- Betterdog4u wrote:
- The ONLY time I can see it as the proper tool is when you take on the responsiblity of working with an aggressive or visious dog with the goal of rehabilitating it.
A shock collar can help to break fixation or an agressive reaction to training, but it should ONLY be used as a short term solution.
hey, BD! :--)
i would specifically * never * recommend or use any form of shock - anti-bark, boundary/fence, wireless-zone, NONE - with any dog with a history of aggro.
even if it was not an actual bite, just air-snaps, tooth-touches with no mark, etc; nothing that even left a scratch, let alone a bruise. [and i have worked with dogs
who have bite histories, predatory killings, dog-dog attacks, etc.]
ASSOCIATING shock with X-stimulus - dog, human, setting, whatever - is a Pavlovian conditioning,
which is more powerful than any Operant Conditioning, and will over-ride it entirely in moments of stress; ergo, the dog will be More-Aggro, not less [due to the assoc of shock/pain/startle].
rehab is about
reducing stress - no shock-collar reduces stress, it is definitely contra-indicated.
i do not even suggest them for so-called SNAKE PROOFING, as dogs who went thru this highly-aversive 'training' AKA shock-session have still been bitten,
and many have had post-trauma behaviors: fleeing in a blind panic from the mere whiff of snake-scent, which can send them into traffic, ONTO another
or even the same snake, get them lost in wild country, etc.
shock IMO sucks;
there is always a better option.
- terry