The Controversial Collar

While on one of our pack walks, Michele asked me if I ever considered trying an E-Collar on Chili. My immediate reaction was, “NO!” I mean, really?? Isn’t that cruel? I’ve learned through my experiences with Chili that I have to step outside of my comfort zone sometimes. So far, I liked Michele’s style and she is an experienced trainer, so she must have a reason for suggesting this tool. For me though, on this day, that was the end of the discussion. No.

On the next walk, she asked if I’d thought about her suggestion of testing out the E-Collar. I had thought about it. Thought that it was not for me. Why was I so anti-E-Collar? Was it because of my experience? No, I didn’t have any experience at all with this collar. It was because I had already made up my mind without having any facts. The only fact I had was that it would give my dog an electric jolt and that was cruel. Only cruel people use them. Now, if I wanted to be true to that line of thinking, I was already a cruel person. I had used a choke collar on my dog. That “chokes” the dog. Isn’t that cruel? I had used a pinch collar. The pinch, pinches points around the dogs neck when you give it a correction and can do some damage if the prongs are digging into the wrong spot. Isn’t that cruel? I had made up a story in my head about the E-Collar, and people who use it, that wasn’t based on anything. I was doing to them exactly what people do to me and Chili. I think I need to find out some facts first before I make another judgement. Besides, as we all know, you don’t need a tool to be cruel.

So, why did Michele recommend the E-Collar? From her own experience, the E-Collar was the tool that allowed her to give her dogs a better quality of life. Freedom. Better yet, freedom with safety. The E-Collar gave her the power to keep them out of their hind brain and teach them a new reality. To come to her when they feel afraid and stand by her side. She would protect them. They didn’t need to take on that burden any longer.

When it gets to the point where a dog will harm themselves or their owner with their fight or flight instinct, or, when an owner has tried everything else and their lives are being ruled by anxiety because of their dog’s actions. Or, when you dread the walk and you have to build yourself up for it. It’s time for the next step. Although Chili is a great dog, and I never had a worry that she would bite, she would still lunge and make poor decisions for herself because she is so headstrong. She’s a dog, and doesn’t understand that my commands are protecting her and she must listen. Nothing I had tried so far, was working on these issues. This caused me anxiety and kept her from having freedom. Neither one of us deserved that.

Like any other tool, the E-Collar isn’t for every dog. Out of the approximately 4500 dogs that Michele has trained, she’s recommended its use for about 20. As with every other tool, you should get a professional to give you training with it BEFORE you use it. Every tool has the potential for harm if not used wisely.

It was time. After much consideration, I asked Michele if she would show me how to use the E-Collar.