Over the last couple days, Ive seen a couple reports about the damages caused by e-collars. Its upsetting that scientists and experts are so determined to give e-collars a bad name that they will continue to disseminate bad information. First, e-collars do not cause burns. If left in the same place on the dogs neck for days at a time, the contacts can cause pressure sores or irritation, but the stimulation from the collar does not cause burns. Second, any method of training can create stress. I used zero positive punishment or negative reinforcement with my GSD when I was teaching him behaviors. At times he would shut down and exhibit signs of stress from the reinforcement being withheld if he did not figure out the desired behavior. I didnt put any pressure on him and simply marked and rewarded desirable behaviors, but the stress of not being able to figure out how to gain a reward was enough to make him want to quit at times. Of course an e-collar can create stress if used improperly. Treats can cause obesity if used improperly. The key is to use these tools properly. Third, I would love for someone to do a study on reliability of dogs trained only with positive reinforcement and negative punishment verses the reliability of dogs trained using methods from all four quadrants of operant conditioning. I would much rather humanely employ e-collars and prong collars and have a reliable dog than to worry about my dogs taking off if they wound up off leash and spotted an irresistible distraction. Without an e-collar, training my dogs to not chase deer, cats, etc. would have been impossible. I wish people could consider all training tools and the potential results without emotion. I see so many ill behaved dogs these days and I really believe its because the mentality has become such that people dont want to discipline their dogs. cbsnews/news/debate-surges-over-dog-shock-collar-use/
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 14:13:51 +0000
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