Shock Collars and Puppies

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sagemother

What would you say to someone insisting on questionable training methods with a puppy?

---

I would say your friend is either very ignorant or very lazy!
There are a variety of excellent responses to your question here and your friend needs to read them. I don't mean to sound harsh but from what you've said it seems to me your friend is either totally unaware of what dogs need, in which case he/she shouldn't have a pet or worse still, your friend may be just plain lazy and wants to take the 'easy' way out, for him. Its not the easy way, the compassionate way or the right way for the poor puppy.
Using a shock collar is simply cruel punishment for something the puppy will naturally do. The puppy is probably teething, and just like a human baby it will need something to ease the pain of new teeth trying to push through, but even so, dogs chew no matter what their age, thats just a part of being a dog. DO you think shock collars would be allowed on any other animal? Here in Australia someone using such a collar could be in trouble with the RSPCA.

Perhaps your friend shouldn't own a dog at all, or at least, wait until they acquire some knowledge about dogs. Ask your friend how he/she would respond to shocking as a means of learning. Ask him if he would like to be shocked every time he did something HE DIDN'T KNOW WAS WRONG. Ask him if thats a way he would like to learn a new behaviour, and when he says no, ask how he could learn something new, and then apply some if not all of that knowledge to how he/she treats the puppy. Theres not a huge amount of difference in basic conditioning between humans and animal babies.
Shocking an animal is purely and simply appalling cruelty and will create serious behavioural problems further down the track. The dog will be frightened of many things, including its owner, who should be more than that, they should be its carer too. Read the posts by RubyRoo and Bill. I sure hope you can convince him/her to listen to the people on the forum here because I feel deeply sorry for that poor puppy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sagemother

What would you say to someone insisting on questionable training methods with a puppy?

---

I would say your friend is either very ignorant or very lazy!
There are a variety of excellent responses to your question here and your friend needs to read them. I don't mean to sound harsh but from what you've said it seems to me your friend is either totally unaware of what dogs need, in which case he/she shouldn't have a pet, or worse still your friend may be just plain lazy and wants to take the 'easy' way out, for them [which still means they shouldnt have a pet]. Its not the easy way, the compassionate way or the right way for the poor puppy.
Using a shock collar is simply a cruel punishment for something the puppy will naturally do. The puppy is probably teething, and just like a human baby it will need something to ease the pain of new teeth trying to push through, but even so, dogs chew no matter what their age, thats just a part of being a dog. DO you think shock collars would be allowed on any other animal? Here in Australia someone using such a collar could be in trouble with the RSPCA.

Perhaps your friend shouldn't own a dog at all, or at least, wait until they acquire some knowledge about dogs. Ask your friend how he/she would respond to shocking as a means of learning. Ask him if he would like to be shocked every time he did something wrong, and then ask if he would like it when HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE WAS DOING WAS WRONG. Ask him if thats a way he would like to learn a new behaviour, and when he says 'no', TELL HIM THAT'S HOW THE PUP FEELS Too.
Ask him how he could learn something new, and then apply some if not all of that knowledge to how he/she treats the puppy. Theres not a huge amount of difference in basic conditioning between human and animal babies.

Shocking an animal is purely and simply appalling cruelty and anyone who does it should not own a cactus let alone an animal. If he does continue on with this cruelty, the pup will grow to be a dog with serious behavioural problems further down the track. It will be frightened of many things, including its owner, someone by the way who should be more than that, they should be its CARER too. Read the posts by RubyRoo and Bill and then try to convince your friend to do the same, and apply some of the wisdom found here. I sure hope you can convince him/her to listen because I feel deeply sorry for that poor puppy. Good luck.

I absolutely agree with you but unfortunately a too many people don't. In situations like this the animals ALWAYS suffer. Either just by the out and out cruelty inflicted upon them, the learned helplessness via the negative conditioning of the shock - or later, when/if the dog through fear maybe bites someone. What happens then? The dog gets beaten again, or put down. Its just plain cruel. The person in question should not own a pet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Justontime

I really worry about my fellow human beings sometimes, What on earth would make anyone think that it was appropriate to use a shock collar on a puppy? I wish people would think through the consequences of their actions.

---

I absolutely agree with you but unfortunately too many people don't. In situations like this the animals ALWAYS suffer. Either just by the out and out cruelty inflicted upon them, and/or the 'learned helplessness' via the negative conditioning of the shock - or later, when/if the dog through fear maybe bites someone. What happens then? The dog gets beaten again, or put down. Its just plain cruel. The person in question should not own a pet.

You wouldn't expect a human baby to not put things in its mouth that it can reach. Just like when you child-proof your home for a young baby you must do the same thing for a puppy. It is NEVER the dog's fault for chewing on things you don't want them to chew on, it is the owners fault. You must pick up things that you don't want chewed on and correct the dog when they chew on things that are unacceptable by saying, 'no.' and giving the dog something that they are allowed to chew on. You must be consistent, if you don't want your dog to chew on your socks/shoes/cords etc. ALWAYS correct them. If you don't correct them every time you are re-enforcing the bad behavior. It is much easier to train a dog using positive re-enforcement rather than negative re-enforcement. Crates need to be used when you can't watch your puppy/dog even if it is for a couple of minutes while you go to the restroom. Physically punishing a puppy/dog only teaches them not to trust humans. If you don't have the time to train a puppy you shouldn't have a puppy.