This week I have had a seriously eye-opening experience.

As some of you are already aware, I’ve been suffering with numbness and nerve pain following on from an injury. This has (and still continues to be) a challenge when trying to do normal everyday tasks, let alone throwing training into the mix. So, I bit the bullet and paid to see a consultant privately so we can try to get to the bottom of what is happening as quickly as possible. From here, I was referred to have something called a Nerve Conduction Study to see if there is any long term damage and to see if my nerves are actually responding correctly. 

During the test, your nerve is stimulated, usually with electrode patches attached to your skin. Two electrodes are placed on the skin over your nerve. One electrode stimulates your nerve with a very mild electrical impulse. The other electrode records it. The resulting electrical activity is recorded by another electrode. This is repeated for each nerve being tested.

The speed is then calculated by measuring the distance between electrodes and the time it takes for electrical impulses to travel between electrodes.

A related test that may be done is an electromyography (EMG). This measures the electrical activity in your muscles. It is often done at the same time as an NCV. Both tests help find the presence, location, and extent of diseases that damage the nerves and muscles.”

So in simple terms, they place patches on different areas of your body (in my case, this was arms & hands) and give you a small electric shock so that your Nerve reactions can be measured. They do just this initially, but then follow on my placing needles in different areas to test the effect of the electrical pulses and how you react to them. Sounds pretty uncomfortable right? You’re damn right! This was a seriously unpleasant experience to endure. At the end of the test, I actually felt nausea and a little faint, not something I would normally admit to (wouldn’t want to kill my street cred now would I?) And even had to lay down for a few minutes after.

Why are you telling us this?

I’m not one to spout my problems online, however I feel totally implored to share my experience of this with you, to help you to fully understand why I HATE shock collars so much. If someone like me who has a good tolerance of pain felt really sh***y after, how do you think a dog would feel having this exact same thing done, but to their neck? I will tell you, they will be confused, scared, disorientated and in PAIN. WHY?!?!?!?! On earth would you want to inflict this sort of pain onto your beloved family pet?

I had a good friend and fellow dog trainer attend my appointment with me yesterday as we didn’t know how i was going to feel following treatment. It was a long journey on public transport and didn’t want to risk me travelling home alone after if I didn’t feel right.

After the appointment had finished, we went to sit down outside for a while so i could relax and get fresh air following this. She ended up watching the whole procedure on me and wanted to talk to her about what she saw and how it looked on me.

Then something happened....

We then heard shouting. We were in a quiet spot with very few cars so couldn’t understand why there was so much shouting. Then we saw it....

2 dog trainers with 2 children (1 under 12 and one under 18) with 3 off-lead dogs next to a road, shouting commands at them. This isn’t even the worst bit, because not only should these dogs have been on a lead next to main roads, at least one of them had a shock collars on. Before I even saw the collar, I knew that is what it was wearing when they got it to cross the road with them.

How you ask?

Because this poor dog was SCREAMING as it crossed the road next to one of these people.

I have only heard a dog scream like that before when it had an accident and had seriously injured itself. It took everything I had in me to walk away, when all I wanted to do was take the dog away and home with me. Normally I would be more than up for the fight, however I was still feeling pretty awful from my appointment prior to that.

I AM STILL IN SHOCK AND ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT IS THAT POOR DOG!

Final note

Call them what you like:

-         E-Collar

-         Anti-Bark Collar

-         Remote collar

-         Vibration Collar

-         Training Collar

Whatever. Either way, these collars emit electrical pulses to your Dogs neck and it HURTS!! Even the next day, I still feel exhausted and achey from having my treatment which lasted an hour, can you imagine how a dog feels having electrical pulses however many times a day??

I will NEVER inflict this sort of pain onto mine or any dog for that matter. Dogs require love, time and most importantly PATIENCE to succeed on their training journey. So I leave you with this final thought....

Why is it OK to shock your dog but not your children? I already know the answer, but I want others to think about this. If you wouldn’t shock your children into correct behaviour, why would you do this to your beloved family pet?