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Location: London, UK
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 7
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I just want to say, I AM who I say I am, I wrote an email to that effect to the administrator of this forum who contacted me on my work email.
I have never, EVER "zapped" my dog "within an inch of his life." But both responsible dog owners and responsible parents know that you cannot raise a social being without punishments for bad behaviour. If Wesley understood English, I would try to explain to him what he did wrong and why, and take away some of his TV privileges. Dogs aren't human and they respond to physicality--that much I know. NOT pain--but a small amount of discomfort that feels roughly the same as pulling on a lead. I know because of his reactions. I've accidentally stepped on his paw before when he's been underfoot (not even my whole weight) and he jumped and yelped. He hasn't even come close to that on the ecollar. He just needed something, anything, to make the very process of lunging at and growling at guests unpleasant. That activity was apparently the best reward he could give himself, I have no clue why. Something had to intervene to make that experience less rewarding. The ecollar has accomplished that by introducing short nicks of discomfort (no yelping, no backing away--he was reacting like there was a fly buzzing near him) WHILE he's doing the behaviour. He stopped.
I don't believe I've just masked the behaviour, but only time will tell, of course. I think the problem is and will be solved because I've stopped using the collar inside the house (I still have it on him for safety), and now he approaches guests, sniffs them, and is happy. The only analogy I can think of is a teenager who's been treated very harshly in life and greets everyone by holding a knife to their throat. Then one day, the teen picks up the knife and instead of a smooth, comfortable handle it was prickly, like a pineapple--so he/she drops it. Because the knife was not easy to hold on to, the teen, for the first time in his/her life, has a pleasant interaction with an approaching person. The knife doesn't seem as necessary anymore.
I know this doesn't mean it'll never happen again--it might, and I'm always careful and on my guard. I also don't believe that the problem I had with my dog is the same as everyone else's problems. But I do know that aversive training was absolutely necessary in my case. I absolutely prefer the low stimulation of the e-collar to the prong collar or choke chain--it's NOT as painful and you have a lot more instantaneous control. If you never have any problems with your dog, I wouldn't tell you to get a collar to teach it to jump through hoops or roll over. But for me, so-called positive methods didn't work--
I stuck with them for 9 months. Consistently. Daily training. And honestly, I don't know how "positive" it is to scare a dog "half to death" with an air-horn or falling, crashing baking tins right near him. These objects won't affect him physically, but he doesn't know that! He leaped and/or backed away when I used those methods.
I'm sorry if I posted this not according to etiquette, but Denis told me I could share my story and I thought it was a good idea. I don't spend a lot of times in forums and I just don't know what's expected of you. As for introducing myself, I live in London with a Westie that I recued from the brink of death last August (he was found with his fur completely matted and his legs stained with feces), and of course my partner! I truly believe in live-and-let-live, but the bottom line of what I was trying to say to people who are unsure is: PLEASE don't consider putting your dog down before you try the e-collar. It might not always work (I'm not an expert) but it worked for me. And if I sound like I'm selling these (sadly, I'm spending money on them instead), it's just because that's how you feel when you've practically given up on a beloved pet and something intervenes to give you a new lease on life.
C.H.