Why I REALLY Hate Electronic Shock
(Invisible) Fences by Pamela Dennison
© June 2003.
May not be reprinted without written approval.
I have
decided to write this article so I don’t have to
keep repeating myself. Once you have tried the electronic
collar and created neurotic or problem behaviors, you
cannot go back and erase them. You are now in for major
retraining, so please consider carefully before purchasing
these antiquated and inhumane devises. Many of you may
say, “But my dog only had to go through the fence
line once and then always stayed in the yard. What’s
the big deal?”
There
IS a big deal and one that you may not recognize at first
as relating to the electric fence. How many times do you
have to be stung by a wasp to be terrified of wasps? I
doubt more than once, but then, how do you then feel about
wasps? Are you terrified? Do you run around frantically,
screaming in a panic, trying to get away from it? Does
your heart rate go through the roof? Is this pleasant
for you?
We’ll
start out looking at this from a behavioral standpoint.
Your dog goes through the fence line and a child, dog
or car happens to be passing by. He gets zapped by a very
painful electric shock. He may very well now associate
the pain of the shock with the child, dog or car. There
are two options of how he may behave around those things
now: he may become terrified and depending on his personality,
will take that terror and either become shy and fearful
or aggressive. There is a third option – he may
have made no bad associations. However, why take the risk?
Okay,
you have been stung by a wasp and now become freaked out
whenever you see one. I decide that your fear is a bad
thing and want you to love wasps. How easy will it be
to then change your mind about them in the future?
Your
dog goes through the fence line and gets zapped by a very
painful electric shock as he notices the signal flags
marking the property border. He makes the association
between the intense pain and the signal flags. From now
on, he will freak out at the sight of any kind of flag.
(Yes, this really has happened.)
You
have an electric fence and you don’t see any outward
sign that there is a problem. However, a cat wanders into
your yard and while your dog “respects” the
electric shock fence and stays in the yard, you come home
to find a dead cat. (Displaced aggression from the electric
shock fence.) Your dog may start to become neurotic about
weird things or become timid, fearful or aggressive. He
may start to become aggressive toward the other dogs you
have. He may now be fearful about leaving the property
at all – even in “safe” areas. He may
also become fearful of new places – especially if
you use one of the “dummy” collars and leave
it on all of the time. Think about it: He has a real or
dummy collar on and you take him to a new location – maybe
even a training class. He is now freaked because he doesn’t
know where the boundaries are and is terrified of being
shocked. He moves around slowly and cautiously because
he doesn’t know where the “safe” places
are.
Associative
learning is happening 24 hours per day, 7 days per week,
whether we want it to or not. Add to those associations
intense pain, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Okay,
let’s now look at the logistical problems with electric
shock fences. Notice how I don’t use the term “invisible
fence?” It is too easy to forget what they actually
do – shock your dog with an electric current - when
one uses the generic terminology. I don’t want you
to forget what this device does.
You
have an electric fence. It may keep your dog within the
boundaries, but does it keep out rotten kids that want
to torment your dog, other dogs – good ones and “bad” ones,
cats, skunks, squirrels, bears, coyotes, fox or deer?
Of course not. If your dog decides to chase these things
and braves the electric current running through his neck,
do you really think he’ll come back and risk more
electric current? I think not!
Let’s
say you leave your dog outside, unattended and it starts
to rain. You don’t know it is raining because you
are involved with something else or you aren’t home
in the first place. These collars malfunction quite often
and then whammo! You now have either a dead dog or one
with so much neck damage, that you are now spending thousands
of dollars in vet bills. Plus you will now have a completely
and utterly freaked out dog whenever it rains.
You
bring your dog inside and his electric collar is still
on. Your dog walks past the microwave or other such appliance.
There have been cases where appliances have set the collars
to shock the dogs. The dog feels intense pain as the shock
rips through his neck. Voila! He is now freaked out with
common appliances. Or perhaps part of the fence line is
close to a room he is in and he gets zapped with an electric
shock. Now he is completely freaked out because there
is no safe place for him to be in.
I hope
I have made my point against electric shock fencing. Below
are some links for you to get some further opinions about
these cruel and brutal products.
If
you don’t have time to train your dog, get a stuffed
animal.
Comments
from Lisa G. about Invisible Fencing.
VISIBLE
PROBLEMS - Electronic Devices and Aversive-laden Collars
Are NOT the Ideal Fence
When
Good Products Go Bad - More Thoughts on Product Liability
UK
Parlementary Statements: Animals (Electric Shock Collars)