22/08/2025
If a tool stops your dog from pulling, barking or lunging instantly… it must be working, right? Not quite. Here’s why quick fixes that cause pain can do lasting damage.
Aversive training tools like prong collars, shock collars, choke chains, grot leads, and figure-of-eight leads all work by causing pain or discomfort.
Do they stop behaviour in the moment? Yes. But they don’t address the reason your dog is pulling or reacting. The fear, frustration or anxiety that drives the behaviour is still there.
Instead, your dog begins to associate that fear with pain. If they are worried about other dogs, each time they see one they also feel pain. Over time, they don’t just fear other dogs, they also lose trust in you, because you are the one holding the lead. Trust, once broken, is very hard to repair.
On the outside, the problem looks “fixed”. On the inside, your dog is still stressed, still anxious, and often worse off than before. Pain doesn’t teach coping strategies. It only silences behaviour at the expense of your dog’s emotional wellbeing.
Dogs need support, distance, and safe, science-based training,, not pain.
Space first. Confidence follows.
