The story isn't pleasant. The training debates always seem to escalate into methodology "wars". I am not here to justify methodology positions and descend this post into debating those . This is merely sharing my experiences on why I personally choose to not use them.
I do have to start this by saying I do not judge people that have used them.
In many ways they can appear "appealing" to people struggling with serious issues. They are advertised as "training tools" and yes....they do have the ability to stop unwanted behaviours.
At my local pet store there is a whole display unit dedicated to these, the words "education station" are highlighted, as are the words "train your dog". So yes, I do understand why people purchase them and use them.
After all ....if pet stores sell them how bad could they really be ?
YouTube videos show just how "easy" a well behaved dog can be, in "just a few minutes" your dog can be recalled, issues are "solved" and they are very tempting indeed to people that are struggling with their dog.
I choose not to use them after witnessing a particularly disturbing incident many years ago....and that image, sound and smell still stays with me to this day,
At a facility that I was working at, a dog had an e collar on, they were occasionally used there to stop unwanted behaviour.
I was never particularly comfortable with this, but I did believe they were needed to stop unwanted behaviour.
This particular day, I heard the unmistakable sound of a desperate dog in agony. I was 30 - 40 metres away when I first heard it.
Every 20-30 seconds I heard a screech/scream/yelp of a dog in pain....if you have ever heard a dog vocalising THAT level of pain, you will know it is a sound that scrapes down your spine.
I was running towards where I thought it was coming from...trying to find the particular dog that had somehow become trapped and had a broken leg (?)....or had somehow escaped and was being attacked by another (?).
The screams weren't constant, there was a distinct break in the screeching/yelping as I scrambled to find which dog was making this horrendous noise.
I frantically opened several doors and gates, assessing the dogs I found because they were now ALL showing signs of distress, purely because of what we were collectively hearing.
I had to stay and observe each dog for a few seconds to ensure they were/weren't the dog screaming. Then hearing that screeching again...the search continued.
Off to the next possible area and next dog this screaming could have come from.
Another highly distressed dog disturbed by what they could hear, yet not the right one.
I finally opened the correct door.
In front of me was a floor covered in diarrhoea and urine. In a far corner there was a Spaniel absolutely pleading with his eyes for help.
I attempted to approach but every 20-30 seconds there would be a beep... then he would jump a foot into the air, screech and scramble in his own excrement when his feet touched the ground again.
I could barely keep my footing, slipping on the floor covered in urine and liquid faeces. What he was experiencing had caused him to lose control of his bowels and bladder...several times and I couldn't help him for several agonising minutes.
Hearing the beep, I knew and HE knew pain was again on it's way.
It was imminent.
When I would approach, he would get another shock and yelp and scream and scramble for footing again, I had to wait until I had those few seconds in between and try and approach him.
He started to snarl, growl and air snap, there was no doubt he would have sunk his teeth into me.
He was also reacting to the fear and shock I was feeling in the situation.
I had to witness a horrific cycle of screaming, yelping and a dog scrambling to his feet on a ground that was slippery and smeared with diarrhoea and urine.
I was in shock...I know I didn't act quick enough, I couldn't.
My feet wouldn't grip the ground when I attempted moving towards him, every time I did I was slipping in his excrement.
Just when I would be in reach and start to extend my hands out to unclip the e collar, a beep would be heard and he would again screech and convulse in pain.
Waiting and formulating a plan..... how on earth I am going to get this off him?
I'd managed to inch forward on the ground a little more in between every shock.
I noticed he was becoming a little more exhausted with each shock, then he turned his head away from me as he fell from another jolt and his feet slipped.
I leapt towards him ,grabbed the collar....pressed the two side clips together and it released.
His body just crumpled in front of me with exhaustion, he was trembling, frightened, petrified and I will never forget the look in his eyes.
I was trying to soothe him, comfort him and I was sobbing because of the trauma he had been through..... then I heard a beep and I felt a pain searing through my forearm moving up into my shoulder and neck, I thought I had been bit or burned.
The two e collars prongs had touched my arm, even with all that adrenaline surging in me and with the shock I was in....it "stung" me like 30 wasps.
Am I dramatising this for effect....no.
This is exactly what happened and it changed me forever.
That was the turning point for me.
I swore that I would never ever use them again, let a dog have them on around me or recommend them and I haven't.
That isn't the only story I have about e collars, I think every trainer (of every methodology) has their own collection of issues they have seen with their clients too.
I have seen holes burned into necks (more times than I can count now), blistering skin and red raw necks and throats.
Dogs that shrink away and skulk back into a corner because a fabric collar has been shown to them.
Dogs that have had trauma to their trachea and vocal chords. Their barks are now hacking coughs.
I have witnessed bonds disintegrate between humans and dogs.
Some dogs have "invisible" e collar fencing systems. I have seen dogs develop urination and defecation issues because they are too scared to leave their own house. They have a phobic response every time they are encouraged to even take a step out a door way, or have a phobic response trying to reenter their own properties boundary when they are elsewhere.
They are scared of the one place that should offer sanctuary, their own home.
MY decision to not use them wasn't made because I "belonged" to a particular methodology.
All those years ago I really didn't know what methodologies were.
It was a decision made purely because of what I witnessed, heard and smelt.
From the day I found that Spaniel....I decided to remove them when I saw them there and worked hard at looking at the individual issues dogs were having.
However and this may seem controversial to some....I do not judge others that have used use them.
If they would like to know a different way, I will show them.
I am not part of a cult or have been indoctrinated by an ideology.
There is no hidden agenda with my decision.
This is not embellished or dramatised for effect.
It is written exactly how I experienced it and it was a life changing event that put me on a different path, one of exploration, learning and applying different approaches.
It was a decision made solely on what I experienced that day.
For myself it is a decision I have never revisited and am very at peace with.
ABC Dogs NZ
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