Hello! Do you have any opinions or input on shock collars for dogs to control barking? A local vet told me they would not recommend them whatsoever, but I have also seen it work for a friends dog.
Oh I have many thoughts. In short: I agree with your vet. I’m really not a fan of shock collars, or really aversives in general. Here’s some excerpts from The Journal of Veterinary Behavior that summarizes why:
“More evidence of the risks linked to e-collar use comes from the scientific literature evaluating aversive methods in general. Indeed, punitive training methods induce higher risks of aggression (Beerda et al., 1998; Herron et al., 2009), fear, anxiety (Arhant et al., 2010), and undesirable behaviors (Blackwell et al., 2008) being shown, while decreasing the quality of the dog-owner relationship (Hiby et al., 2004), dog welfare, and dog-human team performance (Haverbeke et al., 2008) compared to nonaversive techniques. Negative emotional responses as a consequence of aversive techniques can lead to behavioral inhibition and can be detrimental for learning and performance of dogs, undermining the general purpose of training.”
Also: "When evaluating efficacy, no study shows a superior efficacy when comparing an e-collar to positive reinforcement training. Some survey-based studies conclude a superior efficacy of positive reinforcement training as perceived by owners (Hiby et al., 2004; Blackwell et al., 2012) or results below average for e-collar training when compared with any other training method (Arnott et al., 2014). One experimental study found no difference in efficacy, but a decrease in welfare when using e-collars (Cooper et al., 2014).”
Masson, Sylvia, et al. "Electronic training devices: Discussion on the pros and cons of their use in dogs as a basis for the position statement of the European Society of Veterinary Clinical Ethology." Journal of Veterinary Behavior 25 (2018): 71-75.
Honestly I could go on and on about the risk of aversive training methods, but that’s not really what you asked. Can a shock collar stop a dog from barking? Sure, but it doesn’t fix the root of the problem, and there can be serious negative consequences. Dogs bark for many different reasons, and a one size fits all plan doesn’t address that. One of the major issues people have with barking is dogs that bark when people/animals/things are outside. The problem with putting a shock collar on them is they can start to associate the shock with what they’re barking at.
The thing about barking, is that in a dogs mind, it’s really effective for making people go away. This isn’t the only reason dogs bark, but it’s an important reason to understand. They don’t know that delivery people are going to leave anyway, or that people on a walk are going to keep walking regardless of if the dog is there or not. They learn that barking = people go away. For dogs that are unsure about strangers, that’s a really powerful self-reinforcing behavior. Bark = scary thing leaves. Now, put a shock collar on that dog and they’re still scared, but now they’re also feeling physical pain when the scary thing is around. So yes, they might stop barking, but the fear is still there, and probably getting worse. This is especially dangerous because dogs might learn that bark = shock, so they go straight to growl, snarl, or bite. This is why punishing dogs for giving warnings is a bad idea; it doesn’t fix the problem, it just shuts down communication.
Or what if your dog is barking for attention? Again, you may stop the barking, but they may also build up a negative association with you, because in their mind, you are always there when they get hurt.
Other issues with shock collars are that dogs can become habituated to the shock. With positive punishment, the punishment has to be delivered within a very precise window, and it has to be exactly the right intensity that the dog isn’t overwhelmed, but that it is effective to stop the behavior. It’s really hard to do right, and the consequences can be very bad if you get it wrong. A problem with shock collars in particular is sometimes owners find that they have to increase the intensity because the dog stops reacting at lower levels. What happens when you get to the maximum level and the dog stops responding?
Positive punishment also does not teach the dog what to do instead. Ok you’ve stopped a behavior, but what now? Shock collars are an “easy fix”, but they can make things much much worse, and we have evidence that dogs do in fact find them distressful (which is how they work). Rather than getting a shock collar, find a competent dog trainer that can help you work through your issues. That includes blocking access (i.e. putting up barriers so the dog can’t see the street), practicing alternate behaviors, and counter conditioning.
