Ecollars vs Shock Collars - Is There Really a Difference?

The biggest difference between a shock collar and an ecollar is—arguably—the price. You can get a shock collar on Amazon for $60 or less. Buying a decent ecollar starts at around $200… That’s a 233% increase. After you or your client spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars on training, it can be daunting to spend that much more hard-earned money on a tool with a cheaper alternative. However, just like when you’re deciding which dog trainer is right for you, you should keep in mind that quality is priceless.

We’ll start with the differences in the units themselves. Shock collars are made up of units that are normally implemented in powering large devices; this is why shock collars can and have caused harm to dogs (ie: burns, hair loss, sores, etc.) as well as why they have a bad reputation. They’re often very fickle, have a lag in pressure delivery, and lack versatility. All of these issues can negatively impact your training and relationship with your dog. Unfortunately—because of their likeness—, shock collars have also painted ecollars in a negative light even though they are fundamentally different. Ecollars are units that utilize transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). TENS units are widely used in physical therapy, pregnancy, and labor to aid in recovery and discomfort. Unless an ecollar is used improperly, it is very unlikely that ecollars will cause harm or injury. Next, we’re moving onto differences in features.

Shock collars normally—generously—have about five different settings: a vibration, tone, and three different shock levels. The shock levels vary depending on the brand that you buy, but often times they vary a little too much. It’s possible your dog’s threshold is at the point where the lowest setting is too high and your dog is in pain or the highest setting is too low and your dog will blow you off for a squirrel. Either way, that’s not how the tool is supposed to work. Contrastingly, ecollars typically have levels 0-100 if not more. Why is this important?

Rather than a correction tool only, ecollars can cater to the particular threshold of your individual dog and communicate with them what you do want and don’t want. This means you can do more than just say “no”; you can do more than treat your ecollar as a brake. Instead, you can actually condition your ecollar as a gas pedal that encourages your dog to go. In other words, ecollar stim can be used as a correction tool that discourages bad behavior as well as motivate your dog to follow through with their obedience quickly. Most ecollars are also equipped with user-friendly features like customizable low-stimulation and high-stimulation settings. Both settings make it easy—especially for a beginner handler—to switch between threshold and correction levels to help hold your dog accountable, dissuade bad behavior, and avoid accidents. Not to mention, most ecollars are waterproof and are still compatible within a half a mile radius or more. What does all of this mean for you?

First and foremost: peace of mind. For a little more money, you get a tool with a longer lifespan, a better warranty, better functionality—making it more practical for beginners and daily use—, and you don’t have to worry about harming your dog as long as you’re using the tool properly. That being said, you can misuse any tool. A hammer was made to hit nails, but I’m sure it’s been misused to hit and harm other people even though that’s not it’s intended purpose. Don’t get me wrong, an ecollar can cause averse reactions in dogs and leave a negative impression just like shock collars can. However, a shock collar is almost guaranteed to not work in your favor whether it’s because it never matches the threshold for you dog and is either too high or too low; the tool isn’t great quality and breaks easily; there’s a lag in the stim which makes for poor timing in training and confuses your dog; or it malfunctions and causes electric and/or acid burns (from the battery); etc. It also means versatility and freedom! Ecollars cater to any size dog and any threshold. You can have a shitzu and a cane corso both working happily on ecollar stim. You can persuade a dog that is driven and a dog that lacks drive to work for you. You can entertain off leash activities and still have the option for an emergency recall. You can manage your dog who is easily overexcited to see guests without the need for a leash. Ultimately, your dog’s temperament will decide how much freedom they can earn, but an ecollar at least makes that a possibility without the guilt!

Considering all of this… the price difference doesn’t seem so bad anymore, does it?

Place Cots - Why Not a Dog Bed?

Barking at mailmen and knocking on the door. Jumping on guests when they enter the house. Potty accidents when your dog knows he or she should go to the bathroom outside. Sound familiar? I have something that can help: put them on place!

