New Quick Fix Stimulation Collar Promises to End Pulling in One Walk
A colleague of mine shared an ad for the latest and greatest training collar with me today. We both shook our heads at it. As professionals who spend their lives helping people and helping dogs, we know the troubles these “quick fix” tools cause.
This is not what the ad said, but this is where my mind went as I read through their website :
********************************Forget dog trainers. You don't need 'em! 🤩 Now you can pay us $100 for a collar that gives your dog a "stimulation" , or SHOCK as most of you call it. It may be a vibration, but if it was we would've used that word because it sounds nicer and will make you buy this collar.
You have 3 levels to choose from. The level doesn't change once set and you have no control over when the collar will shock your dog.
Do you like surprises? GREAT! The level of "stimulation" is a surprise too! You'll have no idea how intensely this collar is correcting your dog, unless you get weird and put it on yourself and pull.....maybe.
Will it create fear and negative associations with everything in the world and cost you thousands of dollars to rehabilitate your once happy, social dog who just had a pulling problem?
YOU BET!
Do we care?
HELL NAW!
Give us $100 NOW because we told you it would work, just like all of the other training tools you have no freakin idea how to use.
Other tools don't tell you that you need to be skilled for them to be effective.
We are telling you that you DON'T have to have a clue what you are doing for this tool to work. How great is that? It will do the work for you. It will CORRECT your dog for you!
You will have no control over when your dog is corrected, but that's perfect because you can't even control your own dog so why should you be in control of when they are hit with mystery level "stimulation"?
This collar is only $100 so you KNOW it is the latest, most sophisticated technology available today. It definitely won't malfunction, correct your dog at the wrong time, constantly correct your dog, or scare and confuse the hell out of your dog.
******************************************
You've spent several hundred on other special training collars that didn't work and dealt with pulling behaviors along with a laundry list of other things your dog does that are ruining your life because you didn't want to pay a few hundred bucks or a couple thousand to resolve the behavior and learn how to communicate with your dog and develop a healthy relationship effectively.
What is $100 more if they tell you it will work and it is SO easy?
It's easy, just like that $30 shock collar you bought off of Amazon 5 times ,because your dog kept chewing it up. You wasted your time being inconsistent with the stimulation that was overwhelming even on the lowest setting. I mean you only turned it up to level 3 and there were 7 levels! It was supposed to be easy and solve all your problems with the click of a button and a few minutes.
It's easy, just like that $20 slip chain you picked up at the pet store. It's way too long for your dog, but you don't know that. You just don't like it being snug. You don't want to choke your dog. Your dog continues to pull. Only now, your dog really can't breathe when he goes on walks. He is choking himself the whole time. It's still not fun to walk your dog and now its definitely not fun for your dog.
It's easy, like that Starmark collar you paid $40 for, then $20 more for when you needed extra links. That plastic black scary looking thing with all the pointy teeth, like a backwards spike collar that digs into your dog. Your dog is still pulling your arm out of the socket on every walk, but at least he can breathe a little more now. You cringe every time you put it on him before walking out the front door. You know it is painful for him. You feel horrible you chose to put it on him, but you had to do something and you definitely don't think his quality of life is worth paying an expert for a program that will solve all of your problems and give you unlimited support and be there for you through your training journey. Why should you when there are so many cheap quick fixes?!
It's easy, like that fancy Herm Springer prong collar you heard all the most successful dog trainers were using. Your best friend told you about the collar after her dog completed a two week board and train program with a professional dog trainer. Her dog came home a whole different dog! The little Australian Shepherd is still her fun happy self, but she doesn't pull anymore, comes every time she is called, and does a whole list of other life saving commands perfectly when she is asked. You thought for sure this collar would be the answer to your problems. The collar clips on, has stainless steel prongs that are blunt, and you paid $93 for it. Just like the slip chain you tried 8 months ago, this prong collar is dangling so low from your dog's neck, like a rap star's gold chain. You don't know how to properly fit it. You don't know anything besides put it on your dog and hope this is the last thing you have to buy because you're exhausted.
Almost a year has gone by since you started to try to fix this pulling problem on your own with the empty promises that is the marketing to dog owners who just love their pets so much they will buy anything if you slap "cheap quick fix" on it.
But do you really love your dog if you're being a cheapo and taking what you think is the easy way out?
You aren't willing to invest money or time into the best for your dog. You aren't willing to put in the hard work of learning how to utilize the tools correctly, instill rules and boundaries, stay consistent with structure.
