04/22/2021
Yesterday, two humans (including myself) and three dogs on a walk at dawn. We were in a conservancy area where leashes are required. At one point I was tracking the movements of a person with a Golden Retriever off lead, especially as the Aussie, Asher, is dog-reactive. As they came closer across a field, we gathered the long lines and started to get our dogs' attention while calling to the person to put their dog on lead. The Golden then took off running wildly towards us as only a juvenile would - he must have been about 9-10 months old -- when he jumped into the air yelping and then lay down. How odd, I thought. He jumped up, twirled, and ran towards us again, yelping, twirling and holding his body down as if in pain. It took me a minute to realize that the owner was using a remote shock collar. Whether this poor dog was being "trained" with R- for the recall or P+ for running towards us, he was hurting and seemed to have no idea of what he was supposed to do.
You can teach a dog to return to you because it hurts him to do otherwise, or you can teach him to return because it is rewarding and because he trusts you. And off-leash training has its place, but never in a location like this, with other people, dogs and wildlife trying to experience some peace.
I don't pay attention to the argument that dogs can be trained to "obey" this way. Of course they can be trained this way, just as children can be taught "manners" by threatening them. Such training causes pain, and fear, and it is unethical.
