Let’s Talk About E-Collars: Why Dog Trainers Are So Divided #304
Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett
DogsThat
4.8 • 679 Ratings
🗓️ 30 April 2025
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Visit us at shapedbydog.com
I set out to do a podcast episode explaining why I choose not to use an electric collar with my dogs and with my students' dogs. It sent me down a spiral of research and careful consideration. So, after nearly 40 hours reviewing videos from trainers who use e-collars, I'm sharing observations about the wide spectrum of electric collar use in the training world. From excellent conditioning protocols to concerning misuse, what I discovered may surprise both those who use shock collars and those who don't.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
• About hours spent watching videos of training with electric collars.
• The types of electric devices available for dog training.
• About the growing e-collar market in North America.
• My thoughts about bans on dog training tools.
• About the possibilities of learning from each other.
• My observations on the use of shock collars.
• The question of dopamine and what’s really being reinforced for the trainer.
• Why all dogs need solid training foundations and layered learning.
• How reducing the divide in dog training helps us all.
Resources:
1. Podcast Episode 202: Getting A Happy Well Behaved Dog With The ABCs Of Dog Training - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/202/
2. Podcast Episode 214: England Banned Shock Collars, Here’s Why That Could Be Sad News - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/214/
3. Podcast Episode 234: How To Stop Puppy Biting: Avoid Mistakes With Susan Garrett’s Backup Plan - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/234/
4. Podcast Episode 232: Canine Predatory Motor Sequence: Understand Your Dog’s Prey Drive To Enrich Your Life Together - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/232/
5. Podcast Episode 40: Using A Head Halter On A Dog, Why My Approach Is So Different - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/40/
6. Podcast Episode 106: Consent In Dog Training: The Misuse, Misunderstanding And Misapplication - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/106/
7. Podcast Episode 145: 10 Ways To Teach A Dog To Lay Down And How To Shape It Without Luring - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/145/
8. Podcast Episode 21: The 5 Critical Dog Training Layers for Confidence with Anything - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/21/
9. DogsThat YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@DogsThat
10. Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube - https://youtu.be/ZRodYnFKMEA
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Last week, I set out to do a podcast episode explaining why I choose not to use an electric |
| 0:07.1 | collar with my dogs and with my students' dogs. |
| 0:10.2 | And it sent me down a spiral of looking at all kinds of videos, probably 30 or 40 hours |
| 0:19.0 | over the last 10 days of videos that I've looked at of people using an |
| 0:24.2 | electric collar. Some videos I could watch only 90 seconds or more of. Some videos I could watch |
| 0:29.1 | less than 90 seconds of. Other videos I watched a little bit more. And I want to share some of the |
| 0:36.3 | things that I found. And right off the top, I'm going to say, I don't think it can all happen in one episode. And I want to share some of the things that I found. And right off the top, |
| 0:38.1 | I'm going to say, I don't think it can all happen in one episode. But I hope both people who |
| 0:43.1 | choose to use an electric caller and people like me who choose not to will be interested in what I have |
| 0:48.7 | to say. Hi, I'm Susan Garrett. Welcome to Shape by Dog. |
| 1:02.1 | And first, let's define the groups of trainers. And it's going to be so difficult to define |
| 1:07.8 | to define people. There's people who choose to use an electric caller. |
| 1:12.1 | And from what I've observed, you people got to get your shit together. And I don't mean that |
| 1:18.0 | in a mean way either. Stick with me on this. There's people who choose not choose an electric |
| 1:22.9 | caller who maybe call themselves purely positive or force-free or reinforcement base. |
| 1:27.8 | You've got to hope that these people get their shit together. And I'll tell you why. First of all, |
| 1:33.6 | I don't think there's a label for any camp. But for the sake of this episode, let's just say, |
| 1:39.0 | e-caller trainers are all going to be lumped into one group and force-free trainers are going |
| 1:43.5 | to be lumped into one group. None offree trainers are going to be lumped into one |
| 1:44.7 | group. None of us are force free. The moment we put a leash on a dog and if the dog sniffs at something |
| 1:48.8 | and pulls, there's a little force. So, you know what? I don't know what the label is for us, |
| 1:53.3 | but those who choose to train our dogs without the use of physical corrections or intimidation |
... |
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