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It's fantasic to hear electric collars have been banned in Wales. A dog training friend, Tony Orchard (who trains a huge variety of dogs including gun dogs)once said "If you're a good enough trainer to use an electric shock collar, you're good enough not to need to use one". Modern methods are far more effective - see www.apbc.org.uk or www.bluecross.org.uk for more comments and information.
It's a great day for dogs in Wales (and people because they can now look to build a better relationship with their dogs).

Julie

"We congratulate the Welsh Assembly for taking a stand in banning electric dog collars, which are both cruel and unnecessary in the training of dogs. Blue Cross animal behaviourists work with unwanted behaviour in many hundreds of dogs every year using methods of positive reinforcement that reward correct behaviour, build the animals' confidence and strengthen their bond with their owners. Aversive training techniques such as electric shock collars have the opposite effect and can cause psychological damage leading to long-term behavioural problems. As a nation of animal lovers, we would urge the rest of the UK to follow suit and ban electric shock collars for good."

Hi Mark, good to meet you this morning.

On the subject of the Welsh ban on electric collars I think this is just one minor step in a bigger picture. Banning anything does not stop it being used it simply sends it underground - look at drugs, banned dog breeds and, as someone commented this morning, mobile phones in cars.

Any piece of equipment used without the correct knowledge can be abusive, including normal flat collars. Understanding how dogs learn is more important than dealing with individual gadgets. Even the human voice can be abusive - it is the dogs perception of what is punishing/aversive that needs consideration.

Banning something only tells people what NOT to do. What we should be concentrating on is educating people in how dogs work and how to train them. Teaching them what TO do. 99% of the training I offer teaches people to set the dog up to be successful in offering the right behaviour and then rewarding it. This way people are looking for the dog to get things right so they can reward rather than waiting for the dog to go wrong so they can correct/punish it.

Education not legislation is the way forward.

Claire

Hi Mark, I concur with Claire. Any piece of equipment can be abused.
Positive training is necessary. The dog must know what you want it to do before you start telling it what not to do. Nevertheless once a dog has got a taste for the chase, be it bicycles/cars/livestock etc and when it has become a last resort situation an aversive is one of the best ways to go.
A ban would not be effective. How would it be policed?
Educate folk about their dogs. Teach them how they learn. Teach them how to manage them. If a dog has an inappropriate behaviour it must be stopped before the dog has had fun doing it. Every tiem that dog chases its target it is going to be harderto to "cure".It must be stopped with an interrupter which is effective or you will just strengthen the dog's desire to do it and desensitise it to any form of control.
I have dealt with many dogs over the years which would have been put to sleep had their sheep-killing not been stopped. The correct ( and I emphasise the word correct) use of the collar does not cause long term damage to the dog or to the relationship it should have with its owner. With the correct preparation and planning it perceives the shock as coming from the sheep. The dog is trained first to obey various basic commands and to enjoy doing tricks and tasks for its owner, the sheep 'bites', it runs to its owner as a safe haven. I have never had to use more than three sessions with one or two uses of the collar each time before the dog has learned that sheep are a bad idea.
If used the shock collar should be in the hands of someone who is prepared to spend as much time as it takes to go through the procedure correctly.
I don't hear complaints about electric fences - one of the loudest anti-collar complainers I know was heard by myself telling her girl, "They haven't been in that field before. Make sure every pony knows the fence is on!" ie make them touch it.

Mark,
Glad to see you have got over the loss of Tangle and now have another lurcher to love.
If he/she is half as soppy as our two whippets then you have a super family pet.
If you want to see a lot of whippets, and possibly a lurcher or two, look in on The South Cots PWR Club at the commoners` cricket ground, Nympsfield on a Sunday morning [e.g. this coming Sunday].We were on Country File a few years back!
Gavin Tasker
Kings Stanley

Portugal is a dangerous place for domestic creatures. Irresponsible hunters shoot at anything and lay down poison at random. In an attempt to protect our two very precious cats (who had been dumped on our doorstep at birth) we had electric fencing and shock collars and a man brought over from England. It took two long days to set it all up. Our entire land was secure and Basil's little face nearly scraped against the ground such was the weight of the collar. It came time to test it all. 'I will wear the collar and see what the effect is!' cried Mr Brain. The Man screamed out. 'No, NO, it is terribly dangerous - you must NEVER get the shock yourself.' 'Well' said Mr Brain VERY firmly, ' if it's dangerous for a 13 stone man I'm not letting it anywhere near a 3kilo cat.' The whole kerboodle had to be dismantled and sent back to England. The moral of this is try it yourself first.