Ask 100 dog parents the one thing they wish their dog would do that they currently don’t, and the answer will be, “Come when I call.” Perhaps that’s why so many people with dogs use electric shock collars. When you push a button on a gizmo that you hold in your hand, the dog receives an electric shock on his neck via a collar with two blunt electrodes attached that make contact with the skin. The pain can be quite intense, so dogs “get the message.”
We’re not at all for it. Using pain to train a dog only makes him frightened, miserable, and sometimes, aggressive. It completely breaks down the human-animal bond. Researchers proved the point when they compared dogs trained with positive techniques starting gradually in the backyard — offered treats for coming and so on — and dogs trained with shock collars. Both learned their lessons equally effectively. But the dogs who wore shock collars were found to be tense more often than the others and also yawned more, which among canines usually signals anxiety and confusion, not fatigue.
We will address positive steps for teaching a dog to come in a future issue.
