Shock collars, Regulation, and Education on the Alternatives
Shock collars should be banned, according to a survey of the use of electronic collars to train dogs in France. Photo: SebiTian/Shutterstock Recently, I reported on a study by veterinary behaviourists in Europe that concluded by calling for a ban on all three types of electronic collar across Europe (remote-controlled, boundary, and bark-activated collars). Another paper by Dr. Sylvia Masson et al, published in the Journal of Veterinary Behaviour, investigates the use of shock collars in France, and some of the results are surprising. For one thing, they show that even amongst people who use shock collars there is a lot of support for regulating them. But they also show a sizeable minority – even amongst people who do not use shock collars – that say they are the most effective way to resolve behaviour issues. This shows a need to get the message out that positive reinforcement is an effective way to train dogs (see seven reasons to use reward-based training methods and l...