA, Blue Cross, and many other dog advocate organizations recommend on-leash exercise for companion dogs with high prey drive (i.e., not fully reliable recall), unless they are in a fully enclosed space.
I do desensitization exercises to raise my dog’s reactivity threshold, and that is helpful. However, when in non-enclosed spaces, I walk my Huskies on-leash. In my old house, I did not have an enclosed backyard, so I cleared out a couple of rooms in the house and used that for off-leash play.
There is no special sauce or miracle technique that I know of that can fully get a Husky to forget about his instinct to chase prey animals. Here are a couple of articles from the ASPCA on dealing with the bicycle/skateboard/runner chasing scenario.
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/dogs-chasing-bicycles-skateboards-and-other-moving
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/dogs-chasing-runners