Borders Dog Trainer Against Ecollar Ban
My three ecollar trained Borzoi on a recent walk in empty fields in Scotland.
A copy of the letter which I sent to my MPs here in the Scottish Borders, after I learned about an amendment to the Animal Welfare Bill in Scotland. That amendment proposes banning ecollars, which I am staunchly against. I will be meeting with my MP in the next few days to discuss the impacts of this potential legislation change in Scotland.
Dear Mr. Lamont,
I would like to invite you to meet my dogs. I am against the proposed amendment to the Animal Welfare Bill that bans electronic collars/ecollars (incorrectly referred to as shock collars). The ecollar amendment is based off of misconceptions around the ecollar from people who have never trained with one in their life, or had a dog who benefits from the ecollar.
I am a professional dog trainer who has just moved to the Scottish borders. I recently made the switch to professional dog training precisely because I learned more about electronic collars, or ecollars, and experienced firsthand how they changed my dog’s life for the better.
I have three Russian Wolfhounds/Borzoi. They are the size of a Scottish deerhound with the speed of a Whippet, and jaws long and powerful enough to hold a wolf down by the throat, as the imperial Russians would hunt. They have a very similar temperament to greyhounds, lazy athletes, but with an even higher prey drive.
Before ecollar training, my Borzoi was on lead for 3+ years, CONSTANTLY. In America where I was born, we don’t have footpaths or the Right to Roam, we have huge motorways, and there is a constant fear in the American Kennel Club Borzoi breed groups of dogs getting lost, hit by cars, or attacked by coyotes and wolves. People think that since a Borzoi is so fast and powerful, and doesn’t like training with food, that calling them back is impossible. I thought that too, and my dog never got exercised, was constantly anxious and reactive on the leash, because he never got a chance to unwind.
Have you ever gone through physical therapy for an injury? Modern-day ecollars use the same exact TENS unit technology that is used by physical therapists and massage therapists worldwide. It is gentle, low stimulation that feels like a tiny tingle of ant feet and gradually becomes more noticeable in 100 small increments. I know this because I have felt it on my own skin before. In fact, I regularly put my dogs’ ecollars on my skin to test them and make sure they are still working properly. The Association of Responsible Dog Ownership / ARDO, of which I am a member, conducted a voluntary survey of over 2500 dog owners who use ecollars. The research shows that these are responsible owners, nearly half of them used the ecollar to address chasing behaviours, and over 93% found the behaviour improved after ecollar training, with no negative effects on the dog. (source)
After ecollar training, my Borzoi comes back when called. And when he can’t hear me, he knows that a tiny tap of the ecollar, like a tap on the shoulder, means to come back because there’s something dangerous up ahead. He ignores the tups in my new neighbor’s field, literally 2 meters away from our back garden, because I have trained him to ignore livestock with the ecollar.
My dogs can walk in heel, off-lead, on a footpath through a field of sheep, and not even give the sheep a second glance. In Wales, where there is no right to roam, just public footpaths, sheep deaths by dogs still increased 4X after ecollars were banned (source). This is because with a ban, upstanding dog trainers like myself, can’t give our clients the knowledge and resources they need to train for off lead safety without ecollars. English farmers part of the National Sheep Association have noticed this and fought against an ecollar ban to protect their own sheep (source and source).
My entire business is structured around ecollar training for safety and freedom. I believe in it so much that even though I studied a MA in Film and Philosophy at King’s College London, I have quit academia, eschewed city life, specifically to move to the countryside and help other sighthound and longdog owners train their dogs.
I lived in my car for nearly 2 months when setting up this business rather than get a corporate job. Have you ever tried living in a car with three Russian Wolfhounds? It’s warmer than you might think! And to be honest, the dogs loved it – we would find a new place to explore every day! But it was hard on me physically. I lost weight due to food insecurity, and yet, I refused to go back. I refuse to give up on my dreams, my dogs, and the THOUSANDS of fast running dogs who desperately need a solution so they can run safely. Too many of them have never even heard of ecollars. Too many of them are struggling with anxiety and guilt every time they walk their dogs. It’s a vicious cycle.
But there is an alternative. I believe there CAN be safety and freedom at the same time for our dogs. I believe in not settling for the easy answer when it so clearly disadvantages breeds like mine, struggling owners, and livestock and farmers alike. I believe responsible dog ownership is practical dog ownership that considers EVERYONE at risk, the dog, their human, the people around them, the livestock and wildlife around them.
Banning ecollars in Scotland would mean I either have to move again, right after finally getting out of my car and into my own place. It would mean I could not in good conscience help my clients to train their dogs to be safe and RELIABLE off lead. It would mean my dogs never get to stretch their legs or run openly across a field. Their physical health would suffer. Their mental health would suffer. My physical and mental health would suffer, as well as my wallet, for all the driving I would have to do to find secure fields. My business would fail simply from the time spent doing that, let alone changing my entire business model and business plan.
This is a matter of conscience AND reality. I also care about animal rights, but I do not pick and choose which animals deserve those rights. My dogs need species and breed-appropriate exercise. My neighbors’ sheep deserve to be at peace in their own fields. The deer on Gala Hill, where we often walk, deserve to graze and forage as they wish. My conscience does not allow me to exercise my dogs if I have no control or communication with them. And the reality is that without ecollars, I have no way of ensuring my dogs will come back.
The ecollar is the only tool that allows for communicating with dogs across vast distances. Words and whistles get lost in the wind. Long lines get tangled and can break a greyhound’s leg at a sprint. Electric fences are 1000x more “potent” than an ecollar – and yet where is the electric fence amendment to this supposed Animal Welfare bill? Do we care more about dogs than we do sheep, horses, cows, and other livestock? Are dogs not animals just like the others?
Though I obviously love them, I know dogs are predators. I respect them as equals, knowing full well the power and risks I hold in sharing my life with predators. They are not human children. They are driven by instinct and shaped by experience. And the more you try to trample on that instinct by never letting them run off lead, the more disastrous it becomes with all the pent-up energy. My dogs are very calm and well adjusted precisely because I let them off lead and recall them with the ecollar every single day.
I would like to ask you to please meet my dogs before making a decision on this amendment and animal welfare bill. You can see for yourself whether they are “traumatised”, “shut down”, or “abused”. If you want to go for a walk with them, we can do that too, and I can show you how I train!
Please do not let the inflammatory and accusatory language around ecollars sway you without seeing the ecollars in action. Dogs don’t need “animal rights” activists deciding for them; they can speak for themselves loud and clear through their body language.
Kind regards,
Serena K. Maxwell
Director & Head Trainer
Serene Sighthounds Dog Training Ltd.
