OneKind is responding to the Scottish Government’s consultation on whether electronic training devices for dogs and cats should be banned or regulated.
The consultation closes this Friday 29th January. We already tested a shock collar on ourselves to see how painful it is (see previous blog), but we wanted to get the opinion of professional dog trainers. They work with dogs every day. Do they use e-collars? Do they share our view that most types of e-collar should be banned? We needed to find out, so we contacted as many dog trainers in Scotland as we could and asked them to take part in a short survey about what they thought of these devices. Out of the 55 dog trainers we tried to contact, 23 took part in the survey. The results…
- 91% of dog trainers that took part in our survey support a ban on shock collars
- 83% also supported a ban on all types of anti-bark collar
- 65% believe that any collars that use aversive training techniques such as chemical sprays, loud noises or vibrations should be banned.
Stressful and often painful
Laura, who runs Braw Puppy, pointed out that we just don’t know how the electric shocks are experienced by dogs of different sizes and with different temperaments and sensitivities. She went on to say that, “positive training methods are proven to be the best way to effectively train or counter-condition a dog”.
Not only did we hear of examples where dogs have been made to suffer as a result of the use of a shock collar, many dog trainers made us further aware of the welfare risks associated with the use of collars that use Citronella spray. Kirsty MacQueen, of Puppy School Glasgow, has had first-hand experience of these types of collar. She said that “we can't say that a shock collar is more aversive to a dog than the citronella spray.” Indeed, her comments are backed up by research which highlights that, “It is not clear whether lemon-spray collars result in fewer pain and stress reactions than shock collars.”
Unnecessary
Not only are there risks to the welfare of the animals being trained, these collars use “aversive techniques” that are no longer deemed necessary by most professional trainers. As Adrianne Beattie, of Paw Management, said, “The aversive equipment as suggested above cannot do anything more than good training and a leash can do...other than to do harm… Totally unnecessary.” Similarly, Margaret, of Mardogs, stated, “Having learnt over the years, I can confidently say that reward based training works far better than using aversive techniques.” Who would want to resort to one of these devices when there are humane alternatives?
A risk to others
We also heard from dog trainers who were of the view that the use of aversive training techniques can sometimes lead to the dog unintentionally associating the unpleasant experience with something other than the undesired behaviour. Kirsty gave us a powerful example from her own experience, "I used the citronella spray years ago for my very exuberant puppy boxer. We stayed in an urban area and I was getting complaints from the neighbours about his excessive barking. I tried lots of things and the citronella collar was a new thing on the market at the time, so I decided to give it a go. He used to bark at children as they went past the window, but it was an excited barking. He wanted to go out and play. After using the collar, he went quickly from being excited to being aggressive towards children. I spent a long time rehabilitating him and he is much older now, but ever since then I have not been comfortable having him anywhere near children."
Paul Connelly, a retired police dog handler who now runs his own training business, Wolfspeak, has had similar experiences, “In over thirty years of working with and training dogs I have never had to resort to the use of an electric shock collar to rectify or remedy a behavioural trait. I have, however, had to deal with dogs with severe anxiety issues that were not present before electric shock tactics had been used… I have also seen aggression put into otherwise balanced dogs by use of aggressive training techniques including electric shock collars.”
OneKind are of the view that electronic training devices that rely on the use of aversive training techniques should be banned. Our view is shared by the majority of professional dog trainers that we spoke to. The government’s consultation on electronic training aids closes this Friday 29th January. If you have any experience of e-collars of any sort and would like to see them banned, please take this final opportunity to take part in the government’s consultation and make your voice heard.