Ecollars vs. Shock Collars

This is a question I hear quite often, “Aren’t ecollars and shock collars the same thing?” The straight forward answer is absolutely not. The modern day high quality ecollar (ecollar technologies, dogtra, garmin) are no different than a TENS unit used to loosen muscles. Are these brands a little more pricey than the amazon special, you bet; but you’ll never have to worry about the issues that poor quality ecollars are known for. For example, if you pay $40.00 for an ecollar off amazon, that is exactly the quality you’re going to be getting. A collar that has inconsistent contact and very little difference between stims. A high quality (Ecollar technologies) have 100 levels of stimulation, this ensures that you are at the lowest possible number your dog needs at any given time. If you buy a cheaper version, you may only have 5 level stimulations with large gaps in between each number, similar to the antiquated “shock collar”. Traditional “shock collars” were used as a punishment, and with large gaps in between numbers are manufactured to be painful.

The ecollar is the complete opposite, if used correctly; ecollars are for clearer communication between you and your dog. Some dogs even prefer ecollar corrections over others, such as a prong correction. The ecollar correction is less personal to them, they are being corrected, but it’s not as aversive to them as say, a “leash pop.”

Along with clearer communication, the ecollar gives your dog the freedom of being off leash. It gives you a clear line of communication with your dog, similar to using leash pressure, ecollar pressure can guide your dog back to you. You’ll notice how I’m using words such as, “guide” and “communicate” because that is the absolute purpose of ecollars to be a communication tool, not a punishment.

So in short, No ecollars and shock collars are not the same thing. One is strictly for punishment and pain. The other is for guiding and communication. The two collars that seem to coexist together in everyone’s minds, in reality couldn’t be further apart.