How do you even shock a dog? I mean, after all, they’ll eat poop! How’re you going to top that? Go naked?
I generally think shock collars are not needed in most cases, and certainly not for general obedience. Well-timed positive reinforcement goes a long way. Once the dog has learned what you’re trying to teach, I think the timing is hard enough to get right on a collar (flat, slip/choke or prong, depending on what’s right for you and your dog) - I don’t think most people could get the hand of an electronic collar.
I got a shock/no-bark collar for my dog because he was barking continuously when I was gone from the house, and this was after I’d tried lots of other training/distraction techniques under the direction of my trainer, vet, and breeder. I tried it on my arm first, because I wanted to see what it actually felt like, and the level of shock I felt a little stronger than what you get from a nylon carpet. It ended up working like a charm.
The only other people I know who use electronic/shock collars for training are those doing serious advanced field work - it’s the most effective way to adminsister a correction off-leash at a distance. These are highly trained dogs generally working on advanced titles and it’s very precise work.
Sorry. Really and truly, my SO of many years was a breeder, so we lived through many generations of puppies.
She kept them in crates, and we devoted many hours a day to them. She never used anything remotely resembling shock. There was an occasional fanny-swat, but most of them got the major ideas via demonstration and reward.
Good luck!
So what kind of dog is it? Sorry if I missed this when I read the post.
There are so many training techniques out there, and the trick is to find the one that will work with your dog. Not all breeds react to all training methods. I’m not a fan of the shock collar either, but I’ve seen cases where it worked for the owner & dog. However, it’s something that must NOT be abused. Also, since you don’t seem eager to try it, then don’t. Your nervousness to use it will be noticed by the dog anyways.
Check around for local trainers. If you do try out Petsmart/Co, make sure that their trainers are actually trainers, and not someone who just felt that they were qualified to teach a dog to sit.
It was mentioned that he could be a teenager. That’s also another glorious (sarcasm) time for the dog to challenge for his place in the “pack”.
Consistency is the key!
Have you considered clicker-training? A lot of people on my Dobie list swear by it.
Also check around for any mailing lists for problems dogs. They’re a wealth of information.
Good luck. 
Auggie is a neutered male Jack Russell / fox terrier mix (best we and the vet can guess- when we found him in the ditch, there were no papers attached. He looks like the RCA dog- we almost named him Victor!). Everything I’ve read (and I’ve read a lot of stuff over the past few months!) indicates that terriers are very energetic and independent. Hoo, boy, that’s an understatement!
The nearest Petsmart to us is an hour drive. I did find a guy after I posted the OP who will come to our house and do an evaluation, then recommend the training that he feels is best for Auggie. That sounds OK, but I'd really like to get him in with other doggies where he'd be socialized- he loves playing with other dogs, and he's very good natured with them. I am definitely going to call some of the "shock collar" places and find out if they have a basic class where they don't use those.
Good to know I can trust my gut!Yikes! Jack Russels are crazy, man. Good luck. 
I’m glad you decided to trust your instincts. The truth is, there are always going to be people who have different dog training philosophies from you (books abound) and a good many of them are completely valid, so you pretty much have to be able to base your decisions on what your gut tells you.
That said, I’m also glad you’ve decided not to shock. Of course, if I’m honest, I must confess that when one of my girls (a lab mutt and a husky mutt) is a bad, bad girl, I threaten, “That’s it–I am getting you a shock collar TOMORROW!”
Of course, I never follow through, and both the dogs and I know that it’s a completely empty threat–I don’t use choke or pinch collars, or even spank them, so they pretty much know I’m full of shit with the threats.
I’m going to pop in with a bit of a voice of dissent. I have a lab. I had HUGE problems with her dragging me on the leash and I’m freakin Xena warrior princesslike. We’d been through obedience training, but even the trainer expressed to me that when my girl was distracted by a dog/cat/squirrel damn near nothing would work to get her attention. The trainer recommended more work with her, but, although it helped with everything else, the training did not help w/ her willful moments.
Dejected but worried that she’d kill us both by running in front of a car, I bought a shock collar. Before I put it on my dog, I tested it out…GUESS WHAT? It doesn’t hurt. It’ll startle you a bit, but fer cryin out loud the shock on mine comes from 2 small batteries. All it really does is gets my girl’s attention when she starts dragging me. That’s it.
To folks who are saying that shock collars belong in hell, try one and then tell me how awful and mean they are. I’m sure there’s an even smaller charge on the little dog collars.
And Fallen Angel the three trainers recommended ‘choke chains’ for training. When used properly it’s not the choking that is used to make the dog obey, it’s the sound of the chain slinding.
I’m another user of the shock collar. I am completely confident, because of both my trainer’s and my vet’s explanations and my dog’s reaction, that it was the right method for us to use. And yes, I have tried it on myself, and on my husband, and it really is little more than the static zap you get when you walk across the carpet with your slippers on and touch a lightswitch. In addition, the collar has a warning beeper that lets the dog know the next step is a shock, and nine times out of ten, the beeper is enough. (The grocery store does not have such warnings, and the shock I got grabbing a can of corn off the shelf was ten times what the dog would get.)
FWIW, I’m 100 pounds, my daughter is 90 pounds, and the dog is a Mastiff, so we’re talking about a dog that has the power to drag either of us off our feet. I would NOT use a shock collar on any dog I could easily lift, and I would also not recommend its use to any one who is at all uncomfortable with the idea.
but if you’re training a new sub, and she’sinto that kind of thing…
I’ve never seen the shock thing used except for keeping a dog in the yard (the fenceless yard system, I think it’s called). Anyhoo, my son and his friends were at a party and some girl got a bit drunk and they put the shock collar on her. They’d steer the group toward the boundary of the yard and give her the littlest shove over the line so she’d get shocked.
No big deal. It was funny and not painful. I don’t think shocks at this level are cruel, but I also think they’re unnecessary in most cases. You have to resign yourself to hours and hours of training if you want to keep the little sweeties in line.
First, I’d like to say I’m really in favor of the new, what are they called, metal link collars. They’re so much better than chokes, I used to worry horribly every time the dog was wearing one.
As far as shock collars, I have used them, but not for general training. Standard Poodles are very… well, smart and independent, which means they will go off on their own. With an acre and a half to work with, it’s hard to get them to stop, too. So, we got a shock collar, and applied a simple negative reinforcement plan, and he stopped running off the property very quickly. (Kaylon, No. Kaylon, No. Kaylon, No. Shock.) If you have more than one dog, you really don’t need this, as the older tends to tell the younger the boundaries, but we lost both of ours very suddenly, though through natural causes.
For anything but that, where you can be near enough to be in control, don’t use one. The hardest part was turning it up high enough for him to notice it. But, well. Cars.
Friendly heads up:
[ul][li]Apply something good: Positive reinforcement[/li][li]Take away something bad: Negative reinforcement[/li][li]Apply something bad: Positive punishment[/li][li]Take away something good: Negative punishment[/ul][/li]
So the shock collar is positive punishment–you are applying a stimulus (positive) to prevent a behavior (punishment).
Hm. I always thought it meant reinforcing a behavior by having negative things happen when the behavior did not happen, that is, when you do not stay in the yard, shock.
You live, you learn. So if he was shocked all the time, except when he was in the yard, it would be negative reinforcement?