You almost did right by your best friend that one time you called a professional dog trainer and had a behavior evaluation and consultation. For 2 hours you felt good about yourself and you were excited about the future with your dog. It looked like you were finally going to live the dream and take your dog everywhere with you, relax, have fun like it was supposed to be.
But then the trainer told you about the investment you would have to make.
You weren't willing to make a lifestyle change for your dog, to spend more time with them and train. To promise to do everything the trainer told you needed to be done, even if you didn't like it. To become the consistent leader your dog needs in order to have the best quality of life. To make the commitment that you needed to in order to improve your quality of life living with your dog.
When it came down to the monetary investment required, you convinced yourself you couldn't afford it. You didn't think about using a credit card, getting a loan, asking your family (who love you and your dog) for help. You didn't think about where you could cut back on the little things, like the $4 Starbucks coffee you pick up every morning, or the $12 case of beer you buy twice a week. Holding back on one of these things for just a year would've paid for three quarters of a minimum program to improve you and your dog's life. But your best friend isn't worth the commitment, the sacrifice. He'd do anything for you, he's given you his whole life, but you won't do what you need to do to make his life better.
So here you are. Looking at another ad for a "cheap quick fix".
It will never work.
You have a pile of empty promises in the form of special collars, leashes, things that make loud noises, and some things that emit weird smells. They are collecting dust and dog hair somewhere in a dark cabinet you never visit.
In the past year your dog has caused you to be pulled down and dragged down the sidewalk. That was a $6,000 surgery bill to repair your arm, on the best insurance you could get, and more than 4 months of rehab just so you could walk your pulling dog again. You had to hire a dog walker to come three times a week so your dog could get at least some exercise. That whole deal cost you countless hours of valuable time with your dog and about $1,200 in dog walker fees.
Then there was that time your dog stopped pulling for a split second. He stood very quiet and stiff, looking intently across the street. As you thought you were finally getting some relief, you saw it.
CAT!
Your dog yanked the leash right out of your hand and charged across the road.
He didn't know to look twice or use a crosswalk. The Beetle car driver didn't see him quick enough. You watched your best friend get hit by that funny looking clown car. You rushed him to the vet. Thank God he only had a fractured leg. That was another $1,800 and 2 months of lost time while he healed up.
Remember the new windows you had installed at the beginning of the year? The 3 front windows. $1,100. You were thrilled to spend your tax return on those windows. Your dog destroyed them because he wasn't getting walked and didn't have the structure he needed. He didn't have the training he needed.
There are no quick fixes in dog training.
Tools are only as good as the handler.
You have to have knowledge, skill, and impeccable timing when using any training tool.
On top of that you must stay consistent. There are no “maybes” or “sometimes” when you are training a dog.
Go ahead and spend another $100 on this thing that promises you everything is going to be dandy within minutes.
You are wasting your time and money.
With all of the expenses of not hiring a professional dog trainer this year, you've racked up over $10,000 in bills you shouldn't have even had to deal with.
That's enough to put your dog through a professional dog trainer's most advanced board and train program 3 times!
That's enough to pay for a less advanced vital commands board and train program 4 times!
That's enough to take a private lesson program almost 7 times!
If you hire the best dog trainer, you will only have to complete one program and you will have results that last a lifetime. Given the way the past yr with your dog has gone, one program will save you between $40,000 and $80,000 through the course of your dog's life.
Don't keep putting it off.
Don't keep wasting your money on the latest quick-fix tool.
Don't continue to be disappointed when you don't get results.
Don't try to DIY and make matters worse, costing you money, time, and quality of life.
Get help. Stay dedicated. 100%. You owe it to yourself and your dog.
Brittany Downey
Downey Dog Training
901-502-7670
* This is not a jab at training tools. As balanced trainers we do not limit ourselves and we are open to all training tools when used appropriately, therefore keeping you from only achieving limited results. We train to the highest standard of obedience. This requires an open mind, years and years of skill set we have built through working with hundreds to thousands of dogs, impeccable timing, understanding of canine communication, and immense patience.
It simply kills us inside to see dog owners waste their time and money on things that just do not work because they do not posses the skills and knowledge to work with the tool effectively. This ends up creating frustrated owners and confused dogs who typically have more behavior issues than they did before the misguided tool use occurred. A tool such as the one in this ad is a tool that will be misused because of what it is. There is no way for the human to control what the collar is doing to the dog. It is not a sophisticated piece of equipment. There is no knowledge or skill required so this means the tool will not do its job, or will create worse problems. If it uses electronic stimulation or vibration at all, we foresee the later.