Place is a command that should mean your dog goes to a designated area (place cot) to lie down calmly and quietly; it can help you manage all of these behaviors and more. This command is primarily implemented to build confidence and provide you with an inherent off switch for your dog. The commands that I teach—including place—are called non-compatible behaviors. This means that all commands are not compatible with reactivity or self-release from the behavior. When a dog is consistently held accountable for maintaining place—no matter the surrounding distractions or environment—, the dog eventually builds a level of neutrality and confidence around said distractions. This neutrality will eventually induce comfort and therefore an off switch to assist you in establishing healthy boundaries. This is the basic idea at least…

Now, why do most dog trainers recommend place cots instead of dog beds when practicing place? The simple answer: cheating. A place cot is just a raised dog bed that provides a clear expectation of where the dog should be. A normal dog bed lies on the ground and allows for a dog to lie halfway on their bed and halfway on the floor. The more often you let your dog cheat, the more often you’re letting them push a boundary you’ve set. The more lax the rules get, the less your dog will adhere to your expectations. You will see that comfort to push your boundaries you’ve now instilled with place leak into other aspects of you training because your dog knows you won’t hold them accountable. This is why if you’ve ever spoken to any trainer—be it for an animal or a person—, you’ve most likely been told consistency is key. A clear expectation that is implemented consistently is the only way you can define a behavior, just like your place command.

How Genetics Play Into Life and Training - It’s Just the Dog You Have

Before the life of pets we all know and love today, there was a time when dogs were bred for a purpose—and that’s it. Life was too consumed by nature and labor that there was no want or need for companions that didn’t perform a job or make our lives easier in some way. In other words, there were no resources to go around for animals that didn’t provide us with anything of immediate value. Humans owned cows for milk, horses and mules for transportation, and raised goats and sheep for wool and food. Humans also owned dogs, but for a purpose rather than companionship. Labs were bred and sold for game retrieval, Australian shepherds and cattle dogs for herding, hound dogs for hunting, pit bulls for baiting, and huskies for mushing.

Breeders used to select the dogs they were breeding based on the individual dog’s temperament, drives, nerves, and health. The better the dog was at its job, the better chances the dog had at throwing puppies that were of equal or better genetics than their parents. Simply put, this is what human selection looked like when breeding animals. The breeder picks the best of the best and pairs it with another dog of greater or similar caliber in order to produce more working pups with traits akin to their parents’. That being said, not every dog in the litter is guaranteed to perform the same. If you have siblings, you understand none of you are exactly the same. Even identical twins may look similar, but are bound to have many differences in their personas. Differences in genetics are the basis of what create our personalities. Some puppies within the litter—if you’ve paired parental genetics well—will be great working dogs. They would be genetically confident, have great prey/hunt/food drive making them more biddable, lasting endurance, and have long-lasting health. Contrastingly, there would also be puppies born that weren’t necessarily working quality. Whether it be because they lacked the drive to want to work or they had genetically bad nerves (were nervous/anxious), they were born without the qualities that would enable them to perform the job they were bred for and therefore served no purpose. This is where culling—the action of sending inferior animals to be slaughtered—was created. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with culling puppies. However, like I mentioned earlier, there were no resources to go around for animals that served no purpose. Nowadays, the dogs that are of lesser quality are sent to pet homes with owners who don’t have any working expectations for the dog. They’re purchased to be companion animals instead.

That being said, not all breeders have the same standards. For example, there are the breeders—referenced in the last paragraph—that are breeding for temperament (ie: confidence, biddability, drive, health, etc.). There are conformation breeders that breed for looks; they choose which dogs to breed based on conformation and body condition standards rather than health and temperament. Then, there are breeders who are mainly looking to make money. For example, frenchie breeders who are breeding for color and other physical traits that are desirable and allow the breeder to charge more. However, most of these traits are mutations that make for undesirable health issues. Although this isn’t always the case, these mutations make it more likely for a dog to have some genetic health complication.

