The electronic collars of years past - think back to the 1950's - were often referred to as shock collars. And that is what they were. These collars for dogs were originally designed to break unwanted and destructive behaviors during hunting expeditions. For instance, if the dogs got to rambunctious and tried to chase the prey rather than do their job and just point, these collars delivered a shock to stop them in their tracks. Hunters also used these collars as a way to get their dogs to come to them after a long day of hunting.
These collars were a perfect way to punish these dogs remotely and soon dog owners and trainers were looking for alternate uses for the electronic collar. There was just one problem with these collars: they often delivered too strong of a jolt to be effective in a positive way. Rather, these electronic collars started to demoralize the dogs. They became despondent and were soon too scared to do their job, which was to help the hunters. These dogs soon became afraid of doing the wrong thing and getting electronically zapped for it that they were either totally misbehaving or slipping into a depressing state. In other words, these collars were becoming counterproductive.
In order to motivate dogs into positive responses during training, it was evident that something had to be done about these powerful electronic collars. Soon, a more human approach to the design of these collars was used so that the collars became motivators of good behavior rather than bad. The collars were no longer viewed as just a punishment tool.
Researchers and dog trainers who worked on a new version of the electronic collar had to realize that dogs are individuals too. Just like humans, they have different personalities, sensitivities and temperaments. A new electronic collar was created for remote training which, instead of zapping the poor canines, conveyed muted levels of electricity. These new electronic collars could be adjusted to reflect the dog's individual tolerances in regards to sensitivity.
The great thing about these new adjustable level electronic collars is that trainers had a tool in which to easily correct dog behaviors by fiddling with the shock levels administered through the collar to the dog wearing it. This hugely impacted the possibilities in regards to remote training for dogs in a number of situations.
Perhaps one of the biggest applications these days for the electronic collar is the preparation of dogs for obedience competitions. These events can be fierce and wrought with a number of distractions that could spell doom for the canine competitors. For some of these events, there are obstacle courses and jumps to perform. Trainers use the electronic collars when they first start training the dogs to help those associate proper corrections with different actions. Once the dogs have the proper behaviors ingrained in their actions, it becomes a habit. At that time, the trainers would then turn off the electronic collars to ensure that the dogs maintain their positive behaviors for competitions. Eventually, the collars would come off permanently.
