Dogs can be trained without electricity
We all need to have our dogs trained and for
them to be under our control. We are their pack leader and they expect
to be controlled. This begins during puppyhood.
The dog learns from us what is expected.
It does not matter whether it is learning to be a companion, a show dog,
and obedience dog or to take part in any other ways of life we expect our
dogs to learn.
Most show dogs are extremely well behaved;
they have to be or winning prizes would not be possible! We, as breeders
sell many puppies to be companions or work dogs and give advice on their
rearing and training so that the new owner and the puppy will be happy
together and mutual satisfaction achieved.
What methods of training do you advocate?
Some training depends on the breed and its basic instincts and what the
new owner wants. I feel sure that most breeders would refuse a sale rather
than allow a puppy to go to an unsuitable home. We recommend training with
kindness yet firmness, balanced with rewards, praise and yet some discipline
as the dog gets older.
By Association.
I recommend that the new owner learns the
dogs basic language as the puppy has already learnt this from his mother
~ or instance learning by association, treats and praise. These are rewards
when the dog gets the training right, and they reinforce the result.
This sort of thing does not always happen,
especially in the wild. Puppies are fed by their older, more senior dogs
(or wolves) but it is not in the “reward” context. Correct behaviour in
the wild means the puppy will live. Incorrect behaviour in some circumstances
means the dog will die. Learning these circumstances is very important.
Some domestic breeds are trained without
rewards of food and suchlike. Sheep dogs for example can be trained without
any obvious reward ~ their reward is being able to carry out their inherited
instinct to work stock.
Punishment can occur during the correction
of work dogs that we as breeders of companion and show dogs can never take
part in. I am sure that we all remember the dog belonging to Essex Police
Force who was kicked to death during “corrective training”. I am sure that
the police no longer do this sort of thing but what else do they, and others,
for example our gun dog fraternity, do to train their dogs who must work?
Some gun dog breeders, working dog breeders, herding dog breeders etc among
us will have sold puppies to work. I feel sure that many of you will feel
satisfied that the puppy has a good home fulfilling its inherited instincts.
What about the training?
I remember speaking to a gun dog trainer
several years ago who successfully bred good working Labradors. They had
a strong instinct to retrieve and willingness to learn. They were all very
well mannered and well-behaved dogs.
He explained to me that he had a problem
with his latest litter which were now at training age; they did not retrieve.
He said that he thought the problem was the stud dog (a Kennel Club registered
registered dog who had a satisfactory hip score and eye test results) had
been trained by an electric collar so his breeder could never know whether
his dog had a natural retrieving instinct. All this breeders dogs were
forced to retrieve.
Although I thought this method unkind, I
did not really pay much attention to it.
A few years ago, my partner and I attended
the Sieger Show for German Shepherds in Germany and saw an electric collar
for sale. The market stall holder explained how it worked to us and said
that he was very careful whom he sold it to.
Two messages.
He was a man giving out two messages ~ he
used one and was trying to make money from selling these collars but he
tried to convince us that he was very careful to whom he sold them to because
they ‘could be wrongly used’.
When I worked for Hills Pet Nutrition, the
then managing director brought a Pointer in to work. He had found this
dog running terrified, miles from any visible person or cars wearing an
electric collar. The dog was near exhaustion and, thankfully, had found
a kind, understanding owner. We all came to the conclusion that the shock
from an electric collar on a breed as sensitive as a Pointer would cause
the dog to bolt.
I wondered what these collars were bought
for until then. I really believed that such things would not be allowed
in this country. Surely the RSPCA would make sure they were not for sale?
I do remember talk of this being raised in
Parliament a while back, a backbencher wanting them banned. However, this
legislation did not pass through as it was stated that the police forces
used them.
As MP’s know very little about training dogs
and even les about training working dogs, this was accepted and they were
not banned, but in my view could have been and should have been banned
from sale to the general public.
Why am I raising all of this? Well I have
a farm catalogue and there they are, listed under “Christmas gift ideas”
with 15% off prices. I really had no idea that there was a supply and demand
for these things in this country.
There are various kinds of electric collar.
One type is an ‘invisible fence’. The dog wears an electric collar, which
shocks him if he tries to wander from his garden as there is an electric
wire buried around the area where his owner wants him to be contained.
This wire triggers the shock in the collar.
Of course, stray dogs can enter the garden;
even pick fights with the dog wearing the collar because they have not
got one around their necks. Cats can come and go as they please too, as
can any other animal or person. The only prisoner is the dog that lives
on those premises. The electric shock is delivered through the collar he
cannot escape from.
There are for sale electric collars for ‘training’.
Having trained dogs for many years and have never found the need, I find
these things abhorrent. In the farm catalogue I have there are electric
collars accompanied by hand held transmitters, which are, advertised as
delivering 8 levels of correction? I can only assume that this means the
owner can raise and lower the strength of the electric shock to be delivered
to the dog as he wishes.
Another item in this catalogue is a trainer
for working dogs. This is waterproof and adjustable up to 24, yes 24 levels
of correction and has a range of up to 2 miles. This is supplied only to
professional dog trainers whatever that means.
Dogs can be trained very successfully without
any of this. I have Mary Ray’s video on training and dogs concerned are
trained very successfully with wagging tails and happy responses.
Reprinted with permission of the author. This article has also appeared in breed councils “GSD National Magazine” and in Dogs World.
At a meeting of the member clubs June 29th
2002 UK GSD Breed Council were unanimous in their disapproval of the use
of these collars and also that of prong collars.
