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.
Hello, I was wondering if you had any more information on the pros of using shock collars? I’m against them myself but have a debate in college on them and i’m unfortunetly on the pro side. Any science papers, articles or books you could reccommend would be a great help as I’m finding it hard to find anything scientific! This is for my behaviourism class in my veterinary nursing course. Thank you!
PS beautiful dogs!
Wikipedia may provide some leads, but make sure to verify the cited sources.
Some proponents of shock collars use Tortora’s 1983 to support their case. However, that is for extreme situations where there are few options left to the dogs, and it is between euthanasia or extreme shock treatment.
http://shibashake.com/dog/tortoras-study-dog-aggression-and-shock-collars
As you say, there is very little scientific evidence that support the use of shock collars.
Hi
My wife and I read your article as we were looking into a shock collar. We have a rescue dog great pyrenees/retriever mix about 18 months old who has been fixed. She is mostly friendly and loving, however sometimes when my wife loves on her, and has been doing so for several minutes, she starts growling. There is no rhyme or reason. She can be loving on her, and petting her for 2-3 minutes, and Akela will roll over for my wife to rub her belly, and then when she does, Akela will start to growl.
My wife has tried standing up over her, and reprimanding her with a firm “Bah” but that doesn’t doesn’t help. My wife has walked away, and Akela will come and seek her out and ask for more attention.
This is driving my wife and I crazy. It doesn’t happen all the time. She has growled at me, but not as much. I’m thinking this is a alpha male issue.. We’ve had her about 7 months, and this is still an issue.
What type of training besides shock collar will work in this type of situtation?
Thanks
Hmmmm, it is difficult to say without looking at the dog and surrounding context. My dogs will sometimes vocalize when they are getting affection. It is a low vocalization, but more like a “cat purr” in intent, and they are totally relaxed.
What is Akela’s body language like? Is she tense (stiff) or relaxed? Does she only start growling when she is touched in a particular location? Is it a particular type of touch that triggers the growling?
Dogs may sometimes vocalize if they are feeling physical discomfort when touched in certain areas. Does she seem to be walking, jumping, and generally moving normally?
Another possibility is that it could be a miscommunication issue. Dogs communicate differently than we do. For example, dogs do not really “hug” each other whereas that is what we do to show affection. During puppyhood I did a lot of touch exercises with my dogs to get them accustomed to human touch and human affection. The key is to teach our dog to associate certain types of human touch with positive experiences. In this way, they grow to enjoy it (or tolerate it) rather than seeing it as a threat.
Getting a good professional trainer can also be helpful. A trainer can help us read our dog’s body language and also identify what is triggering certain behaviors. I visited with many trainers when Sephy was young. The tricky part is finding a good trainer who is qualified, experienced, and knows what he is talking about. Dog training is not regulated so anybody can come along and claim to be an expert. Still, I learned many useful things from the one or two good ones that I found, so it was definitely worth it, especially during Sephy’s difficult period.
HI Shibashake!
I, like you am on the verge of using a shock collar for one purpose- leash aggression with other dogs. I live in the city and so not using a leash is not an option. I have a very stubborn breed (doberman pinscher) who is very well behaved otherwise, but we do have some alpha issues.
I have tried reward training, unfortunately when another dog is around has absolutely no interest in the treat at all. For that matter, she is not that food motivated at all.
Do you have any ideas how to address this?
Thank you!!
Ashley
Hello Ashley,
Here are some things that helped with my Shiba-
1. Dog-to-dog desensitization exercises
As you say, if the “dog-stimulus” is too strong, our dog will go into a rear-brained state (instinct state). When in this state, a dog is focused on his target and will no longer be interested in food, commands, or anything else.
I learned that the key with my dog (Sephy) is *not* to expose him to such a strong dog-stimulus during training. This is where dog-to-dog desensitization exercises come in. With desensitization, we start by exposing the dog to a very weak version of the stimulus in a controlled environment. In this way, the dog is still able to respond and learn. We can then help our dog to re-associate other dogs with something positive. At the same time, I was able to retrain Sephy to use alternate behaviors to deal with his stress rather than aggression.