Most of the dogs that are adopted today weren’t created from responsible breeding nor have to experience natural selection. Most of the dogs you see in shelters were either backyard/poorly bred or strays that bred amongst themselves. A lot of dogs who were poorly bred end up in shelters because of the behavioral issues that stem from poor genetics in addition to lacking proper management in their daily lives. Strays that become pregnant and birth puppies are often times saved by an individual and/or a rescue. In this case, human intervention intervenes with the process of natural selection. In the wild, the puppies that survive are chosen by natural selection—meaning that the puppies who are healthier and more adapted to their environment have better chances at survival. However, because of modern medicine and humanity’s bleeding hearts, these puppies aren’t left to the whims of nature and those that would’ve succumbed to natural selection end up surviving and being adopted out. Human intervention and varying breeding standards are ultimately why there are so many dogs in desperate need of anxiety management and reactivity training. Ultimately, consistency, proper management, and training will help to manage genetic issues. However, genetics determine the potential of how much you’re able to build off of those genetics. At the end of the day, you cannot change genetics; it’s just the dog you have.

*Disclaimer: this is just a brief review of how genetics have changed over time as well as how they can play into training and your daily life. However, there is much more information available. Please do your own research (check credible sources) and form your own opinions!

Why Training is Necessary for You and Your Dog

Most all of us have had some sort of education growing up. Whether you went to public school, private school, or were homeschooled, you still had an education to teach you foundational skills and knowledge. These foundational skills that you were taught and are necessary for navigating through life include—but are not limited to—language, reading, writing, manners, and social skills. Some of these things were learned by being taught, some by life experience, and often times a little bit of both. Why should education for your dog be considered any different and sometimes even deemed unnecessary?

Dogs are traversing a world that—frankly—wasn’t built for them. Many dogs die everyday getting run over by cars, consuming toxic household chemicals, being put down for reasons like behavioral euthanasia, etc. These issues and accidents are all also completely avoidable. Humans have this ideology that dogs are humans—worse yet, adult humans—even though they are an entirely different species. You may be thinking, “Well, I know my dog is a dog. That seems pretty simple.” Let’s be honest. What you know about your dog and how you actively manage your dog (or don’t) on a daily basis are normally treated as polar opposites.

I’m sure there are many people who do actively try and manage their dogs everyday—and I’m not discrediting anyone—, but we all make mistakes and some are more harmful than others. I have had clients that know their dogs jump on cars every time a car pulls into their driveway and they still don’t sequester them to an area where they don’t have access to the driveway. I’ve had clients that know their dogs jump on everyone, but still refuse to leash them when greeting guests. I’ve had clients with reactive dogs neglect to advocate for their dog’s space in public and it ended with their dog biting a stranger. I’ve even had clients who—against my advice—left their dog unsupervised in their backyard which led to the dog consuming barbecue ash, taken to the vet, and couldn’t be saved. Dogs are opportunistic and if you want to make the comparison that dogs are like humans, then dogs are like toddlers. And they’re never going to grow up.

A perfect example of dogs taking advantage of an opportunity is my Coonhound mix, Ms. Gypsy Rose. She will be 9 years old this year and has a really great foundation for functional pet obedience (ie: sit, down, recall, etc.). When my boyfriend and I are home, she is—most of the time—a model citizen. Gypsy has been left out to roam the house when we leave for years and rarely leaves her little chair where she’s curled up into a ball most of the day, even when we are home. One day when my boyfriend and I went to visit my parents’ house, we left her out for the few hours that we were gone. Little did I know, the bananas sitting atop the counter were ripening really well and smelling extra yummy. When we returned, we found the top of the banana bunch hanging on the fruit hanger bananas missing—peels and all. Because she was the only one left out—and because of the guilty howling roos she gave us when we showed her the banana tops—, she was the only culprit and found guilty as charged.

Teaching your dog to build value for you instead of your surroundings will help you manage your dog day to day. Teaching your dog neutrality and non-compatible behaviors will allow you and your dog more freedom. Teaching your dog what good decisions are and what bad decisions are will save you stress and potentially save your dog’s life. Teaching your dog how to live in a human world is essential to a happy, healthy, and long-lasting relationship with your dog. And—although they may play important roles in other aspects of your dog’s life—there is no vet, animal psychiatrist, behaviorist, or otherwise that will be able to assist you in accomplishing that.