Are Low-Level E-Collars Safe? What the New Neuroscience Reveals About Dogs | Will Bangura

Will Bangura, M.S., CAB-ICB, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, FDM, FFCP, internationally certified canine behaviorist and dog aggression expert, discusses what modern neuroscience reveals about low-level e-collars, shock collars, punishment-based dog training, canine stress responses, emotional learning, fear conditioning, and behavior suppression.

In this episode, Will explains the difference between outward obedience and true emotional rehabilitation, why suppressed behavior is not the same as emotional safety, and how modern evidence-based dog training and force-free behavior modification address the underlying emotional state driving aggression, anxiety, reactivity, and fear-based behaviors in dogs.

Topics include:
 • low-level e-collar stimulation
 • canine neuroscience
 • dog aggression
 • reactive dogs
 • fear and anxiety in dogs
 • punishment vs positive reinforcement
 • canine stress physiology
 • behavior suppression
 • conditioned emotional responses
 • humane dog training
 • force-free behavior modification
 • evidence-based dog training

 To read the full article and learn more about the neuroscience behind low-level e-collars, canine stress responses, emotional learning, and humane behavior modification, visit https://phoenixdogtraining.com/are-low-level-e-collars-safe/

Learn more at:
 https://phoenixdogtraining.com/

Work with Will Bangura virtually or in Phoenix, Arizona:
 https://phoenixdogtraining.com/phoenix-dog-behaviorist/

