E-Collars are Archaic & Barbaric! But Are They?

The sun is shining and you can feel its warmth fall onto your face. You're at a local trail with your dog off leash because you've put in a lot of time into your dog's recall training. From various locations to various distractions... You feel confident you can let them off leash without worrying if they will come back or not. Then the unthinkable happens... a rabbit darts across the trail path into the bush just ahead. Your dog takes off after the rabbit and heads straight on into the woods. Adrenaline is pounding in their ears and they have only one thing on their mind, getting to that rabbit. You're frantically calling your dog, hoping they will eventually turn around and head back to you...

Real life happens and we simply can’t prepare our dog for every single situation that may arise. A rabbit running can be a hard situation to prepare your dog for! Especially a dog with a high prey drive, hunting drive or a dog who is easily aroused.

Even with a really great foundation for recall, there is always a chance recall might fail if the distraction or motivator is enticing enough (such as a rabbit darts across a trail path!). This is why here at TK9, we use remote training collars, also known as "e-collars". To ensure safety and reliability in all situations by communicating with the dog at a distance, upwards of a mile, depending on the model of the remote collar.

The remote training collar gives you the freedom and peace of mind to achieve reliable recall in the face of wildlife, emergency situations and more.

The collars that we recommend, work with and personally use do not distribute an electric current, thus do not shock the dog. They are a muscle stimulator that use TENS technology which is static stimulation or electronic stimulation (more information below). High enough levels are uncomfortable however we do not use high levels unless it’s an emergency situation (like a rabbit pops out of the bush and the dog takes off after it!).

The remote training collar, when used properly, eventually becomes an emergency back up. When dogs have been trained with it for a long period of time, the handler often doesn’t need to use it every time to recall when the dog is out (however we always suggest to have it on just in case) and the handler can rely just on their voice.

Here is the remote training collar we work the most with (TK9 will only work with Dogtra and Educator remote collars due to safety, efficacy and quality), the Educator ET-400, 3/4 mile: https://a.co/d/cGgJPkD

With the remote training collar, the dog needs to understand that they are controlling that experience. We want to take these steps and give that knowledge on levels of intensity that are not stressful to the dog.

But e-collars are archaic and barbaric!

Let's dive in.

Positive only trainers often argue that their methods are the most modern and most scientifically based. When actually, reward based training is 30-40 years old, that movement was started in the 1980s. Since then there has been massive developments in sophisticated use with pressure and punishment while making sure those methods are applied carefully.

The training process with the remote training collar should not include high levels of intensity. Old-school remote collar training with the old-school technology would send dogs through the roof whereas now most dogs are learning on levels that humans can’t even feel.

Don’t e-collars shock the dog?

“At low levels, the term “shock” is hardly fitting to describe the effects produced by electronic training collars, since there is virtually no effect beyond a pulsing, tingling or tickling sensation on the surface of the skin. The word “shock” is loaded with biased connotations” (Lindsay, 2005).

Electronic collars utilize electronic stimulation (ES) not electric shock. Electric shock is the artificial stimulation of a living tissue by means of an electric field or current (IEC). The ES delivered by modern electronic collars is Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), which artificially stimulates nerves and sensory receptors. TENS has no injurious consequences and is often used to manage chronic pain in humans. Typically the ES travels through tissue between two electrical contact points, which are applied to the skin. The ES is contained to the skin and superficial tissues when the contact points are less than 60mm apart The ECMA (Electronic Collar Manufacturers Association) Technical Requirement states that these skin contacts must be less than 60mm apart confining the ES to the skin and superficial tissues of the ventral neck.

The ES works by activation of local skin receptors called nociceptors. These normally detect pain and convert pressure, chemical signals or thermal ranges into electrical signals that are transported to the brain for interpretation. There are different types of nociceptors for different types of stimuli. Low-level ES confuses low threshold type Aδ nociceptors and medium level ES confuses high threshold type Aβ nociceptors into a response, that is, sending a signal to the brain. The ES is perceived as a prickling sensation which cannot justifiably be described as pain (IASP, 2010). Like low and medium level ES, high-level ES causes no physical damage but the signals sent to the brain are perceived as pain so a high level ES can therefore justifiably be described as a painful and emotionally distressing event. [However it is important to note that high levels are not what we would regularly use, especially when introducing the e-collar to the dog or doing everyday obedience training. We utilize low level conditioning and often stay within the medium level range even for correctional purposes unless it is a life or death situation.] The pain sensation following high-level ES is described as physiological pain because it is not associated with any tissue damage. The physiological pain of high-level ES occurs because of the inclusion of type C nociceptor stimulation. Pathological pain which follows tissue damage as a result of accidents or surgery is intense and can be very persistent unlike physiological pain. (Electronic RT in Perspective – David Chamberlain BVetMed., MRCVS.).

The difference?

Electric shock is the sudden application of electric current to a living organism with sufficient strength and duration to produce a convulsive or thermal effect (IEC) with injurious exposure consequences (Reilly 1998). Typically electronic shocks occur when mains electricity accidentally travels through an animal’s or human’s body to earth. This is a completely different effect of what is distributed via an electronic training collar. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation has no injurious effects, cannot “burn skin” and do not act as “electric shocks” to the epidermis.

Electronic collars have been commercially available since the 1970s and these original devices were relatively primitive. These historic collars did deliver quite substantial currents hence the coining of the term ‘shock’. However, this is not a term, which is appropriate to associate with modern electronic collars as the devices have evolved along with an understanding of how animals learn to be much milder and more effective systems (CAWC 2012).

On many websites concerning animal welfare consequences of electronic collars, there are multiple uses of the words “shock collars” when describing electronic training collars. These websites often use such words to enhance their position on why not to use electronic collars. Often the written material deals in absolutes and frame the use of an electronic collar such that it “will” cause harmful effects such as “burning skin” and “convulsions”, “detrimental behavioral distress”, and that the electronic training collars are “ineffective” overall.

These descriptions are completely untrue and have been proven scientifically to be false. Overall, these descriptions and characterizations being false are libelous and should be carefully considered before being used (Orion v RSPCA Vic). The RSPCA website details clearly its philosophy and opinion on electronic collars by opposing the use of the devices with a strong concern of misuse more so than the devices themselves. The word “shock” is still used, but far more conservatively than in recent years, likely largely due to a court case that ruled against the RSPCA due to inaccurate and misleading information regarding electronic collars (Orion v RSPCA Vic).

Presumably, if electronic remote collars are inflicting the harmful effects various groups would like to propagandize, there would be epidemic proportions of pets ending up in veterinary clinics and quantified cases of lawsuits as direct results of the use of such devices.

Most anti-collar propaganda is both inaccurate and opinion only. Research investigating the effectiveness of electronic training collars has shown repeatedly that the devices do not cause injury and when used with an understanding of operant training principles, are very effective teaching tools. Electronic collars were created to enhance animal welfare by maximizing the clarity and speed of an animal's incentive learning.

Over and over they have proven to be effective tools when other techniques or protocols have failed. The welfare benefits of them need to be considered as some organizations object to them on welfare grounds. These objections are philosophical only.

The most modern method out there for dog training right now is the really balanced methodology. The people that are becoming very skilled by learning everything they can about reward based training and then being scientifically precise about the use of pressure. There’s yet to be a study that shows trainers using very skilled reward based techniques and then layering very calculated applications of pressure then testing that versus positive only methods.

“Carpenters were driving nails into wood before science could explain it.”

Science seeks to explain what is already happening.