When is a Dog Old Enough for a Shock Collar?

It is ok to use a shock collar on your dog when he or she is 10 weeks old. However, it is recommended to see the overall behaviour of your dog before getting a shock collar for him or her.

A puppy, just like a human child, has a learning curve and must learn basic concepts and commands before being forced to accept them. Therefore, try different training procedures like positive reinforcement, or reward-based training before using a shock collar.

According to Breeding Business, you can use the shock collar on your pup that is at least 14 – 15 weeks old. However, a few canines should wait at least 24 weeks before beginning shock collar training. Also, the perfect age for shock collar training depends on your canine’s temperament, power to learn new commands, and the intelligence required to understand the collar signal.

Is it true that shock collars are harmful?

The shock collar gives out mild shocks when you press the remote control button. This shock is used to let your pup understand to react to your voice and instructions. Therefore, they are not harmful to the pups during training. 

When your pup starts to bark a lot, he may do it just to show his anxiety. You can use these shock collars to mitigate unwanted bad behaviour. Moreover, you can use it on low-intensity stimulation so that your pup does not feel bad.

If your canine is older than 6 months, you can find it difficult to train your dog. The older the canine is, the tougher it gets to train him. 

The Two Fear Phases of Development

1st Fear phase

Between 8 and 11 weeks of age, a puppy goes through a mental shift as its brain starts developing. It then enters what is known as the first “fear phase,” in which its brain encourages it to explore its surroundings and learns to fear everything. This lasts about 2-3 weeks and at this point, it is up to the mother to show it the rules and literally teach it how to survive as its mother did.

At this point, you can start with the most basic training. However, no remote control training collar because your puppy is too small and sensitive. You can start by teaching him to respond to treats and basic obedience commands like sit, come, lie down, stay,  and walk on a leash. To get started, you need to teach your pup to look at you when you call his name. 

When he looks at you, give him an award with a lot of praise. Also, be sure to reward him regularly. Give him a few minutes from time to time as puppies have a little attention span. Once your pup has mastered it,  you will have a much easier time making him learn new things like verbal commands.

2nd Fear Phase

At around 6-14 months, your pup will enter the second stage. If you’re confused why this is such a big range, it’s because the dog’s size affects how quickly it comes to this stage. It is a fact that a small breed like the Miniature Pinscher reaches this stage of maturity much faster than larger breeds. This is the stage where your pup will be more sensitive to people, such as people in the house and other animals in the surrounding.

This is when they build trust with certain people and ultimately treat similar people equally. For instance, they see a friendly postman as an intruder and you haven’t done anything about it. They will show aggressiveness towards similarly dressed individuals who approach your home. Since your pup should be quite large, now is a good time to initiate shock collar training.

The Best Way to Introduce Shock Collars to Puppies

Before you start the shock collar training, you need to know how to properly introduce it to your pup. The shock collar has a controller for fixing the stimulation range. You can set this according to your canine’s mental strength. You can start with the lowest level. If your canine responds to it well, you do not need to increase it further. However, if your canine is unaffected by it, you need to increase the level by a small number. This way you can gradually increase it to manage your canine’s temperament. 

If you fail to introduce a shock collar to your pup in a proper manner, its mental and physical health can get affected mentally, if the pup is not prepared for this training, it can encourage fear. Physically, if the shock collar is very tight, it can cause burns on your pup’s skin because of the frequent shocks. 

How Does A Shock Collar Work?

The shock collar is a type of aversive training that was used in the 1960s to train hunting canines. At present, individuals usually use it to solve stubbornness and unwanted behaviour of their dogs. This can cover things like food aggression and excessive barking. The shock collar is also used to train puppies to stay in a confined area or to stay close when off-leash.

The shock collar is not a form of punishment, it is a deterrent to unsafe or negative behaviour. The theory behind using shock collars is that your canine will connect bad behaviour with an uncomfortable jolt and hence stop doing it so that it will not experience that discomfort again.  

The shock from the approved shock collar is completely safe. Therefore, it is enough to get your canine’s attention and mitigate specific behaviours. 

How to Train Your Puppy With a Shock Collar?

Training a pup with a shock collar is very important to help him learn good behaviour and avoid certain habits that are not good for him and the environment. Here are steps through which you can train your puppy with a shock collar. 

1. When you are initiating commands, turn on the shock collar. Once your pooch starts to come back to you, stop the device immediately. 
2. Re-start the shock collar if your canine is distracted towards something and is running in another direction once again. 
3. Go for the low level of stimulation first.
4. Keep your canine on a leash while making him learn certain behaviours and commands. 
5. Every time you activate the stimulation and call your canine’s name will teach him what you are trying to say. Moreover, you can also activate it when your canine starts to bark.

Pros and Cons of Shock Collars for Puppies

Although there are a few controversies that are piled up on using shock collars on dogs, still it is safe to use while training the dogs to the correct behaviour. Here are the pros and cons of shock collars for puppies. 

Pros:

• Efficient and effective
• Adjustable
• Budget-friendly

Cons:

• Can be a chance of faulty correction

What can I use instead of a shock collar?

Here are a few alternatives to shock collars-

1. Whistles
2. Scents
3. Pheromones
4. Citronella collars

Final words

In conclusion, I would say that if you use the shock collar correctly, it is completely safe for your dog. However, you must not use it on pups younger than 10 weeks. Also, you must train your pup with basic commands first without using a shock collar. 

After this, you can start using shock collars to reinforce some basic behaviours. A younger canine understands commands faster than older ones. 

I hope you enjoyed the article. I will be back soon with more interesting and informative pieces of writing. Till then, stay connected. Thank you.

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