Livestock Protection Dogs: Selection, Care and Training by Orysia Dawydiak & David E. Sims

Author:Orysia Dawydiak & David E. Sims [Orysia Dawydiak & David E. Sims]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dogwise Publishing
Published: 2019-03-14T00:00:00+00:00

USE OF AN ELECTRIC COLLAR FOR SERIOUS PROBLEMS

The use of electric collars is controversial, especially with the current popularity of all positive reinforcement training. We do not advocate the use of shock to train dogs to perform obedience commands, for instance, but only when all other methods have been exhausted and the behavior is potentially dangerous to the dog or livestock. For those who believe shock training is cruel, it is not an appropriate tool. Shock training is usually less “painful” than the shock from an electric fence. The collar can be tested on your bare arm if you wish to know how it feels—typically it is not unlike a static shock you might get when you’ve removed your wool sweater and touched a metal door knob on a dry winter day.

Electric collar corrections are appropriate when you have tried all other available training methods but you still have a serious problem, such as chasing stock, which can be solved by long distance corrections. Electric collars have built-in batteries and electrodes. A person can push a button on a handheld activator giving the dog an electric shock from as far away as five hundred feet or more. The more expensive collars offer shocks of variable intensity or duration, and a buzzer or warning tone. Using the shock as a form of instant correction, you can teach a dog, very quickly, that specific behaviors are unacceptable. An electric collar may appear to be a dream come true. It can be useful, yes, but it has to be used with great care. Corrections must be timed precisely when the dog is about to begin the chase or is engaged in the chase; the shock must be associated with the activity you wish to interrupt and stop.

We shall summarize the steps involved with electric collar training. However, we recommend that you talk to an experienced user before trying one for the first time. You may be able to borrow or rent a collar from a breeder or trainer, and at least one company sells refurbished collars. There are many electric collars sitting unused, gathering dust. They were used for specific problems; once the problems had been solved, there was no further need for them. For more information on this method, you may wish to read Understanding Electronic Dog-Training, by Daniel Tortora (see Bibliography.)

The collar, with the electrodes, battery, buzzer and remote sensor, is larger and heavier than an average dog collar. Therefore, if the collar is put on and training begun immediately, the dog would quickly associate the collar with the shocks. The lessons would be lost when the dog did not have the collar on. To get around this problem, first place a “dummy” collar on the dog. The dummy looks just like the shock collar, having the same weight and metal box attached, but it can’t create a buzz or shock. Put this on the dog for at least ten days before beginning corrective training. Several days before the actual training is to begin, carefully read the instructions that accompany the collar.

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