I watched an episode of “Dogtown,” a National Geographic series on TV the other day. Dogtown is a no-kill animal shelter for a variety of homeless creatures. I am glad to see they are finally being recognized for their selfless, difficult, yet rewarding work.
In the episode I watched they were trying to put a leash on a feral dog. When they finally got it on, the dog went crazy. It was biting, yelping and writhing as if it were on fire. It’s intuitive that the leash, when being used by caring individuals, will not cause harm to the dog. Why would a dog act like that because of a collar and leash? The answer is it had never experienced leash pressure and was confused. This was amplified because the dog was also not used to people handling him. Your immediate reaction would not be “Oh my, I will never use a leash on my dog; that is just cruel!” You wouldn’t respond that way because you have had some experience with a leash and know what it can and cannot do. For training to be effective, a dog must understand both leash pressure and verbal cues such as sit, down, come, etc. If one of these components is missing then confusion is the result.
The same is true of the remote collar. When the dog first experiences the remote, or e-collar, there is confusion. The dog may try to run, scratch, sit or any number of actions other than the behavior you commanded. If you were leash training and the dog failed to comply to leash corrections, would you then say leashes aren’t for my dog, they just don’t work? Of course not! This will happen with both leash and e-collar training. It takes patience, consistency and proper timing to help the dog understand what is being asked of it. E-collar training incorporates positive reinforcement when the dog accomplishes the desired behavior. The difference is that the e-collar can mark unwanted behaviors immediately and teach the dog how to eliminate that option, thereby allowing training to progress at a faster rate. Once the dog understands the language of the e-collar confusion ceases to be an issue.
The Sit Means Sit method uses the lowest stimulation possible, just enough to get the dogs attention. It is not strictly aversion or punishment training. It is impossible to injure a dog with a remote collar. It is possible to injure a dog with leash corrections. Can you be cruel with a remote collar? Absolutely, just as you can with a leash.
It is only the lack of education that prevents more people from taking advantage of the e-collar as a valuable training tool. The e-collar can be used to enhance your existing training method; not replace it. There is no limit to what your dog can do with an e-collar and the proper training. Using the Sit Means Sit method of training is less confusing and less stressful on the dog. More control for you means more privileges for the dog. You will take the dog more places because you know you have control, thereby improving the quality of life for both you and the dog. It increases the safety of your dog because you have control at distances. You also don’t have to have a certain amount of strength to control your dog using the e-collar as you do with a leash. I’ve had a client who lost a dog because it would not come back and ran into the street and was hit by a car. Another client twisted her knee, resulting in knee surgery, when her dog lunged for another dog across the street while on a leash.
As with any training the key is finding the right trainer, whether it is leash or e-collar. Make sure you ask the trainer to see their dog as an example of his or her work, they should be proud to do so, and ask about their level of experience.