The Emotional Turmoil of Shock Collars
In my free time I’m a distance runner. Running is like therapy to me. Running is when I clear my head and do my best thinking. It’s how I decompress and process my day.
Today while I was out for my long run, I ran one of my favorite routes which is along the Harborwalk in Charlestown’s Navy Yard. If you’ve never been before, it’s a quiet stretch of Boston that is stunning. It’s along the Boston Harbor where there are parks, lots of dogs, yachts, sailing boats, and the famous USS Constitution.
Photo of my Everdog, Oliver.
You may be asking yourself, “What does this have to do with training dogs?”
This morning I left the house very early to avoid the summer heat and heavy foot traffic. I was about 4 miles into my run and in a meditative state, staring out at the harbor, when suddenly I experienced a rush of adrenaline. My heart began to race. I almost stopped running to walk for a couple minutes so that I could compose myself. Why? Because in the early hours every morning the USS Constitution fires off cannons. It’s loud. It’s startling. It’s no fun. And in that moment, I was approximately 50 yards away from the USS Constitution and cannon.
It’s a feeling that is all too familiar. It’s happened one too many times before. I’m blissfully running along, totally unassuming, and BOOM!
Even when I know the cannon shot is coming, the suddenness of it makes me want to duck and cover. It may sound silly, but it really ruins a run. Whenever it happens, I am shaky and on high alert for the next 30-40 minutes afterwards thinking, “Is another one coming?!”
Today I was lucky. I passed through the Navy yard after the cannon had already gone off. Even then, the anticipation of whether I would be around for an unexpected BOOM had me on edge. That’s when it dawned on me. This is how dogs wearing shock collars must feel. The only difference is that I am lucky enough to only be started by noise rather than physical pain.
Now let’s translate that into dogs. Let’s say a dog is out for his daily walk. The dog is trotting along, enjoying his walk, when he sees another dog. He starts bee-lining to the newcomer because he’s so excited to say hello and play. Only the owner doesn’t want his dog to say hello, so they try calling the dog. The dog doesn’t come right away because the excitement over a potential play date is too much. So, they give the dog a ZAP!
Now the dog is freaked out. He’s on edge. He saw something that he thought was tremendous and then something bad happened to him. Something totally out of his control. Now the dog is wondering what that pain was and if it’ll happen again. All those warm and fuzzy feelings over the dog and walk are gone.
Some dogs quickly recover after getting zapped by a shock collar, but not all do. In fact, shock collars not only cause pain, they can cause many other unintended negative side effects on the dog including, but not limited to: increased fear-related aggression and inhibition in learning. At the end of the day, shock collars just aren’t necessary. Wouldn’t you rather teach your dog desirable behaviors with cookies and praise rather than teaching them what not to do using pain and fear? Positive reinforcement works.
If you have questions about positive reinforcement or force-free training, please reach out. Everdog is here to support you.
Here is the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior’s official position statement on The Use of Punishment for Behavior Modification in Animals in case you’d like to learn more.
