All dog owners strive for their dogs to be well trained and behaved. But what is the best way to do this? Henry was taken to a third-party trainer where he stayed with her for 14 days and came back a different dog. The strategy of training from his trainer, Annie, included repetition, rewards, and e-collar training.

Punishment-based corrections when training involves a physical reprimand when an unfavorable behavior is performed. This has been proven to be not only ineffective but also sometimes unethical.Henrys trainer Annie used an e-collar, which is a collar in which an electric stim is released from the collar to him when he made a bad behavioral choice. These collars have been seen as harmful or hurtful to a dog, but it was reassured by Annie that the pulse from the collar is barely felt, and rather than a shock, it is more of a vibration. The source from PubMed argues with her point and states that “The use of electronic training collars has been associated with poor welfare in dogs” (Cooper et al., 2019). What they both agree on is that positive reinforcement and incentives are what really train a dog. Punishments cannot be the only thing that a dog receives, or they will never listen, but when a treat and being pet come into play, the dog will be more receptive to training (Cooper et al., 2019).

Henry is such a good dog since he has come back from training school. We continue to expand on his previous training, but he is more docile now that he has learned basic manors. When giving him treats and scratches he listens to the command almost every time, and if a very bad choice is made then the punishment-based vibration is used as a warning. He does not seem anxious since he was trained with a collar, and seems to enjoy being buzzed rather than reprimanded verbally.

Shalvey, E., McCorry, M., & Hanlon, A. (2019). Exploring the understanding of best practice approaches to common dog behaviour problems by veterinary professionals in Ireland. Irish veterinary journal, 72, 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13620-019-0139-3