The
following is courtesy of Applied Animal Behaviour Science journal,
March 2004. Applied Animal Behaviour
Science Training
dogs with help of the shock collar: short and long term behavioural
effects Matthijs B. H. Schilder, a, b and Joanne A. M. van der
Borga Abstract
Behavioural effects
of the use of a shock collar during guard dog training of German shepherd
dogs were studied. Direct reactions of 32 dogs to 107 shocks showed
reactions (lowering of body posture, high pitched yelps, barks and
squeals, avoidance, redirection aggression, tongue flicking) that suggest
stress or fear and pain. Most of these immediate reactions lasted only a
fraction of a second. The behaviour of 16 dogs that had received shocks in
the recent past (S-dogs) was compared with the behaviour of 15 control
dogs that had received similar training but never had received shocks
(C-dogs) in order to investigate possible effects of a longer duration.
Only training sessions were used in which no shocks were delivered and the
behaviour of the dogs (position of body, tail and ears, and stress-, pain-
and aggression-related behaviours) was recorded in a way that enabled
comparison between the groups. During free walking on the training grounds
S-dogs showed a lower ear posture and more stress-related behaviours than
C-dogs. During obedience training and during manwork (i.e. excercises with
a would-be criminal) the same differences were found. Even a comparison
between the behaviour of C-dogs with that of S-dogs during free walking
and obedience exercises in a park showed similar differences. Differences
between the two groups of dogs existed in spite of the fact that C-dogs
also were trained in a fairly harsh way. A comparison between the
behaviour during free walking with that during obedience exercises and
manwork, showed that during training more stress signals were shown and
ear positions were lower. The conclusions, therefore are, that being
trained is stressful, that receiving shocks is a painful experience to
dogs, and that the S-dogs evidently have learned that the presence of
their owner (or his commands) announces reception of shocks, even outside
of the normal training context. This suggests that the welfare of these
shocked dogs is at stake, at least in the presence of their owner.
Author
Keywords: Dog;
Training; Stress; Welfare; Shock collar The following is courtesy of Applied Animal Behaviour Science journal, March 2004
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