Yelling At Your Dog or Using Shock Collars Is NOT The Solution…

Yelling At Your Dog or Using Shock Collars Is NOT The Solution…

- A shock collar is a training tool which applies a negative stimulus to the dog. It can be used in the correct fashion to train a dog. It can be used improperly to cause a dog extreme pain. A leash can also be used properly as a training tool and improperly to cause extreme pain. The important word is "improperly". Used properly, a shock collar is no different than a leash as a training tool.
When you first fit a dog with a shock collar, the goal is to find the working level. The working level is the lowest level that the dog will notice. You put the collar on the dog and start at the lowest level and shock the dog. You gradually increase the level until there is a notice. Ears perked up, or the turn of the head. A yelp from the dog means it is too hot. You want to avoid vocalization. Just a "what was that" look from the dog. If the ears fall back and the tail tucks, the collar is too hot.
When using a shock collar, the key is to apply the least amount of zap needed to get the job done. Early versions of shock collars had very little means of adjusting the level of the shock. They were permanently set to "weld" and, because of this, good for very little. In contrast, modern shock collars have a huge number of levels. My shock collar has 48 levels available, all the way from imperceptible to the smallest of dogs all the way to quite hot for the most stubborn of dogs. Many levels are also useful to avoid overstepping. Overstepping is when level 5 is too little for the dog to notice and level 6 causes the dog to vocalize (which indicates that the level is too high).