03/07/2025
I'd rather my dog is SAFE
๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐?
"๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐จ ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฌ ๐ด๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ข ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ฆ."
Yes โ thatโs the kind of language often used by the more extreme voices in the โpositive onlyโ and โforce freeโ training camps. They describe modern e-collars as โshock collars,โ refer to them as โbarbaric tools,โ and claim they โburn,โ โelectrocute,โ or โinflict pain to dominate and control.โ These are emotionally charged descriptions designed to scare people โ not educate them. The truth is far less dramatic. A modern, high-quality e-collar delivers a brief, adjustable ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ช๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ, similar to the mild zap you might get from static electricity. When applied properly โ with timing, clarity, and at the lowest effective level just above the dogโs threshold of discomfort โ it becomes an incredibly effective and humane tool for interrupting dangerous behaviour and conditioning avoidance and saving lives.
This is the level of irrationality many diehard โpositive onlyโ and โforce freeโ trainers have reached. In their eyes, even the most precise, humane, and life-saving use of a mild aversive is somehow more unethical than allowing a dog to die a slow, preventable death. Their ideology is so deeply rooted in emotional sentiment that any use of discomfort โ even for the dogโs own safety โ is automatically condemned.
If you live in a snake-prone region, or in areas where poison baits are commonly left out for rodents โ or worse, deliberately placed to intentionally harm dogs โ these ideologues would still rather see your dog suffer the consequences than acknowledge that a well-timed, low-level aversive could condition the dog to avoid the danger altogether. Their ideology places emotional comfort for the human above practical safety for the dog.
I openly challenge ๐๐ฃ๐ฎ โpositive onlyโ or โforce freeโ advocate to demonstrate, with clear, verifiable, and repeatable results, how their methods alone can condition a dog to reliably avoid snakes or poison baits โ particularly when the dog is off-lead and outside direct supervision. Not in theory. Not in carefully controlled setups. But in the real world, where these threats are unpredictable, unforgiving, and often fatal.
Until that challenge is met, their position remains a feel-good belief system that collapses when confronted by real-life dangers. And in clinging to it, they fail the very animals they claim to protect.
