Never Shock a Puppy: Reasons for Choosing a Choke, Pinch/Prong or Shock Collar for Your Dog

Our Never Shock a Puppy campaign continues this week discussing the many reasons that pet owners consider using choke, pinch/prong or shock collars for their dogs.

Reasons Dog Owners Choose Choke, Pinch/Prong or Shock Collars

In planning this campaign, our coalition wanted to be able to present the most common reasons people turn to these types of devices. So, our coalition members put our heads together with our friends from the Humane Society of Boulder Valley and a few other dog trainers that are outside of our coalition and this is the list we came up with:

• Pet owners frequently turn to choke, pinch/prong and shock collars as a means of controlling a dog that continually pulls on his leash.
• Barking is a common complaint and one that many pet owners turn to shock collars to control.
• When a dog does not come when called, it can create a dangerous situation for pet and pet owner alike and this is a common reason that dog owners turn to choke or pinch/prong collars (or perhaps even shock collars).
• Many dog owners turn to choke collars, pinch or prong collars or shock devices to attempt to control aggressive tendencies in their dogs.
• Dogs are often tempted to chase things that they should not. This may include wildlife, people, cars and other moving objects. Choke collars and pinch or prong collars are often used to control this behavior and prevent the dog from chasing.

This list is probably not all inclusive and you may very well have another reason for considering the use of these devices on your pet. If so, please feel free to tell us about it the comment section below.

Reasons to Consider Other Training Devices and Methods

Here comes the controversial part! And many of you may not entirely agree with the Never Shock a Puppy coalition stance on these issues. But we would ask you to consider some of the following points before you reach a conclusion.

While choke collars can be a powerful tool, they can also carry with them some medical issues. These are some of the issues that have been observed by veterinarians and attributed to choke collars:

• injury to the eyes, specifically injured ocular blood vessels
• tracheal and esophageal damage
• severely sprained necks
• cases of fainting
• transient foreleg paralysis
• laryngeal nerve paralysis
• hindleg ataxia (incoordination)
• misaligned vertebrae
• Horner’s syndrome, a conditions resulting from “nerve damage that results in recurring pain in the eye and severe headaches”

(Source: British Small Animal Veterinary Conference 2009; Training Aids and Gadgets: Their Use and Abuse; Karen Ingram, BSc (Hons), MAPDT, 00994 Provisional Member APBC)

Similarly, prong collars can cause irritation to the neck, wounds and even infection because the prongs have a high potential for causing injury and pain.

Shock collars by their very nature deliver a “shock” to the dog, the intensity of which may vary depending on many factors.

Are Choke, Pinch or Prong, and Shock Collars Inhumane?

Do these training devices rise to the level of calling them cruel and inhumane? That’s where the controversy starts. I’ve seen many things in my veterinary career that I would consider much more cruel and inhumane than these training devices.

Still, I don’t want to inflict even mild pain and risk injury for my pet, particularly if there are other alternatives available. Many of the pet parents I see in my veterinary practice are asking questions about these devices. Many of them are concerned about using these types of devices and some even state outright that they don’t want to use them but they don’t know another way to correct the behavioral issues.

Years ago, that would have been the case. Not that long ago, these were not only acceptable training solutions but they were standard practice in almost all training programs. It was simply the way things got done and the methods were considered to be the most effective available and they were not questioned.

Fortunately, today our understanding of canine behavior has advanced. We know more about why dogs do what they do and there are many alternatives to the use of training devices such as choke collars, pinch or prong collars and shock collars. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be discussing some of these alternative training methods in detail. I hope you’ll join us.

Never Shock a Puppy Fund Raising Campaign: We Need Your Donations!

As part of our Never Shock a Puppy campaign, we are also conducting a fund-raising drive to raise money for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley‘s upcoming No Choke Challenge, which begins in Novermber, 2010. Please consider making donation. Even a small donation is helpful and will be used to provide head halters and harnesses in place of choke collars, pinch/prong collars and shock collars. Please use the First Giving widget below to make a donation.

We welcome your questions, suggestions and comments. Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Tagged as: dog health, dog health care, dog training, Dogs, never shock a puppy, positive dog training, veterinarians