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Raised by wolves with canine DNA in his blood, having trained more than 24,000 pets, helping you and your fur babies thrive live in studio with Will Mangura, answering your pet behavior and training questions. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your host and favorite pet behavior expert, Will Bangura.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Hey everybody, I'm Will Ban Gura. And today I want to talk about something that has become incredibly controversial in the dog training world. And honestly, something that a lot of pet parents are genuinely confused about. And that topic is the idea that low-level e-collar, electronic collar, shock collar, whatever you want to call it, but the idea is that low-level e-collar stimulation is harmless. Now, before we get into this, I want to say something really important. This episode is not about attacking pet parents. It's not about shaming people. Because the reality is, many very caring pet parents were told by trainers that low-level stimulation was gentle. They were told it was just a tap. They were told the dog barely feels it. They were told it's communication. They were told it's like a TENS unit. They were told it creates clarity. They were told it's safer than yelling. They were told it's modern, humane, and advanced. And a lot of good people believed that because they trusted the professional standing in front of them. So this episode is not about blame. What I want to do today is talk about what the newer neuroscience is actually showing us about the canine nervous system, emotional learning, stress processing, and why outward behavior alone does not tell us what's happening emotionally inside the dog. And honestly, this matters because I see the fallout from this every single week in my work as a canine behaviorist. I work with severe aggression cases, severe fear, severe anxiety, panic behaviors, reactivity, obsessive compulsive behaviors, trauma-related behavior problems. These are not simple obedience issues. And over the years, I cannot even tell you how many dogs I've worked with where the behavior initially looked better after punishment-based training, but emotionally, neurologically, the dog was actually deteriorating underneath the surface. And that's really the heart of this conversation. Because behavior suppression and emotional resolution are not the same thing. They are not even remotely the same thing. And I think that distinction gets lost constantly in the online arguments about dog trading. You know, one of the hardest things for pet parents is this the dog often does stop barking, the dog often does stop lunging, the dog often does stop growling, and naturally the pet parent thinks, oh my gosh, it worked. And honestly, I understand why they think that. Because if you don't understand behavioral neuroscience, if you don't understand stress physiology, if you don't understand defensive survival circuitry, then of course it looks like the problem improved. But what modern neuroscience is helping us understand is that visible behavior is only one layer of the story. The nervous system is the deeper story. And this is where things start getting really important. Because one of the arguments you hear constantly is well, I only use the e-collar on a very low level. Or my dog looks happy, or my dog is wagging its tail, or my dog gets excited when the collar comes out. And people use those observations as proof that the stimulation cannot possibly be aversive. But neuroscience doesn't work that way. The nervous system doesn't work that way. The emotional centers of the brain don't work that way. And honestly, this is where dog training conversations often become oversimplified because people think there are only two possibilities. Either the dog screams and panics, or the stimulation must be harmless. But there's a huge middle ground between those two extremes. A dog can outwardly appear composed while internally activating stress and defense survival systems. Humans do that too. People smile during panic attacks. People laugh when nervous. People freeze under stress. People comply under pressure. Outward appearance is not a direct window into the emotional state of the nervous system. And honestly, this is where the newer neuroscience becomes really fascinating. One of the things modern effective neuroscience has helped establish is that the brain has specialized systems for detecting threat, processing aversion, predicting danger, and creating avoidance learning. And avoidance learning is incredibly important here because avoidance learning is fundamentally about preventing or escaping something unpleasant. That's the mechanism. That's how punishment and negative reinforcement function. And this is where the conversation gets uncomfortable for some people in the dog training industry. Because if the stimulation is truly aversive enough to suppress behavior reliably, then by definition, the nervous system has to process it as something the dog wants to avoid. That's literally how the learning process works. Otherwise, punishment wouldn't function. Negative reinforcement would not function. The dog would have no reason to change behavior. And I think sometimes people try to escape this reality semantically. They'll say, well, it's not painful. Or it's just information. Or it's communication. But behaviorally speaking, if the stimulation changes behavior because the dog wants to avoid it or terminate it, then we are still operating inside aversive learning processes. That's just textbook behavioral science, folks. And again, this is where the neuroscience matters because the nervous system does not care what label humans put on something. The nervous system responds to biological significance: threat, relief, safety, danger, prediction, uncertainty. That's what matters to the brain. And one of the things I think is critically important is understanding that stress responses are not always dramatic. Sometimes they're subtle. Sometimes they're chronic. Sometimes they accumulate slowly over time. Sometimes they show up as hypervigilance. Sometimes increased anxiety. Sometimes generalized fear. Sometimes redirected aggression. Sometimes learned helplessness. Sometimes emotional shutdown. Sometimes compulsive behaviors. Sometimes conflict behaviors. Sometimes deteriorating resilience. And sometimes the dog simply becomes behaviorally inhibited. And behaviorally inhibited dogs often get misinterpreted as trained. That's a really important point. A quiet dog is not automatically an emotionally healthy dog. A compliant dog is not automatically a relaxed dog. A dog that stopped reacting is not automatically a dog that feels safe. And honestly, I think that's one of the biggest misunderstandings in the entire dog training industry. People are evaluating training success almost entirely through outward operant behavior while ignoring emotional state. But emotions drive behavior. Emotional learning matters. Conditioned emotional responses matter. And if you suppress outward warning signals without changing the underlying emotional state, you can create a very dangerous situation. Because now you may have a dog that still feels fear, anxiety, or threat, but no longer communicates clearly. And that's where some dogs become incredibly unpredictable. Now, another argument people often make is well, if the dog knows how to turn the stimulation off, then it's not stressful. And again, this is where neuroscience gets oversimplified online. Predictability and controllability can reduce stress intensity in some contexts. That's true. But reducing stress does not magically make something non-aversive. Those are not the same thing. A predictable aversive is still aversive. The nervous system can adapt to recurring aversive experiences while still processing them as biologically negative or a threat. And honestly, this matters because there's a huge difference between less stressful and not stressful. These are not interchangeable concepts. And this becomes especially important when we're talking about dogs that already struggle emotionally. You know, fearful dogs, anxious dogs, reactive dogs, aggressive dogs. These dogs already have sensitized stress systems. Their nervous systems are already dysregulated. And when you add more threat-based learning into an already dysregulated nervous system, you can absolutely worsen emotional instability over time. And again, I see this clinically all the time, especially with aggression cases, because aggression is very often rooted in fear, anxiety, conflict, stress, or defensive survival behavior. It is not dominance, it's not stubbornness, it's not the dog trying to become alpha. That's outdated mythology. And when fear-driven behavior gets punished, what frequently happens is the outward behavior temporarily suppresses while the emotional distress underneath remains unresolved or even intensifies. That's one of the reasons punishment can sometimes appear effective quickly. Suppression can happen fast. Emotional rehabilitation takes much longer. And unfortunately, quick suppression often looks impressive to people, especially online. You can create dramatic before and after videos with punishment. But long-term emotional stability is a completely different conversation. And honestly, this is why I care so deeply about humane, evidence-based behavior modification. Because I want dogs to actually feel safer, not just look quieter. Those are very different goals. I want emotional resilience. I want cognitive flexibility. I want agency. I want curiosity. I want optimistic emotional states. I want dogs that can recover from stress. I want dogs that trust their environment. I want dogs that feel safe enough to learn. That's the real goal. And that's where force-free behavior modification becomes incredibly powerful because we're not just suppressing behavior. We're changing emotional associations. We're changing conditioned emotional responses. We're changing how the nervous system interprets triggers. That's a much deeper level of rehabilitation. And honestly, one of the things I wish more pet parents understood is this good behavior modification should make the dog emotionally healthier, not just behaviorally quiet. That's the standard that we should be aiming for. And look, I know this topic makes people emotional. I know trainers have built entire careers around these tools. I know people become deeply attached to methods that they believe helped them. I understand that. But science evolves. Medicine evolves, psychology evolves, neuroscience evolves, and our understanding of dogs has evolved dramatically over the last couple decades. We know far more now about canine cognition, emotional processing, stress physiology, fear learning, trauma, defensive survival systems, attachment, social behavior. We know more now than we did 20 years ago. And honestly, I think that should humble all of us. Because the more we learn about dogs, the more responsibility we have to listen carefully to what the science is showing us, especially when we're dealing with sentient, emotional beings that are completely dependent upon us. And I want to leave pet parents with this. If you previously used aversive methods because somebody told you they were safe, please do not sit there drowning in guilt. Most people were trying to help their dog. Most people trusted professionals. Most people did what they thought was best. The important thing is what we do moving forward. That's what matters. And the beautiful thing is dogs are incredibly resilient. Relationships can heal. Trust can rebuild. Emotional safety can be restored. I see it every day. I see dogs that were terrified become confident again. I see reactive dogs become calm again. I see fearful dogs begin exploring the world again. I see aggressive dogs learn safety again. But it starts with understanding that emotional well-being matters just as much as outward obedience. Actually, I would argue that it matters more because behavior is downstream from emotional state. And when we change the emotional experience, behavior often changes naturally along with it. That's real rehabilitation. That's humane behavior modification. And honestly, that's the future of dog training. Thanks for being here with me. I appreciate it. If this episode helped you understand your dog a little more deeply, share it with somebody who needs to hear it. And if you want more evidence-based education on dog behavior, aggression, anxiety, reactivity, and humane behavior modification, make sure that you subscribe, hit that like button, and if you love what we do, give us a five-star review. I'm Will Van Gura, and I'll talk to you again soon.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Happy training, I think.