Here is more on dog-to-dog desensitization.
2. Saying Calm
With Sephy, I found that it was very important that ~I~ stay calm. In the beginning, I would always get stressed when we see another dog, becauseI was anticipating a bad encounter. Sephy would pick up on my bad energy right away, get stressed himself, and start acting out right away.
What works best is when I stay calm and just focus on creating neutral experiences.
3. Neutral Experiences
When we see other dogs, we just ignore them. I create as much space as possible (cross the road, go in driveways, etc.), I control my energy, and we just walk along at a measured page. Since every time we see a dog – nothing happens – it became a non-event. Since nothing happens, Sephy learned to relax instead of anticipating an action-charged meeting.
Here is a bit more on what I did to help Sephy with his dog-to-dog aggression.
Here is a bit more on reward training and aversive training.
Hello,
I have an 8 year old rescue doxie/ chihuahua mix. Very sweet, small, male dog who up until now was the alpha. My daughter brought a stray pit/chihuahua male home a year ago. Both dogs are peeing around the base of my bed and I was looking at shock collars as a possible tactic to curb this frustrating territory-marking. After reading the article, I don’t think this is the way to go. Do you have some suggestions as to how to correct this problem behavior?
Thank you…
Hmmm, when did the peeing start? Was it just recently or has it always been that way? If it was only recently, was there anything that changed during that time? Did anything else happen when the behavior started?
What is their daily routine? Do they mark when out on their walks?
Hi… I’ve found your article to be very helpful, as well as your comments to people… I’m wondering if you have advice for this situation… 3 months ago I had a baby and my almost 3 year old havanese has become extremely protective of her. He barks like crazy at visitors but more concerning, if I am sitting on the couch with the baby and someone (even an extended family member that he has a great relationship with) approaches us he growls and barks frantically. I love our dog. He is our first baby- but I am VERY concerned that he is going to snap at someone while trying to “protect” the baby. Clearly I can’t have this.
Congratulations on your new baby girl!
In terms of guarding behavior, here are some things that help with my dogs-
1. People desensitization exercises.
Desensitization exercises help the dog to associate people coming near him with positive events and outcomes. It also teaches the dog new ways to deal with stress rather than through aggression.
2. I do the protecting so they don’t have to do it themselves.
I establish very clear and consistent interaction rules – with other people and with other dogs. In all cases, I teach my dogs that if there are any issues, I will come and resolve it so that they do not need to do so themselves. For example, when Lara was young, she would try to guard her “affection time” with me. If one of my other dogs come to join in, she would play bite them to keep them away.
I respond by doing a “no-mark” to tell her that this is undesirable behavior. Then, I tell her what to do instead, e.g. go into a Down-Stay. If she does this, then I reward her with more affection and food rewards. I also reward the other dog with the same if she is calm and also does a Down-Stay.
If Lara ignores me and continues with her bad behavior, then I withdraw my attention from her, and totally ignore her. If she continues to harass my other dog, then I calmly say “Timeout” and remove her to a timeout area. When Lara was young I put a drag-lead on her so that I had better control (only with a regular flat collar and only under supervision).
In this way, she learns that if she is calm and in a Down position, she gets lots of rewards and affection. However, biting and harassing others gets her nothing and she may even lose her freedom to be with people.
Dogs often guard resources (e.g. food, toys, people) because they think that someone else coming near their “stuff” means something negative. I try to teach my dogs that they get the most rewards through cooperation and by being calm. I also teach them to associate other dogs and people with food, attention, and other positive outcomes.
