Good point.

Instead of asking why the people who use them do maybe we should ask why the majority of people dont use them. Pro electric collar users will tell you they are quick and painless, so what stops us?










.......cause they are wrong, simple as IMO

because there is way too much evidence to suggest that they cause damage

because they are way too easily used as an abusive tool rather than a training aid

because there are better ways to train without causing the dog physical discomfort that has the desired result

because my dog is part of my family and, as such, I would not abuse the trust he places in me to keep him free from harm

because ..........
because ...........
because ............

way too many reasons to list why physical aversives are ethically and moraly wrong to say nothing of the fact that they

a don't always work (despite popular myth)
b can create more problems than they solve
c if I want to remotely make something do what I want it to do, I'll stick to the TV (and I struggle with all the buttons on that remote control)

No - actually I go to bed when I am tired, in common with the vast majority of the population

I had no understanding of what Ben has kindly posted about electricity - it is all gobbledegook to me - so I will have to read it out to hubby and ask him to translate for me.

No, I never said my dogs were untrainable. Tai is very obedient, and so is Ben - actually Ben is more obedient than Tai and sitting and staying - but his one problem is - or rather was - his recall. I don't need to remind you that breeders of huskies and mals virtually all tell you NEVER to let them off leash. That is because it is so difficult to train them not to run off. However, it is possible, we did it with Hal and we did it with Tai - Hal NEVER ran off, he frequently would not come when he was called, but that is totally different from running off, or running away.

There is as much wolf (although of a different kind) in your dog as there is in Ben

there is nothing confused about Ben!! He knows EXACTLY what he's doing, what he wants do and WHEN he wants to do it!!

Now though, he is only allowed to do it on OUR terms, not his. He gets all the freedom he wants and needs, but he has to come to us when we call him.

Simples

I think that is the problem many people have when they struggle with recal
Because the dog come back sometimes when he is called they assume he KNOWS what you want and is being stubborn/refusing to obay you

When in reality the dog has not been well enough trained to properly understand the behaviour in all situations

Dogs can be very specific
Often when you teach them something like a 'sit' to start with they think 'sit' means come infront of me and put your bum on the floor'
or even more specific 'when I have a treat in my hand AND am standing in the sitting room you come infront of me and put bum on the floor'

Whereas us humans THINK sit means 'no matter where you are or what position you are in move into the sitting position' (from a down to a sit is a totaly different thing from the dogs point of view also)

Dogs being that specific can do exactly the same with recal - which is why trainers talk about building up distractions

'come' means when there are no interesting smells or anything else to be doing to run back to you

'come' is that annoying background noise my humans make whenever I am away from them so I always know where they are when I am out of sight

Or you get like my friends dog - the answerphone
'teesh appreciates your recal command and will get back to you as soon as possible, but right now a rabbit scent is far more important'

You have to train so that 'come' means no matter where you are, no matter what distractions there are the dog returns to you
Until you have that the dog does not understand the term fully

same 'sit' means no matter where you are or where they are or what position they are in they automatically go into the sit position on the spot - at that point their understanding of the word matches your understanding of the word

I think you might have the wrong end of the stick here, Gnasher. Breeders say never to let them off lead not because recall can't be taught and taught well, but because these breeds can, after years of 100% recall, suddenly take off over the horizon.

good lord, woman, have you no pride?

Which kind would that be? The same as in all dogs, I suspect. Including in the pug and the yorkshire terrier.
Admittedly you can`t pretend to be Mowgli or the bloke in Dances with Wolves with a Yorkshire terrier without inspiring hysterical laughter but there`s just as much wolf in a rugrat as in your poor dog.

You can read your dog`s mind> And lo! he speaks English!
Leaving aside the facts that dogs don`t form concepts or logic chains.....
your dog doesn`t `have` to come to you. You want him to. To accomplish this you learn to do dog training. Simples!
You need to accept that dogs are neither furry people not wild spirits of ancient myth and magic. It`s just a dog. You train them. If you are a nice person you train with kindness......