One thing I love about working one on one with my clients and their dogs, or in small classes is the opportunity to focus on what works best for each unique human/canine partnership. I enjoy the challenge of thinking outside the box and finding a training plan to fit your needs. However, there are some tools and techniques that I do not use in my practice. These tools are often called "aversives" or "corrections". They can include tools like prong collars, choke collars, e-collars and shock collars.
To change any animal's behavior we can either use reinforcements (rewards) or punishments. A reinforcement is anything that makes a behavior more likely to happen again and a punishment does the opposite, it makes a behavior less likely to occur. As a positive reinforcement trainer my work focuses on the use of positive reinforcement. The strongest punishment I use is to simply ignore a behavior (with-holding attention or other reinforcement).
I don't use aversive tools or methods because I don't need them. Animals from cougars to manatees to elephants to gold fish can be trained without aversives and so can ANY dog. Because we can accomplish the same training goals without using these tools I do not think that their benefits outweigh their risks. Used incorrectly they can cause physical harm. Used with poor timing, they won't work. Even used correctly they can increase stress and make issues like reactivity and anxiety worse.
Below are a few examples of research that has been done to determine whether using aversive training methods is worth the risks. This website includes a more extensive list.
Blackwell, Emily J., Caroline Twells, Anne Seawright, and Rachel A. Casey. “The relationship between training methods and the occurrence of behavior problems, as reported by owners, in a population of domestic dogs.” Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research 3, no. 5 (2008): 207-217. See commentary. Dogs trained with positive reinforcement demonstrate fewer behavior problems.
Deldalle, Stéphanie, and Florence Gaunet. “Effects of 2 training methods on stress-related behaviors of the dog (Canis familiaris) and on the dog–owner relationship.” Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research 9, no. 2 (2014): 58-65. See commentary. - Positive reinforcement training methods are less stressful and potentially better for dogs’ welfare.
Casey et al.Casey, Rachel A., Bethany Loftus, Christine Bolster, Gemma J. Richards, and Emily J. Blackwell. “Human directed aggression in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris): Occurrence in different contexts and risk factors.” Applied Animal Behaviour Science 152 (2014): 52-63. See commentary. - Punitive training techniques increase the risk of aggression in dogs.
J. J. Cooper, N. Cracknell, J. Hardiman, H. Wright, D. Mills. "The Welfare Consequences and Efficacy of Training Pet Dogs with Remote Electronic Training Collars in
Comparison to Reward Based Training" 2014. Full text available here. Shock collars are unnecessary and detrimental to animal welfare
Arnott, Elizabeth R., Jonathan B. Early, Claire M. Wade, and Paul D. McGreevy. “Environmental factors associated with success rates of Australian stock herding dogs.” PloS one 9, no. 8 (2014): e104457. - Below average success rates were reported significantly more often by respondents who use e-collars on stock herding dogs
(Review article) Ziv, Gal. “The effects of using aversive training methods in dogs—A review.” Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research 19 (2017): 50-60. Using aversive training methods (e.g., positive punishment and negative reinforcement) can jeopardize both the physical and mental health of dogs. See commentary.
American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior Position Statement on Punishment
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