I have a 7 month old Newfoundland puppy with separation anxiety. He is very well behaved with the exception of food. He’s constantly scouring the floors, couches, end tables (I have 3 year old twins so he’s always on the hunt for something they may have dropped). He tries to take food straight out of their mouths if they are eating a snack. With dinner time, he will calmly lay down and not even beg but the rest of the house he acts like he can do whatever he wants when it comes to food/snacks. I know the easy solution is to keep all food in the kitchen but anyone knows with a toddler, that’s not possible and him taking food from their hands or mouth, NOT acceptable. I can’t crate him because he freaks out and has actually learned how to escape. His crate, he constantly barks and digs at the door and no, I don’t tell him no or give him any attention but I ignore him until the behavior stops and he calms down, but sometimes that takes up to an hour and is obviously very disruptive and now he fights me to go in. He used to go in with treats but he won’t do that anymore. I started instead of crating trying to put him outside. He has toys, a kiddie pool, water, chewies and my other dog to play with but instead he gets “mad” that I put him out and has gone as far as to actually chew ON the house. Today he stole food from my son, I told him no, immediately put him out and when I went to let him in 30 min later he had eaten the house, the deck, 2 cardboard boxes, the hose and a toy crate. I love this dog dearly but I’m at my wits end at what to do about this behavior and any insight would be great!
Yeah, dogs are usually very opportunistic about food, especially food that they don’t normally get. In general, dogs repeat behaviors that have good outcomes and stop behaviors that have bad outcomes.
When a dog jumps, grabs at hands, and gets a yummy, unique snack as a reward, he will keep repeating that behavior because from his point of view –
jumping and grabbing hands = very good food reward that he never gets otherwise.
The way that I stop this behavior with my dogs is to make sure that they never get rewarded for their jumping and biting behavior.
1. As you say, one possibility is to limit access to people food.
2. We can also use supervision and management. For example, when puppy Lara bites on something she is not supposed to, I no-mark the behavior and then give her an alternate simple command (Sit). If she does it, then I praise her really well and reward her with food, affection, and a fun game.
On the other hand, if she continues with jumping and biting then I use her drag lead to remove her from the location and redirect her into doing something else. Body blocks can also be used depending on the situation. Then I keep her with me for a certain duration.
In this way she associates following commands with food, attention, games, and other rewards. However, jumping and biting leads to less freedom since she has to stay with me afterwards. Most of all, I make sure that she never gets any free food from jumping and biting.
Limited freedom can also be achieved with timeouts, but then, it may not be as appropriate for dogs with separation anxiety. Also, I usually start with very very short timeouts (1 minute or a few minutes).
3. Dogs with separation anxiety chew as a way to deal with acute stress. They may also chew through crates and chew at dry wall in an effort to escape or try and get back to their people. These behaviors are not a result of vengeance or anger. The chewing is a familiar behavior that the dog uses to cope with anxiety, similar to how a person may pace, chew on her nails, or play with her hair when under stress.
Here is a bit more on my dogs and separation anxiety.
My 15 month old boxer runs wild if he gets loose from us or busts out the doors and runs crazy and Will Not come back. We actually have to chase him and sneak up on him to catch him. We walk him on a leash all the time. When we got him he was confined to a small outdoor kennel and didn’t have a lot of interaction wth owners. Please help.
Two things that help with my dogs-
1. Recall Training
This article from the ASPCA has a great list of recall techniques and how to teach a dog to come when called.
2. Door Manners
I use our daily walks to teach my dogs “door manners”. Every day, before going on a walk,
– I call my dogs to me.
– When they come, and I ask them to Sit and wait calmly.
– I put on collar and leash if they are calm, and reward them for being calm. Then, I hold the leash and open the door.
– If they break their “Sit”, I no-mark and close the door. I wait for a while, then try again.
– If they Sit nicely, then I give them the “Break” command and we go for our walk.
In this way they learn the following-
Sit and be calm = Go for nice walk
Break sit = Door closes and don’t get to go for walk.
Dogs often bust out of doors because they inadvertently get rewarded for it; not only by getting a nice trip outside, but also by starting a fun chase game. To teach a dog not to run out of doors, we want to turn things around and reward calm behaviors. We also want to make sure that they are not inadvertently rewarded for their door escapes.
