Shock Collars are Cruel

I recently watched an episode of America's Funniest Videos. One of the videos clips was of a man trying to program his dogs' shock collar. The man had the collar on himself and he was trying to adjust it, his dog barked and the collar shocked him and the man was in horrible pain. It wasn't very funny. It was disturbing to me because I thought of all the dogs that are subjected to that pain and shock every day.

Most dog experts agree that a combination of boundary setting, follow-up, and positive reinforcement work best when training young dogs. They also agree that negative reinforcement, such as hitting, spanking, or the use of electric shock collars, can have negative long term psychological, and sometimes physical effects on dogs.

According to the American Humane Society, shock collars are painful, cruel, and inhumane. Shock collars can be dangerous to pets, sometimes causing painful burns to a dog's skin. In England, there is a law under consideration that would ban shock collars.

I think that a requirement for the use of these collars should be that the owner needs to try it out first!