Electric collar for dogs: how dangerous is it really?

Some dogs are stubborn, spirited or dominant and prove to be difficult to train in dog training. In such cases, it is common for pet owners of such dogs to use training collars such as electric collars. In this article you can find out how an electric collar for dogs works, what the law says about it and what alternatives are available.

What is a dog electric collar & how does it work?

Not all dogs are show dogs when they are trained. Some prove to be extremely resistant to upbringing and many dog ​​owners are overwhelmed with it. Training collars are then often used to train the dogs.
These collars work with an impulse . This can be a vibration, a sound signal or an electric shock. In the case of an electronic collar, as the name suggests, it is an electrical impulse.

The electric collar consists of a collar with a pulse generator to generate pulses for the dog and a remote control for the dog owner. By pressing a button by the dog owner, a stimulus can be triggered on the dog’s collar at any time. Usually this happens when the dog behaves incorrectly . With the help of the electric collar, the dog owner should be helped to drive the dog out of undesirable behavior, such as hunting.

The impulse of the education bands can be triggered over a large distance of approx. 1000 m . In addition, in most cases the strength and duration of the impulse can be set individually. Some electric collars have an additional vibration function in addition to the electrical impulses.
Since every dog ​​reacts differently, there are no guidelines on how to use the collar. With some dogs a weak impulse is enough, while with other dogs only the electric shock causes a change in behavior.
Since the use of training collars often frightens and traumatizes dogs over the long term , their use is prohibited in Germany.

In principle, an electric collar does not work any differently than a spray collar , only a brief electrical stimulus is applied instead of the spray. Unlike electric collars, spray collars are allowed in Germany.

What is an electric collar used for on dogs?

As mentioned earlier, electric collars are used for training dogs . With the help of the electric collar, undesirable behavior is to be weaned or a desired behavior is trained.

With the help of the training collars, the four-legged friends are punished from their point of view directly by humans, but by a completely unknown author. This means that the trust between animals and humans is not damaged . Many dog ​​owners see this argument as positive.

Nevertheless, it must be mentioned again here that the use of electric collars for dog training is prohibited in Germany.

Legal regulations

The use of pain and punishment stimuli within the training of a dog are to be rejected from an animal welfare point of view in accordance with Section 3 sentence 1 no . The use of electric collars in the training or education of dogs is therefore prohibited in many countries. There are no exceptions to this, not even when training guard dogs, for example. The unlawful use of electric collars is punished with a high administrative offense.

According to the German Animal Welfare Association, the upbringing of a dog should be based on behavioral knowledge . Since every animal is an individual with individual characteristics, dog training must be tailored to the respective animal and carried out on the basis of the learning theory that dogs learn particularly well and sustainably through success. The upbringing of the dog should therefore be carried out with positive and not negative incentives as far as possible. This requires patience and is ultimately based on the understanding between the trainer and the dog.

The Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG) decided with its judgment of 23.03.2006 that the use of electric stimulators, which can cause considerable suffering or pain, is prohibited in dog training according to current animal protection law.

Risks and consequences of using an electric collar on dogs

When using electric collars, there is a risk that this can lead to a great deal of insecurity for the animal . In the worst case, behavior disorders occur in the four-legged friend. This mainly happens when the electric collar is used improperly. An example of this is that there is a poor correlation between the dog’s misconduct and the sending of the penal stimulus . Since dogs can no longer understand why they were punished after half a second, it is very important that the punishment is immediate. Punishments a few seconds or minutes after the event do not achieve any learning progress.

The excessive use of electrical impulses is particularly dangerous. Since humans do not feel the impulses themselves, there is a risk that they could be underestimated.

Serious consequences must be expected if the electric collar is used improperly . The use of electric collars can also have consequences for dogs, which are generally considered to be nervous and weak.

Alternatives to the electric collar for dogs

A dog that should be weaned from the hunting instinct, for example, should be used to the full with various playful exercises . This also strengthens the mutual bond. A close bond between dog and owner is the basis of good dog training. You should work a lot with positive experiences. Violence and threats often lead to the opposite in dog training.

With puppies it makes particularly sense to attend a dog school. There the dog learns different commands in a playful way and can discard undesired behavior. This takes patience and is based on understanding between the trainer and the dog.

If the dog is not trained as desired, other training collars can be used instead of electric collars.

• Spray-Ejected Dog Collar
  The spray-ejected dog collar works in a similar way to the electric collar. The mistress or master has a remote control with which he / she can control when the spray should be released from the dog.
  In contrast to the electrical impulse, the spray output is not harmful and painless, just cold . The aim of the spray is to irritate the dog, so that it breaks off the undesired activity.
• Perfume Collar
  Perfume Collar works similarly to the dog collar with spray emissions . When the dog owner operates the remote control, a harmless perfume is sprayed from the dog’s collar. This is also used as an “anti- bark collar” because many of these collars now have a built-in microphone that automatically perceives the dog’s barking.
• Ultrasonic collar
  The ultrasonic collar is also triggered by remote control or microphone. Here the dog receives an unpleasant ultrasound signal.