Hi, my name is Karen Molnar Kinkead. I am a Professional Certified Dog and Puppy Trainer/Instructor. I have years of experience training dogs and training/showing horses. I believe in working with dogs to create a stronger bond with their owners, along with learning to be a well mannered, rounded and relaxed happy dog.
I use only science based positive gentle methods, no inhumane painful shock collars, remote e-collars/training collars, prong collars, or choke chains. I believe dogs are like children and are a part of your family, and should not be abused or harmed to get them to obey commands. It takes lots of time and patience to build a relationship with your dog, and invoking fear in them is very detrimental. I have seen many dogs who are now aggressive or very timid after the use of these painful tools.
Positive training methods encourage cooperation based on mutual trust, rather than pain, fear and intimidation from these types of collars. These collars are very painful as the neck area of a dog is three times thinner than a human, and extremely more sensitive.
Top 10 Reasons Not to Use Prong Collars and Shock/Electric/Training Collars
1. They’re very painful and inhumane. Despite what some trainers or store employees might tell you, driving metal prongs into your dog's neck and shocking them HURTS! Under their fur, the skin on dogs' necks is actually significantly thinner and extremely more sensitive than human skin. Although eliciting sudden sharp pain may provide a quick fix in the moment, the effects are usually short-lived.
2. They suppress behavior, but don’t change it. The fear and pain elicited when the dog feels the shock or prong collar being pulled may temporarily stop his pulling/lunging/etc., but it doesn’t teach him what he should be doing instead. Suppression of instinctual behaviors can lead to learned helplessness, redirected aggression, and physical issues. So train your dog what TO DO (e.g.; calmly walk next to you), instead of using pain and fear to tell him only what NOT to do.
3. There are more humane alternatives. For every situation in which dog owners claim that control is provided by a shock/electric/training collar or prong collar, a harness is the better, safer and more humane choice. These harness options take some time and training to use correctly, but the payoff is big. They’re more effective and you’ll have a better relationship with your dog!
4. Because you love your dog! If you don’t want to cause your dog pain and discomfort, then don’t use these barbaric collars.
5. These collars create negative associations. Anything present in the environment when your dog experiences the pain of one of these collars can take on a negative association, including other dogs, children and strangers. This does the exact OPPOSITE of what we want – it makes dogs more reactive, and more likely to lunge toward or be fearful of triggers!
6. They build fear and discomfort, and damage your relationship with your dog. Prongs, shock collars (and other aversive, confrontational training techniques) are painful! If every time you walk with or train your dog, he is experiencing pain and discomfort, pretty soon your presence is going to be associated with pain and discomfort. Wouldn’t you rather your dog trust and feel safe with you?
7. These collars result in side effects such as depression, disempowerment, redirected aggression, deterioration of social relationships, and more. Use pain and fear-inducing methods on your dog, and you will see a significant decrease in your dog's quality of life, happiness, energy, and health.
8. Because they are archaic – obsolete, old-fashioned and behind-the-times! Fear- and pain-based devices like this may have been the norm 30 years ago, but they do not have any place in modern, 21st-century dog training. Today, responsible trainers and owners make choices based on science and proven facts about canine learning and communication to interact with their dogs through positive reinforcement. It's more effective, more humane, and more fun!
9. Many civilized countries have outlawed prong and shock/training collars, recognizing the harm they do and that they are considered torture devices! New Zealand, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Slovenia, Australia, Switzerland, the Canadian Province of Quebec, and many others have made shock collars and prong collars illegal. Let’s join this trend!
10. They are simply NOT necessary; there are better ways to train! Train with your brain, not with pain!
"As a resident of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, I see many dogs who have been previously corrected with shock/prong collars. Each and every one of these patients has become behaviorally worse than they were prior to the shock/prong collars (more fearful, more aggressive). The emotional damage caused by shock collars is often beyond repair, and requires a lifetime of treatment. The wounds I see are beyond skin-deep, they are soul deep." Dr. L. H.