This post is part of a series in which we’re discussing the 5 Most Harmful Myths that Dog Owners Face When Learning to Train Their Dog. Learn more about these myths and get the free guide here.

Let’s get one thing straight. You’re not doing your dog any favors by using shock, prong or choke collars in your training. In fact, punishment based dog training methods get in the way of creating a loving and trusting relationship with your dog.

But you didn’t come here to hear my opinion. Don’t worry, you better believe I’ve got the receipts to back it up! Let’s get to learning, shall we?

How does learning happen, anyways?

First, it’s important to understand how each of these collars function behaviorally before we can get into the “but is it worth it” conversation. *SPOLIER ALERT* It’s not.

Most trainers who have made it their professional business to understand dogs and how to influence their behavior will point to OPERANT CONDITIONING as the primary model behind increasing or decreasing a dog’s behavior.

The four quadrants of operant conditioning

WAIT! That was our first big word alert! Sorry, I forgot to warn you. We’re going to get into some behavioral psychology here, so strap on your AP Psych hat, cause we’re going back in.

Operant conditioning, a learning process popularized by B.F. Skinner, is a type of associative learning through which a behavior is strengthened or weakened by reinforcement or punishment. In plain english, if you want to see more of a behavior (say a dog relaxing on a mat), you reinforce, or reward it. If you want to see less of something (say a dog jumping on guests coming over), you punish it.

Reinforcement increases a behavior, punishment decreases a behavior.

(This isn’t just dog behavior, by the way. This is how ALL behavior works, including human behavior.)

“Great!” you say. “Problem solved. Next lesson please.” But not so fast. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

Using Punishments Based Methods in Training

Punishment based training (we’re still talking dogs AND humans here) really doesn’t do all that great at modifying the behavior involved. I like to think of punishment as a more general teacher, while reinforcement is very specific. In other words, reinforcement tells the learner, “please do this thing here” (to sit, for example). Punishment tells the learner, “don’t do that”, where the “that” in question is a mystery. Instead what the subject learns is to not get caught doing that again. Evasiveness increases as a result of punishment. But that’s not all.

Even in the work that B.F. Skinner did back in the 1950s, he realized that there are a whole host of nasty side effects that come as a result of punishment.

The truth is that repeated or severe punishment teaches several unwanted things. The subject learns:

Don’t Shoot the Dog! by Karen Pryor was groundbreaking in it’s approach when it was released in 1984.

Fear
Anger
Resentment
Resistance
And even hate towards the punisher (check out this book for a deeper dive into this topic)

No bueno, amirite?

To put a cherry on top, punishment based methods are reinforcing for the punisher too! It makes us feel good to be powerful, to have control and to have dominion over our four-legged furry roommates.

Power trip anyone?

Through studies in operant conditioning we know that:

Reinforcement increases a behavior and is a very specific teacher
Punishment decreases a behavior but is very general
Punishment teaches fear, anger and resentment in the learner (i.e. your dog)

How Shocks, Prongs and Chokes Affect your Dog

So why the heck do trainers today still use punishment in the first place, even with the nasty list of side effects?

Well, because it APPEARS to work. Emphasis on the appears.

And on the work.

Let’s dive into the collars now, shall we?

Although shock collars, choke collars and prong collars all work a bit differently, the underlying method at work is the same. These types of collars administer an uncomfortable, unpleasant and often painful correction to your dog when they do something you don’t like.

Shock collars use an electric current, passing through metal prongs, to administer a shock to your dog. These shocks can range from being mildly uncomfortable to your dog to outright painful.

Choke collars have interlocking metal rings that tighten around the neck of your dog when pressure is applied, either because the dog is pulling on the leash, or because the human pulls the leash themselves. Unlike other collars (like the martingale), there is no way to limit how tight the choke collar gets, so it’s possible to choke or strangle your dog.

