The Cost of Aversive Training Tools

I just returned from a consultation with a large breed dog that is reactive to other dogs. As a puppy she was happy and friendly around other dogs, but after being attacked by a dog at the dog park at 8-months of age her fear and anxiety about unknown dogs began.

Yes, fear and anxiety. Not because she is dominant. Not because she is protecting the owners. Not because she is a jerk. Because she is scared.

Most reactivity is driven by fear (an immediate, automatic emotional and physical response to a known, present, or definite threat) or anxiety (a lingering feeling of nervousness or worry about a potential, unknown, or imagined threat). The displays of barking, lunging, and growling are attempts to keep the other dog (or stranger/child/trash truck/etc.) away from them. The owners have watched TV shows, videos, and read articles about how to “fix” their dog, and over the past several months have accumulated quite the collection of dog training “tools” that have not worked. In fact, her behavior has gotten worse. Why?

These tools (choke, prong, and shock collars) work through pain and fear rather than learning. Pain and fear create anxiety, causing dogs to associate walks, training sessions, their owner, or other people or dogs with that pain, creating a never-ending loop of lasting fear and anxiety.

Beyond the physical and emotional harm, these tools share a deeper problem: they suppress behavior without addressing the underlying cause. This leads to:

• Redirected aggression — a dog startled or hurt by a correction may lash out at nearby animals or people - even the owner - since it can't identify the true source of pain

• Learned helplessness — some dogs become shut down and stop engaging with the world, which looks like "calm" but is actually distress

• Relationship damage — the dog may learn to distrust the person applying corrections

• A dog that’s not “fixed” — suppressed behaviors will resurface because they are never actually eliminated, only temporarily hidden, until the dog’s internal stress threshold is crossed, often manifesting as sudden, explosive reactions or escalating into aggression because the dog’s emotional state was never truly resolved

The research is consistent when it comes to aversive training methods, with studies having found that dogs trained with aversive tools show more stress behaviors during and after training, correlating with higher rates of aggression, anxiety, and fear compared to reward-based (positive reinforcement) training. Organizations like the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, and the ASPCA all recommend against their use.

The cost of aversive training tools? To a dog, it can be astronomical. To us, it was $140. Through our Swap & Save program we discount the training package fee by $20 for every device traded in. So yes, in this instance we are out $140, but assuring the dogs under our care and supervision are trained with humane, ethical, and effective methods is worth every penny.

Citations:

Vieira de Castro AC, Fuchs D, Morello GM, Pastur S, de Sousa L, Olsson IAS (2020) Does training method matter? Evidence for the negative impact of aversive-based methods on companion dog welfare. PLoS ONE 15(12): e0225023.

Herron, M. E., Shofer, F. S., & Reisner, I. R. (2009). Survey of the use and outcome of confrontational and non-confrontational training methods in client-owned dogs showing undesired behaviors. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 117(1-2), 47-54.

Cooper, J. J., Cracknell, N., Hardiman, J., Wright, H., & Mills, D. (2014). The welfare consequences and efficacy of training pet dogs with remote electronic training collars in comparison to reward-based training. PloS one, 9(9), e102722.

Casey, R.A., Naj-Oleari, M., Campbell, S. et al. (2021). Dogs are more pessimistic if their owners use two or more aversive training methods. Sci Rep 11, 19023.

Joana Guilherme Fernandes, I. Anna S. Olsson, Ana Catarina Vieira de Castro (2017). Do aversive-based training methods actually compromise dog welfare? Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 196, 1-12