pulses of direct current electricity at an extremely low ampage. Children who have never experienced the feel of electricity and therefore have no pre-conceived fears or unpleasant experiences, smile or even giggle at the sensation. "In training, although we concentrate on the rewards to teach our dogs, inevitably corrections and punishment will occasionally be required." As a Brit, I had heard many terrible tales about the remote trainer and because of them, condemned the collar. I was an anti-collar trainer. Luckily, I was also an open minded one. It was a visit to Jim and Phyllis Dobbs, almost five years ago, that started my education into its use. Now you can take away every piece of equipment I own - as long as you leave me with my remote trainer - and a few dummies. Where the early collars only had a ‘Wow’ button, the latest ones have the ability to start at a very low level of intensity. In fact, for many people and dogs it is an imperceptible level. They also have the ability to provide a continuous stimulation for a few seconds. They can apply split second ‘taps’ or ‘distracters’ - which can be virtually subliminal - so quickly are they given. With its flexibility, the remote trainer now provides us with the ability to prompt, interrupt, shape and correct a dog’s behavior in a way that is as near to perfection in accordance with all the rules of learning. The collar allows us to effectively and humanely use aversives and punishment as part of the learning process – parts which are essential, when required, to create reliable control. As with the word ‘shock’, aversives and punishment have been misused by some people to create extreme thoughts in our minds of cruelty and abuse. Both those words are often selected and highlighted with extreme examples of aversion or punishment to show they should not be used. However, aversion and punishment should not automatically be co-related with cruelty and abuse - which every respectable owner and trainer rejects. We all encounter aversives and change our behavior or ways of living to deal with them. If it is cold outside and we are uncomfortable, we do not suffer this, we move inside or put warmer clothes on. Similarly if we try to do a job or an action in an incorrect way, knowing that we are tempting luck, and an accident occurs or we suffer because of it, the next time we do this job we change the procedure or behavior to avoid that ‘punishment’. If we look at the definitions of these words, we realize that they do not indicate extremes, but a wide range of sensations and feelings – both physical and mental. It is how we perceive the Page 2 | Spaniel Journal | Previous Page | Next Page |