So, if it really is the training and not the shock...

To me it seems the same.  I'm not a dog but I'd rather have the e-collar than citronella in my face!  I was just testing an e-collar yesterday and my body did not even register the stim until Level 3.  Now aim a citronella burst at me....ick!

Liesje

To me it seems the same.  I'm not a dog but I'd rather have the e-collar than citronella in my face! 

+1

espencer

Liesje

To me it seems the same.  I'm not a dog but I'd rather have the e-collar than citronella in my face! 

+1

+2

I've never understood why so many people think citronella is more humane than a shock.

 Sure I think it could be although I too would rather not use a citronella spray - that being said I have used Neem Spray by Ark naturals and that has citronella in it.  Which brings me to the one real difference the shock is minuscule in duration, citronella spray lasts a long time!

The spray may happen at the same instant as a shock would BUT the shock disappears in an instant and the smell doesn't.  Therefore I would use a shock before spray.

Is it ok to vote for "none of the above"?

I've never used either.  But, I think if my dog was going to ignore one or the other it would be the spray. 

I'll be honest when I say if I were to go for an oil or a stim from an ecollar, I'd probably go for the ecollar. I am not a fan of using citronella oil as a training aid.

Citronella is an oil....as an oil, it does not dissolve in water. As an oil, whatever it touches it sticks to quite well....and it's hard to get off! I can't imagine the sensation of getting citronella in one's eyes. I know a person who accidentally got citronella oil in her eyes, and from her description is was a very, very, bad experience. Heck, a dog is so dependent on its sense of smell, I couldn't imagine a dog getting citronella oil in its nasal cavities. It must alter a dog's sense of smell for some period of time.

I actually think citronella is quite potent to use as a training aid, especially because of how it works and the importance of a dog's sense of smell. And I think I would sooner use a low stim of an ecollar before citronella, to be honest. But, I don't use either, so hopefully I'll never have to face the option of using one or the other.

Now, that's not to say I wouldn't use Direct Stop (citronella based) in a crisis situation such as a dog fight....I'd use it before pepper spray (mace) because it would be less hazardous.

Myra

espencer

Liesje

To me it seems the same.  I'm not a dog but I'd rather have the e-collar than citronella in my face! 

+1

+2

I've never understood why so many people think citronella is more humane than a shock.

+3  The citronella hangs on their face for quite a while, so they are punished for even longer, and lose the connection to what they were punished for in the first place. 

 I always thought that, for a dog, the citronella would be far more cruel and lasting than a short, CLEAR shock. Can't get away from the stink.

glenmar

Is it ok to vote for "none of the above"?

That'd be my vote as well....if it is okay.

 No question...no to both.

glenmar

Is it ok to vote for "none of the above"?

Actually, that's my vote, too.  However, the reason I suggested it, other than to have all the e-fence proponents come here to "vote" is that if a cit collar gets stuck the only thing that happens is that the canister empties, and NO burns to the dog's neck.  But, you just can't convince some people that those collars cause damage until it happens to their own dog. 

willowchow

I've never used either.  But, I think if my dog was going to ignore one or the other it would be the spray. 

There have been studies that disprove your contention, at least when utilized in the context of anti-bark collars.

And I don't mean to burst any bubbles here, but I personally know many, many dogs who have, and will, bark through the citronella. I wouldn't say they ignore it (how can you ignore a yucky oil?), but it is definitely not punishing enough to make them stop! And it's definitely not due to "misusing" the collar...since the dog controls the barking and the citronella spray.

I probably will never use either, but if I had to choose, I do think it would be the ecollar stim....I would say it's probably far less aversive to a dog than citronella oil, and if used as a positive punisher, a stim would be more discrete and pinpoint than an oil that takes a period of time to go away. Punishers should be instantaneous....and citronella is not. I try to look at things from the dog's point of view rather than the human's, though. We don't find the citronella all that horrible....but we have totally different software dependencies than dogs do!