and saddens me,
and makes me wonder how playing training with your dogs can be fun if it isn’t positive?
I am not naive .. I’ve heard and seen stories about abuse, neglect and violence that I simply don’t share with people who haven’t worked the front lines. Working at the SPCA and a lifetime of teaching have made me somewhat cynical. Maybe that’s why I just can’t imagine working around issues with force anymore.
This week I’m feeling a little shell-shocked though. I am staggered by the notion that there are people who teach contacts using a shock collar as a tool. I’m horrified to realize that people who truly love and appreciate their dogs don’t understand that shocking a dog is destructive to relationships and going to create some issues with trust. I do understand that many people see it as a tool and use it as such but I can’t understand how dogs are expected to find joy when being shocked into compliance.
Other People Agree with Me
I’m not alone in this concern, but doing a little research into these collars is alarming (on youtube there are an awful lot of people laughing wildly as other people take the shocks from a dog collar.) I haven’t read all these links yet – but you may have more time than I do, or want to read more. I’ve met dogs comatose from life in a shock collar, dogs with burns on their skin, I have no real urge to read more. I pass no judgement on those that feel they “have” to use a shock collar but it makes me very very sad.
December 2021 Update
An Instagram follower found this blog recently and asked me what I thought of it now. I reread it and there is nothing in here that I have changed my mind on … if anything I have moved a little more to actually asking people why they use a shock collar if I see one and doing a little light education if they seem interested
If they are interested more in science than my feelings (or their dogs) rather than pointing them here (which has a fair bit of science tucked away – I might even share that followers much newer post on the subject Do Shock Collars Hurt Dogs?
Give it a read when you get a chance!
Here, in words much wiser than mine, are some thoughts about force and violence:
“Violence begins where knowledge ends” ~Abraham Lincoln
“Lenience will operate with greater force, in some instances than rigor. It is therefore my first wish to have all of my conduct distinguished by it.”~ George Washington
“Do not ever say that the desire to “do good” by force is a good motive. Neither power-lust nor stupidity are good motives.” ~ Ayn Rand
“Whatever needs to be maintained through force is doomed.”~ Henry Miller
“The person who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out.” ~Chinese Proverb
“Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.” ~Gandhi
Wonderful quotes.
I don't understand the use of shock collars at all.
I also volunteer at a local SPCA and it is so disheartening to see what a dog as a result of spending life in a shock collar.
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Thank you for not hiding the truth! I’ve done research on this too, if anyone is interested in specific facts and reasons why you shouldn’t use shock collars, read my article – https://trainingyourpuppy.net/shock-collars-hurt-dogs/