The use of shock collars in dogs

The vast majority of these products work by delivering positive punishment or negative reinforcement.  In the case of negative reinforcement an aversive or unpleasant stimuli such as pain or discomfort is caused by for example, the tightening of a prong collar due to a dog pulling on a leash.  When the dog stops pulling the pain ends.  The goal is for the dog to learn to associate the pulling with the pain and not pulling with no pain. Positive punishment introduces the unpleasant stimulus when an unwanted behavior occurs, such as kneeing a dog in the chest when it attempts to jump on a person.

In a 2006 review of shock collar literature commissioned by the RSPCA, Emily Blackwell and Rachel Casey write that shock collars are used as both agents of positive punishment and negative reinforcement, a feature that is of benefit to proponents of their use. Misuse of the collars has welfare concerns.

Blackwell and Casey note inherent difficulties in the use of shock collars and unintended associations, the shock may not necessarily be linked with an unwanted behavior rather a trainer, location or situation. Therefore, an attempt to control excessive barking at the dog run using a shock collar may turn into a situation where the dog run is now associated with the shock and not the barking. Even when a shock collar is no longer used dogs have been known to continue to associate the shock with the trainer or situation and exhibit signs of stress.

A 2004 study by Schilder & van der Borg observed that when trainers were working with dog wearing shock collars: “the command was followed by a shock so quickly that the dog was unable to prevent a shock. This leads to unwanted conditioning: the dog has learned that getting a command predicts a shock.” In reference to this study Blackwell and Casey write that if this occurs with professional dog trainers it is even more likely to occur with the general public.

Timing is key in training, whether it be positive or negative reinforcement. Blackwell and Casey say the danger of unwanted associations exists in both scenarios. The difference with unintended associations caused by unpleasant or painful stimuli is that the avoidance learning (demonstrated by our fictional dog who now refuses to enter the dog run)  lasts a very long time and is very difficult to correct.

The use of a shock collar as a successful training device is problematic at best. For starters, studies have shown that training with positive reinforcement is more successful than the use of negative reinforcement (only positive reinforcement is used training assistance dogs in the UK). The study also found that the use of punishment correlates with a rise in the number of unwanted behaviors.

When researchers compared citronella collars with shock collars the citronella collars were found to be more effective (and preferred more by owners) and when dogs are trained with other severe training methods such as physical punishment they were found to exhibit fewer stress related behaviors than when trained with shock collars.

Shock collar advocates contend that there is an art to the use of the collar with some researchers calling for a licensing system for qualified users and that properly used the dog responds in a manner that would indicate no apparent discomfort. Blackwell and Casey raise two issues in response; working dogs with high levels of excitement may tolerate shock more readily in order to perform the task at hand such as herding sheep or tackling criminals. Additionally calibrating the appropriate level of shock for an individual dog requires knowledge of breed, nature, present temperament, past experiences with shock, thickness of the coat and how moist the skin is at the moment of delivery.

The potential for abuse exists with shock collars as well. The devices are able to deliver extremely high levels of shock which have been found to leave neck lacerations particularly in inclement weather. Deliberate abuse due to anger has also been observed such as repeatedly shocking a dog for running away when the animal returns.

The authors point out other issues including the use of shock collars to control aggressive behavior countered with numerous studies showing “that pain caused by an electric shock is a well documented stimulus for aggression in a wide variety of species”. Fear can found aggression as well as anxiety over separation from an owner. Shock collars have also been shown to exacerbate fear and fear based behaviors.

With shock collars so readily available and so widely used knowing more about them might be the first step to consider before using them.

For more info:  Blackwell, E. and R. Casey. (2006).  The use of shock collars and their impact on the welfare of dogs:  A review of the current literature. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Schilder, M.B.H. and J.A.M. van der Borg. (2004). Training dogs with the help of a shock collar: short and long term behavioral effects.  Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 85, 319-334