Prong collars also have linking metal chains on the back, but also feature linking metal prongs (in the shape of teeth) that can be used to pinch and poke the skin of your dog’s neck. With prolonged use, this can cause damage to the dog’s neck and trachea.

Yikes.

While I can’t answer you as to why these punishments are still used today, I can venture a guess as to why they became the go to method for some trainers.

Punishment is quick. Punishment is powerful. Punishment is final. And it makes you feel good too (in a “I showed that dog who’s boss” kind of way. Gross).

While on the surface it may appear that you are “fixing” your dog’s behaviors, it is more likely that you are causing your dog unnecessary fear, anxiety and stress. And over time, a dog who is scared, anxious and stressed may shut down completely or become aggressive.

“But wait!” you say. “I’ve been told that these collars don’t hurt my dog, they’re only teaching tools!”

Ok. Fair enough. Let’s play that out.

Since we can’t talk to our dog (man wouldn’t that be great though), we have to use observable signals to better understand our dog’s experience.

Observation #1: The behavior stops

The fact that these collars stop your dog’s unwanted behaviors is proof enough that these methods cause undue stress, fear and even pain in your dog. We know that punishment is being inflicted because if these collars weren’t punishing to the dog, then the correction would have no effect; the undesirable behavior would continue.

And to play it out one step further: to get the behavior to stop, punishment based trainers must continue to increase the intensity of the punishment until they see results. A particularly resilient dog might experience a massive shock before it hurts them enough to stop the behavior.

It’s true, using shock, choke and prong collars can stop unwanted behaviors. The reason that the behaviors stop is because your dog is being punished, and that punishment causes fear, anxiety and stress in your dog. Simply put, if these methods weren’t punishing, the behavior wouldn’t stop.

But it doesn’t stop there. Instead of your dog learning what you want it to do, the dog suppresses its behavior, which limits personality, curiosity and all those things that make our dogs great companions for us.

Observation #2: The dog’s body language shows signs of stress, and distress

Again, are limited by what we can observe, but dogs trained using punishment display more stress signals, like lip licking and lowered posture.

Even though a dog may look “well behaved”, it is important for us to notice when a dog is shut down and experiencing fear, anxiety and stress. Any training method that induces fear, anxiety and stress in your dog must be rejected outright, especially when there are other methods that produce the same if not better results (more on that in another post).

Here’s the deal; aversive collars (and punishment more generally) cause discomfort to the dog at low levels of intensity and at even modest intensity can cause severe pain and psychological distress. As our dog’s guardians, we have a responsibility to consider this in our approach to our dog’s training.

Thankfully, There’s a Better Way

Fortunately, training your dog has evolved well past the need to use fear, intimidation and punishment to have a happy and healthy relationship with your dog. In fact, fear, intimidation and punishment stand in the way of creating a loving and trusting relationship with your dog.

Instead of telling our dogs what we want them NOT to do, we want to find opportunities to tell them what we DO want them to do. When training with your dog, reward your dog for the behaviors you want to see (sit, down, stay, good boy!), and ignore (for now) the behaviors you don’t want to see. You can reward (or reinforce) those wanted behaviors with food, play or anything else that your dog finds rewarding!

When your dog is doing something you don’t like, make sure you're not rewarding the behavior in some way (like giving them attention for jumping on you). Then, show your dog what you’d like them to do instead (like settling on a mat) and reward them when they perform that behavior! It’s that simple!

For more resources and further reading, check out the links below:

Don’t Shoot the Dog!: https://go.thekindcaninepetservices.com/dontshoothedog

Dog Collars - Which type is best for your dog?: https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/dog-collars

Review of dog training methods: welfare, learning ability, and current standards: https://spca.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/dog-training-methods-review.pdf

Training dogs with help of the shock collar: short and long term behavioural effects: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016815910300248X

The Truth about Agression and Dominance in Dogs: https://www.dog-health-guide.org/support-files/dog-aggression-dominance.pdf

The problems with punishment: https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/punishmentproblems