shock collar or not?

Question

my 8 month old black lab keeps misbehaving and i dont know if i should buy him a shock collar.help.thanx

Answer 1

a dog that needs a collar to behave is not a trained dog.
Your dog needs training.

You never scold a dog with pain. It will be afraid to come to you and won't listen. Why would the dog want to come to you, if last time it came to you, you applied something to him that shocked him?

You have to assume the alpha role. Don't let it sit on the couch or sleep in your bed and feed it after you have eaten.
Make sure that you walk through doors before it does.

If you don't want to pay for obiedence classes, try going umbilical with your dog. This corrects all sorts of problems.
For 2 hours a day, tie the leash around yourself and the dog. You can go for a walk with it or make it do whatever you are doing around the house. Do not talk to the dog, you don't want to give the dog any verbal cues.

If the dog won't sit when you flick your fingers together then gently pull on the collar.

I guess you do the 2 hours a day until you see improvements.
It is important not to talk to the dog, you want it to learn things without having to be told.

I learned all of this on the Canadian show "At the end of my leash." Dogs will stop harassing guests, running out the door, stealing food, etc.

The host of the show does not give dogs treats or toys.
Treats make them fat and all they really need is to be patted in a nice way.

Answer 2

try obedience training first. Shock collars are NOT cruel when used correctly however the shock collar should only be used as a last resort. Your dog is only a puppy and he does not know the rules yet. You have to teach him the proper way to behave. I have used shock collars on dogs that would otherwise be put to sleep. The shock collar saved their lives so I will always disagree when people say it is a lazy way to train. Sometimes it is the only way to train. BUT Your dog does not need a shock collar at all. Just basic training and plenty of exercise! He is probably bored.

Answer 3

Good heavens, no. Call a trainer. Go to a class. I'm not a fan of shock collars even when expertly used, but simply shocking a dog without any understanding of dog behavior is flat-out abuse.

Would you buy a shock collar if your child was misbehaving? Do you feel that it would be a productive way to stop a toddler from having temper tantrums? Or to get a middle schooler to improve their grades? Why do we think it's okay to shoot up a dog with electricity instead of teaching them what we want?

Answer 4

Absolutely not. You have an adolescent dog who needs training but not by this method. There may be a place for shock collars (life or death situations like chasing sheep perhaps) but this is defiantly not one of them and they should only be used by people who know what they are doing (if at all). The fact that you are asking this question about this young dog means that you are not one of them so leave the shock collar well alone and find a good training class who's methods are reward based and motivational.

Answer 5

It's a proven fact regarding Animal behaviour (Starting with the studies done by Edward Lee Thorndike) that punishment does not correct behaviour (it won't make them do appropriate things) It will make them reluctant to have any behaviour at all or make them continueb.c it is not a learning process.

Think about you being in class-an you raise your hand to give an answer-But! It's the wrong answer. The teacher comes up to you and whacks you with a ruler.
Do you raise your hand again? No-B.c you fear getting pain. Did you learn anything from the teacher? Nope, she did not give you the correct answer she only taught you avoidance.
So you instead go through class time avoiding the teacher. It does not teach correct behaviour


Rewards and training work for dogs much more then punishments (same goes for children about rewards) Dogs need constant reinforcement when they do the correct behaviour ( pets, treats, clicks) will stamp that behaviour into the animal so that it is repeated.


You would also need to get into specifics on what the misbehaviour is and more info can probably be given to correcting the behaviour.

Answer 6

I dont know what kind of behavior problems your having but I dont think a shock collar is the answer. Perhaps you need some help with your training methods. Take your dog to an obedience class.

Answer 7

I respect any owners decision to do what they feel is necessary to their dog. How serious are his misbehaviors? Is he putting you, himself, or other people and/or animals in danger? If so, do what you think is necessary! A shock collar may help. But just remember, he's only 8 months old, still a puppy, and professional training is an option. They hold training sessions for puppies at my local Petco. See if your local pet care stores hold puppy training sessions. Oh, and if it is normal puppy stuff (excessive chewing, forgetting to use pads or ask to go outside), you needn't jump to extreme measures. There is information all over in books and on websites that tell you how to deal with silly puppy stuff. Here's a reliable site:
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/dogs/behavior/problemsintro.html
When you get there, click on one of the options below More Information

Answer 8

we tried the "bark collar" since our black lab would continuously bark at the window...I was extremely apprehensive about the mild shock and looking back, I should not have done it...we spent $150 for this collar that didn't work properly and our dog was afraid of the collar anyway--when we pulled it out of the drawer to put it on him, he would run away

try getting on pedigree.com or some other website for some free advice about nuisance barking--most of the time dogs are bored...for your puppy's sake, please exercise him and play with him and give him attention every day...and use key words for inappropriate behavior...and break him of the habit while he is young (I would let ours bark at the mailman when he was a pup cause I thought it was cute--little pup--big old mailman--now, not so cute)

good luck!

Answer 9

Shock collars can frighten dogs and make them worse. Then you have an anxiety problem to deal with as well as the original problem. Try obedience training.

Answer 10

A shock collar would only cause more behavior problems.