Dog Behavior

When a pet is misbehaving the first thought most pet owners have is “how can I get him to stop” whatever the pet is doing they don’t like.  A much more productive perspective is to consider how to elicit and reward behaviors they like. 

Unfortunately, most pet owners have quite a cavalier, nonchalant attitude about using a variety of punishment based tools and methods including choke chains, pinch collars, “alpha rolls”, remote controlled electronic collars, and throw chains.   Most folks are unaware of the careful, precise, and most importantly sparing way any type of punishment should be used.  Instead, too many are willing to accept that punishment and force and “showing the dog who’s boss” are unavoidable requirements for having a well behaved pet.

When it comes to remote training collars that can be bought off the shelf at most big box pet stores, pet owners must be aware of how powerful these tools are and how easy it is to mis-use them.  The worst way to use remote collars is as punishment devices.    Many pet owners are still using them out of anger or frustration which significantly increases the potential for abuse. 

The results of a study done in Germany in 2006 revealed that dogs that were subjected to high intensity electrical stimulation delivered with poor timing (meaning inconsistently with regard to the dog’s behavior) resulted in a “high risk that dogs will show severe and persistent stress symptoms.”  The authors of this paper recommend that “the use of these devices should be restricted with proof of theoretical and practical qualification required and then the use of these devices should only be allowed in strictly specified situations.”

Unfortunately, the average pet owner is not going to have good timing, is likely to use the device indiscriminately and inconsistently and therefore take an extreme risk of causing behavioral harm to their dog.  We do not recommend dog owners use these devices except under the supervision of an experienced (and preferably certified) behavior consultant with an extensive knowledge of animal learning theory. 

Electronic collars which are triggered by the dog’s behavior – such as the boundary systems and bark collars –meet two important criteria for effective punishment. They deliver punishment immediately and consistently.  However, as with any punisher, careful assessment is required to determine whether these products are appropriate for an individual dog and a specific situation.

Features of some of these collars – such as a vibration only, and a beep that can be used as conditioned positive reinforcement are unfortunately under-utilized.  Part of the reason may be that when people go in search of these devices, their motivation is to find an effective means of punishing a behavior.  Whenever punishment of any sort is used, it should always be within the context of a behavior modification program designed to minimize the use of punishment and maximize the use of reinforcement for desired behaviors.