hi all, i have never used an e-collar, i was surprised that the range of products at local pet supply shop. in fact he sold one while i was standing there + a bark collar and said they are a very popular sales item his best seller is bark collars. i happened to know the lady that bought it, only a small town. she owns merrema's (spelling) a dog bred to bark loud and quickly. she said she is using to stop her dogs barking at night. she bought the breed because she thought they look good and will protect her family from intuders at night?

i know my dog is way spoilt and gets away with too much hence will never win any competition due to my softness in training - i don't plan on changing any of that.

my question / concern is that at my level of knowledge i would not feel confident giving a dog push-button juice like that and am concerned this technology is way too easy to purchase and people with no formal training will be using it innapropriately which only means uneccesary stress/confusion for more dogs everywhere.

i know people here have skills but heck aren't you concerned about the implications letting this technolgy loose for the uneducated general public.

i know people can be cruel without technology but doesn't this just make it all that much easier.

any comments welcome.

I kind of agree about e-collars. I'm in a minority, but I think electronics adds a certain remove from the act of correcting -- a dissociation -- unless the art (it is an art, IMO) of using it is fully learned.

Ed made this: http://leerburg.com/318.htm and has plenty of e-collar info on the LB site, and this, IMHO, is how they should be sold to owners new to them.

This is actually the first site I ran across where the use of e-collars was explained and demonstrated in a way that I was comfortable with.

But that's just me, and yes, people can be and are abusive without electronics.

My question is: Why have dogs to protect you "at night" then put bark collars on them?

If someone hears a large barking dog, that is usually deterrent enough. What happens when they surprise the dogs, who end up doing most dogs would do, they run and hide (Exceptions can be PPD Trained, and the odd really great dog of course ) - quietly, because they know there is a correction coming if they bark???

Did I miss something?

I see your concern, but this isn't an e-collar problem, IMO.

Behind any training tool, there can be ignorance or abuse.

Somebody that is deliberately abusing a dog with an e-collar is not worried about the dissociation with the tool of abuse, IMO.

I just can't see an e-collar in the hands of the ignorant being any worse than a prong collar, or boot for that matter.

It all comes back to being abusive or ignorant. I don't think an e-collar makes abuse easier. An abuser is an abuser and is going to do it regardless.