Good article. I’m glad I came across it on my search for a collar for my dog. You seem like you have done a lot of reading, so maybe you can point me in the right direction. I have a three year old lab/alaskan malamute. We got her when she was 7 weeks old. She behaves very well when it is just my husband and I, but she LOVES other people. We’ve taken her to dog parks, run, etc. from the time she had her 1st shots. If I’m running with her, I can keep her on track and she doesn’t really pull towards others, but if she’s walking, she’ll pull. I’ll give her leash corrections, or even swat her butt with the end of the leash, to redirect her. However, if she is close to someone or if they make happy noises to her (“oooohhhh, what a cuuuute dog!”), she goes batty and pulls like crazy. I am 109 pounds, and she is 107# of pure torque, so it really takes everything I have to keep her from getting to people. She is super friendly, but I am really afraid she is going to knock someone down. Well, that was my biggest concern, until I had a baby. My son is now 14 months old, and I’m concerned she is going to pull like that when I’m holding him. She went nuts for a guy, who walked over to me today. Luckily, my son was standing just behind me because she gave it all she had to get to this guy, who was terrified. She won’t go to the bathroom in the yard, so she must be walked, so I need to come up with something. Leash jerks really don’t help when she’s in that state because the leash is already stretched out and she is pulling as hard as possible. Even my husband can’t jerk her back, just keep her from going forward. Really need some advice. At this point, a shock is really all I can think of.
Some people use a head-halti to control pulling for larger dogs-
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-leash-training-equipment#halti
As with any other piece of equipment, that has its own strengths and weaknesses.
As for leash training, I usually start by training my puppy in a very quiet, low-stimulus environment, e.g. my backyard. This gets her used-to various commands and also used-to being together with me on a leash. During leash-training I walk the in-training dog by herself. This allows me to focus all of my attention on the training session.
Once puppy is comfortable with walking in the backyard, then I start walking her in only very quiet parts of the neighborhood. In this way, we start small, and slowly increase the environmental challenge.
I also do some people desensitization exercises with my puppy to help get her accustomed to new people so that she doesn’t get over-excited.
Here is more on my leash training experiences.
Great info; thanks. I haven’t seen anything directly related to our problem, so maybe you can comment: We typically adopt older dogs since they are harder for the shelters or rescues to place, because they seem grateful to have affection and a stable home to live out the rest or their lives in, and because they typically are less trouble to care for. Recently, however, we couldn’t resist taking in an abandoned 1-2 year old female beagle-pointer mix (maybe some whippet or something – really fast runner). Sadie began to adapt nicely to our environment and our three older dogs (Jake 14, Sasha 12, and Ruby 13 – all neutered) when my wife noticed on a blog she frequents that there was a recent addition to our local shelter who looked a lot like Sadie. Primarily out of curiosity, we checked her out and she was practically a spitting image of Sadie. We adopted Maddie. They are perfect for each other, playing for most of the day in the pasture or in the house. For two months all was good. Then, one day I came home to find blood on the floor and the walls in the utility room and our old dog, Jake, nursing a torn ear and a wound on his back. Still trying to figure out what happened (he is NEVER aggressive – most good tempered dog I’ve ever seen), later that day Sadie and Maddie jumped him in the living room while he was lying down. I had to physically beat them off kick/pushing them away from him (not hard kicks at all). Since then, there have been a couple of times it got close to a dust-up, but we keep them separated when we leave and watch them when we’re home, so no fights. I should mention that Maddie was spayed before leaving the shelter but we were misinformed about Sadie and she came into heat within a few days of the first attack. We don’t know whether to attribute any aggression to that (a friend says being in heat always made her female more docile/good tempered). We are very worried that we might miss an encounter and Jake will be badly hurt (he already hit the road one night while I was out of town – my wife found him in a perimeter canal at midnight after 4 hours of searching). We thought shock collars for the two aggressors but after reading the article are back to not knowing the best solution. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Hello Robert,
What has worked well for my dogs is to establish clear rules of interaction. I just got a Sibe puppy last year, and boy was she full of crazy puppy energy. She is sweet but wanted to play all of the time. The other two dogs like playing with her sometimes, but other times they just want to sleep or laze around.
