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When my parents walk my dogs, the neighbors say something like

"You have the grandkids over for the weekend?"

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Pet shops also call dog owners "pet parents".

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Our little furry ones are our children. Our family, yeah.

## Shock Collars to Educate Small Dogs?

I wouldn't hit my kids every time they yell or pee in the wrong place.

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I wouldn't say, "it's just soft slaps, they won't remember". Or shocks, right? It's just a few volts, for their own good.

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Would you? And don't bring out that medieval 5h!t. Think modern times, modern psychology. We have come a long way since then.

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Shock collars can make them become withdrawn, fearful, aggressive or [messed up in other ways](https://www.peta.org/issues/animal-companion-issues/cruel-practices/prong-shock-collar-electric-fences/) that I don’t want my dogs to be.

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We don't freakin do it with our kids. So why do our dogs have to take it?

## Distress

You know the [Milgram experiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment)?

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In the 60s Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram got volunteers to apply shocks to a "learner" sitting in a separate room.

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The volunteers were ordered by an "experimenter" (researcher) to give shocks when the "learner" (an actor helping the researcher) gave wrong answers.

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Supposedly it was about testing how the shocks helped a person learn. But it was really about testing obedience to authority when it came to hurting people.

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The voltage got higher and higher and the volunteer would hear the "learner" through the door crying and asking for them to stop.

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The volunteers would get really tense hearing the pain they were causing. The [summary for the study](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1964-03472-001) lists these for example: "Profuse sweating, trembling, and stuttering were typical expressions of this emotional disturbance".

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As I said. It was a social psychology experiment and not about dogs or shock collars at all.

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But here's my point. It's clear the volunteers were messed up when giving stronger shocks and hearing the pain they caused.

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How is it with our pet kids?

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What if the owner gets a shock every time they give one. One for the pet, one for you, same intensity. Makes you think twice.

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Nah. Big, medium or small dog. Don't get a shock collar for your pet.

## Animal Rights

Human rights are pretty awesome. Make us think about how we treat each other. At least it should.

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We should be all about [animal rights](https://www.peta.org/about-peta/why-peta/why-animal-rights/) too.

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More and more [countries banned shock collars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_collar#Legal_status). In the future, we'll think it was barbaric that we even had such a device. Why not start now?

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What if you have a shock collar and your dog is really getting on your nerves? Or you're in a bad mood? How can you be 100% sure you're not abusing the damn collar?

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Why not just make sure this never happens?

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There are other ways to go about it. Maybe spend more time training the dogs. Hire a more qualified trainer. Or think twice about which dogs you’re getting. Use a real fence. There are enough positive reinforcement methods that won’t trouble the dogs emotionally and psychologically.

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Research!

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If I'm the one bringing the dog into society, I'm responsible.

## Family

My dogs are family. Not a status symbol. Not a cute ornament that we should breed the hell out of until they look like dolls. Not a robot.

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If I'm being honest, they're not children. They won't go to college and steal my car. But they can steal my pillow anytime.

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And it's my business that my dogs are happy in this crazy human world I brought them to.

Why Shock Collars for Small Dogs Should be Banned - and for Big Ones Too

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Company Mentioned

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