Never Shock a Puppy Campaign Advocates for Pain-Free Training

When Roxanne Hawn was asked by the BlogPaws Be the Change for Pets team what one thing would improve the lives of pets, her answer was to raise awareness about pain-free alternatives to dog collars designed to hurt, startle or punish. The challenge inspired her to team up with a coalition of writers, dog trainers, and veterinarians, and Never Shock a Puppy was born.

The Never Shock a Puppy campaign aimed to protect all dogs — of any age, size or breed — from being shocked, scared, pinched, choked or dragged in the name of training.

Veterinary behaviorist Dr. Karen Overall once wrote, "Shock is not training — in the vast majority of cases it meets the criteria for abuse."

But Never Shock a Puppy set out to educate, not to vilify, those who believed in shock collars. As Hawn said, "The truth is, however, that such public campaigns need a strong message. There isn't time/space for caveats or shades of gray. One on one we may be able to discuss it differently, but we wanted the initial message to be simple: Never Shock a Puppy ... because learning shouldn't hurt."

Some bristled at the coalition's assertion that punishment-based training errodes the human-animal bond. And, predictably, there was some pushback from the pro-shock collar contingent, though not as much as Hawn expected.

People, including trainers, make excuses that there are situations where it's necessary to shock a puppy; an idea Hawn explored in a blog post about whether or not rattlesnake aversion training is the exception to the never-shock rule. It was a question that hit home, as one of her own dogs had been bitten twice. (The answer is no; there are ways to train your dog for life-threatening situations without causing pain or fear.)

The diversity of the coalition and their networks brought a variety of arguments and angles to the issue with each blog post. The campaign also received some surprise publicity when aggregate site bots harvested their content for pro-shock collar sites, so the Never Shock a Puppy message ended up right alongside sales pitches for shock collars. "It gave us a good chuckle to see that," Hawn said.

They also reached out to dog trainers from Truly Dog Friendly and from the No Shock Collar Coalition, and gave out prize packages throughout the campaign, putting dog-friendly training tools in the hands of new adopters.

The Never Shock a Puppy campaign raised more than $2,500 for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley's No-Choke Challenge. The No-Choke Challenge plans to use aggressive outreach to promote non-aggressive training methods. In addition, the Humane Society of Boulder Valley will swap choke chains and shock collars for humane collars, no questions asked.

Although the fundraising campaign ended, you can still find great information about training without pain on the Never Shock a Puppy website. You can also follow Never Shock a Puppy on Facebook and join the No Shock Collar Coalition.

Never Shock a Puppy isn't alone in advocating against shock collars. Veterinarians, behaviorists, trainers and animal advocates warn against the abusive, traumatic practice of shocking dogs.

At PetSmart, their website says: "Learning should not be painful or harmful and many of the 'old school' training techniques were based on using pain or the fear of pain to get dogs to respond. Clearly this is not how we train at PetSmart."

That's good news. Yet right down the aisle from their training centers, a variety of shock collars are sold in their stores. Tell PetSmart to make their product line consistent with their training philosophy ... because learning shouldn't hurt.

Image credit: Cathy Lester