Some things that helped with my dogs-
1. I made sure that when my adult dogs are resting, puppy does not bother them.
2. I have a fixed schedule and a consistent set of rules for puppy. She gets a lot of play time, but she can’t play all of the time and most importantly, she is not allowed to disturb the other dogs when they just want to rest.
3. During play time, I have safe no-play zones. If a dog is feeling overwhelmed or does not want to play anymore, she just comes over to me and I make sure she stays safe and does not get disturbed by the others.
4. I supervise all their play sessions and make sure there is no bullying, stealing, or humping. During play, I also throw in many play breaks. I call them over and we do some simple commands. They get rewarded well, so they look forward to these mini-breaks. This helps them to refocus on me, and helps to reduce their level of excitement.
5. I don’t leave puppy alone with my other Sibe (Shania). Shania is a 3 legged dog, and she has gotten hurt before from puppy playing. Now, there are clear rules of play. For example, Lara is not allowed to chase Shania. I also do not let her jump over Shania or play too rough with her. If Shania is lying down, Lara has to be lying down as well. She is not allowed to pounce on Shania or step all over her.
In general, what has worked out best is for me to supervise and resolve conflicts before they escalate into something more serious. They can play, but I make sure they follow play rules and I manage their level of excitement. When they get over-excited, is when things are most likely to get out of control.
As for coming into the heat cycle, I do not have much experience with that because both my Sibes are spayed. From talking to my breeder, I know that she separates out any dog that is in heat. This is because the males may try to mount her or compete over her. This creates conflict and may result in fights if the female does not want any male attention, or if the males feel they have to fight over her.
Hi there – I found your article really helpful, but I am curious for your thoughts on my particular situation. Our 18 month old Wheaten/Airedale mix is a great dog, super loving and full of energy. He does really well off-leash and does great with recall, never strays too far from us, etc. However, often he gets SO excited to play with other dogs, that he gets OVERLY into playing/wrestling to the point where the other dog clearly wants him to stop. But he wont. It’s almost like he fixates on that dog and just wont let up. It has lead to one or both of them starting to get aggressive or nipping a little too hard. We use “off” command, but when he’s in that state, it does nothing. When we try to pull him off, he has a few times gotten aggressive with us. It’s really shocking b/c he is SUCH a sweet and lovable dog, so it’s really weird to see him act like that.
Our dog walker who takes him on daily off-leash hikes, has suggested we try an e-collar to help him learn “off” better. I should also mention he jumps on everyone who comes in the house, except my husband and I. Not aggressively, but just annoyingly. Anyway, I am on the fence about it. I think it could help and I don’t want to get into a dangerous situation with the dog, other dogs or myself. What do you think? Do you have suggestions for helping him to learn when enough is enough? Just putting him on the leash does not seem to work.
Thanks!
Yeah, Sephy used to redirect on us as well during his bouts at the dog park. He would get into really excited play, and when we go to stop him, he would redirect that excitement onto the lead and onto us. At that point, he is not thinking anymore, just acting on instinct. It is similar to when we restrain people who are in the middle of a fight or some intense activity – they may redirect on the people restraining them.
Some things that help with Sephy during play-time-
1. Play-breaks
I have lots of play breaks where I call my dogs over, reward them well, and we do a short obedience session. Play breaks help to refocus them on something else, and helps to calm them down. In this way, they never get too excited, and play doesn’t escalate into something else.
2. Play rules
I have clear and consistent play rules that I teach to all of my dogs. For example, there is no humping and no stealing. I supervise them during play and if I see anyone attempting to hump or bully, I stop play right away. If the same dog continues with the behavior, then he goes for a short time-out. In this way he associates “play too rough” = “don’t get to play”.
3. Smaller play groups
Instead of large play groups at the park, I found that Sephy does much better in a smaller and more structured play environment. Here are some of my experiences with enclosed dog parks.
The key with stopping Sephy from escalating “play-time” is to stop him before he gets overly excited and switches to instinct. Once that happens, he can no longer listen or control himself. What has worked well, is to redirect him every so often, and manage his excitement, so that he never reaches his instinct threshold.