Are Shock Collars for Dogs Good or Bad?

Shock collars can help with training

They Can Be Effective

Shock collars for dogs provide immediate correction for inappropriate or undesirable behavior in dogs. Some undesirable behavior is just annoying, like excessive barking, but some may be dangerous, like when a dog runs for the street. Shock collars can correct such behavior for many dogs.

Some Experts Advise Against Them

The Partnership for Animal Welfare states that other more effective methods exist for training your dog. They say that your dog is likely to associate pain with whatever triggers its inappropriate behavior than associating the pain with the behavior itself. For instance, if your dog barks and tries to get to other dogs on walks and receives a shock, it may think the other dogs caused the pain, not its barking and pulling behavior. Then it may become anxious and fearful around other dogs, which is not what you want.

Bottom Line

Shock collars often work but other methods of training work, too, and may even work better. Some also consider shock collars inhumane although the shocks administered, while uncomfortable, should not be very painful. Talk to your veterinarian or an experienced dog trainer if you have questions about the best way to train your dog.

References

• Partnership for Animal Welfare: Collars and Sense
• K9 Electronics: Dog Training Collars

Resources

• KFVS 12 Heartland News: Guardian Anti-Bark Collar