Please read this before buying electric dog collars
We have two dogs, both Dobermans, Cooper aged 5 years and Apollo aged 6 years.
Recently Cooper started barking incessantly at a goat grazing in a paddock on the neighbour's property and around our compost bin where he could probably smell mice or rats, this went on for weeks until I was fed up with the constant racket. A family member offered us a dog training collar which she had used on their dog with success and I accepted it although with some misgivings – how I wish I had gone with my gut feeling that I shouldn't use it!
One day after Cooper had been barking for hours up at the compost bin and wouldn't listen to me, I decided to use the bark collar – what followed was probably one of the most horrifying experiences in my whole life.
As soon as the electric dog collar was on Cooper he went absolutely crazy, yelping and running around in circles, attacking Apollo like a mad creature and of course the more he yelped the more the electric dog collar zapped him. The three of us finished up down a hill in the orchard area, by this time Apollo was attacking Cooper so that as well as trying to get the collar undone I was also trying to ward him off.
I finally managed to do this by creating a moving shield with a supporting cane grabbed from a new fruit tree. Somehow I eventually managed to get the collar off Cooper and drag both dogs up the hill where I tied them up to look at the damage as I washed them down with warm water and disinfectant. The three of us were covered in mud and blood, both dogs had deep bites and I was lucky to escape with a bruised arm where a random bite hadn't penetrated winter weight clothing.
We were all in shock and of course there was an expensive visit to the Vet for stitches and antibiotics.
There are obviously some dogs who get the first zap and stop barking but I believe that these collars are cruel and dangerous and have the potential to place unprepared dog owners, and their dogs, in what can become an extremely harmful and dangerous situation.
by Maureen Morgan – Auckland
Electric dog collars
Check they give the dog a warning and reset automatically
Without a reset button an electric dog collar can shock a dog when it barks and then when the dog squeals in pain it will shock it again, the dog screams in pain and then it is again shocked. This process will simply continue. There is absolutely no place for electric dog collars without warnings and an automatic reset.
(The reset feature prevents the device giving an electric shock to the dog after it has barked within a certain time period, this allows the dog to scream in response to the shock and then be quiet, without giving it another shock immediately)
No need for electric dog training collars
In my experience there are very few situations that require electric dog collars.
Sadly many people are tricked into thinking that dog training collars will be the perfect solution. Often they are often portrayed as being suitable for training dogs to perform all sorts of tricks and basic commands such as sit and heel. (This is not so)
To me this is no different from days gone by when circus animals were taught to do tricks such as stand on one leg by hitting the other leg until it lifted it up.
Dogs will always change their behaviour if you change the way you are communicating with them.
Find out the best way to help your dog by visiting the home consultation page.
