The lowdown on training collars for dogs: what we know in 2016?

Using training collars for dogs has long been a controversial subject. Many dog owners and trainers have expressed strong concerns of how any type of dog training method using training collars may harm the animal, with more animal supporters asking to ban electric dog collars.

In fact, some countries have already took charge and banned these devices altogether, with more countries looking to follow suit. Scotland, UK and other parts of Europe are currently considering a ban of shock collars for good.

A growing concern over the use of these electronic dog training devices, also known as shock collars, dog training e-collars, electric dog collars, is heavily researched in the scientific community. So far, several studies have looked at the use of training collars for dogs and how they impact animals and their health.

A few scientific papers have concluded that shock collars negatively affect dogs and particularly raising their cortisol levels (a stress response hormone), with other studies demonstrating no negative effects on dogs. Overall, it seems the research on shock collars is still inconclusive, but I’m going to take a closer look at it below.

Ideally, we still need a better design study to make a final assessment on the use of training collars for dogs and how this training method affects canines. In the meantime, let’s briefly observe what science has to say on the subject today.

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Science on the use of training collars for dogs

A lot of research is currently in progress with better designed studies to make a final conclusion on the use of training collars for dogs and how they affect pets. To this day, several studies looked at the stress levels of dogs on whom electronic collars were used.

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All in all, the research is still inconclusive, but more evidence is leaning towards shock collars causing additional stress in dogs.

One of the oft-quoted analysis concluded that these devices indeed cause distress in dogs:

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“Our results indicate that the immediate effects of training with an e-collar give rise to behavioural signs of distress in pet dogs, particularly when used at high settings.”

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Another study (PDF) found that the use of these devices may also impact dogs long-term:

“We concluded that shocks received during training are not only unpleasant but also painful and frightening. Furthermore, we found that shocked dogs are more stressful on the training grounds than controls, but also in a park.”

A third study have also found that shock collars alter canine’s behavior and physiology:

In this context dogs showed responses to e-collar stimuli which were clearly discernible to a “blinded” observer, and showed changes in behaviour and physiology that other studies have interpreted as indications of aversive arousal or anxiety (e.g. Beerda et al 1998- Schilder and van der Borg 2004).

However, a few other studies concluded the opposite.

This fourth study has found no difference in cortisol level changes in dogs who were trained with shock collars as compared to other methods:

Overall, there was a significant time effect (P < 0.05) but no significant difference in plasma cortisol between the control, lemon spray and electronic collar groups (P > 0.05). Activity did not change significantly over time (P > 0.05).

And this fifth study that compared training collars for dogs with pinch collars and conditioned quitting signal actually found that shock collars are the most effective for training, giving the least amount of stress to dogs- pinch collars caused the most:

“All in all, considering the bodily reactions, pinch collar was found to be more distressful for dogs when comparing with the other methods. In accordance with the literature it seems possible to draw conclusions from bodily reactions to level of stress in dogs.”

This last study’s design was less than ideal, however. It appears that the administrated shock collar stimulus was done with correct timing more reliably than the other two training cues. This is a very important factor that may have given the shock collar an advantage. This is yet another problem with the design of the study, which is actually a pattern that’s prevalent among all the current research on shock collars.

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