Training Collars in Dog Owner’s Hands
Training Collars in Dog Owner’s Hands
There is always a debate about using primary training tools like prong collars and e-collars (shock collars). Today, all I want to talk about is the dog-in-training being transferred over from professional dog trainer back to the everyday dog owner.
I am starting my 9th year as a full-time dog expert. It’s glaringly obvious that owners don’t want to be a professional dog trainer. Yes, of course, people have varying dog training interests but ultimately, everyone wants the same thing: a great dog that doesn’t jump on their guests or bark at other dogs, comes when they are called, and doesn’t pull on the leash. From dog training, to diet and exercise, to part time work with a full-time paycheck, people want to put in minimal work to get an outstanding result. To do this, sending a dog away to a trainer is often very desirable and highly sought after.
I know a lot of correction-based trainers that have great timing, good tool function, and excellent consistency. These trainers can use controversial tools in ways that are causing minimal pain and fear to the dog. I don’t think anyone is arguing the tools aren’t causing some amount of pain or startle factor, otherwise, prong collars and e-collars would be a fashion statement, not a training style up for debate…and banned or restricted in at least 7 countries.
Training tools, both positive and aversive, are supposed to be “tools” meaning that dog can be weaned off but almost all of the time, those tools are sent home with the owner to continue using because training is a lifetime, not a 2 week program.
A trainer works with an owner from as little as 1 session or as many as a dog’s lifetime of sessions. But the highly sought-after “board & train” works exclusively with the dog for weeks then with the owner for 1-4 hours to transfer information. In that time, the trainer [who has been studying and practicing for years sometimes decades] teaches the owner [who has not] about the prong collar or e-collars’ timing, function, and consistency and how the dog should be responding, before sending the owner, dog, and tools home. Good luck!
When I work with an owner using an event marker (like a clicker) and reinforcement plan (like treats or toys), I see them mess up, get confused, have bad timing, forget what I said, and click at the wrong time or others are totally natural and get it on the first try. Nothing bad happens to the dog except they might get an extra treat.
When collar tools are used and the owner is taught how to implement corrections, one of the following happens:
The owner is totally confident that they understand and they will do it “good enough” but never as good as a trainer… because, remember, they don’t want to be a trainer.
Or the owner thinks they understand and are doing it correctly but they actually have poor timing, poor tool function, and poor consistency.
Or they know they are uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and incorrectly using these tools causing confusion, pain, and fear harming their relationship with their dog.
(The above is also true for owners purchasing these collars tools off the shelf of pet stores without any trainer’s guidance).
Then maybe because of the owner’s struggles, the trainer takes the dog back, the dog is “fixed” again with the trainer, and goes back home with the owner who still has poor timing, poor tool function, and poor consistency.
Nearly all correction-based board and train situations are going to send an owner home with those tools because training is a lifetime, not a 14-day fix. Any tool can work successfully for a professional, well-practiced trainer but controversial tools in the hands of an everyday dog owner can do more harm than good, break a dog’s spirit, and permanently affect the dog/owner bond.
