[DogGone]

Another point that I’m on partial disagreement with is the claim that there is no health risks involved with using E- collar. I am a big fan of E-collars; however they should be used wisely and for the most part on healthy dogs. Dogs that are susceptible to seizures or have spinal cord or brain damage should probably not be exposed to electronic/shock stimulation like e-collar. An electronic shock can have the same effect as a strobe light to someone that is susceptible to seizures, it could trigger a seizure event.
　
I have a spinal cord injury. Because of my spinal injury with nerve damage I have started to have some occasional myoclonic seizures. I used to use a tens unit that uses electronic stimulation that allegedly is supposed to reduce pain; I found it was largely ineffective at reducing pain but regretfully it increased the severity and frequency of my myoclonic seizures. Regretfully many people, including many people in the medical community dismiss seizures as harmless and or insignificant; however if there is a pre-existing medical condition like broken bones that are fusing it can easily re-fractures the bones or shift vertebrae and discs to increase pain and/or paralysis. Another bad side effect of seizures is it can be much like electroshock therapy; it can wipe out memories, especially short-term memories; sure you get most back after a period of time but after each event more and more is permanently lost. Because of myoclonic my ability to record/recall short term memories is very limited. The myoclonic seizures also reduce my cognitive skills and coherent thought. In many ways it is much like Alzheimer’s. There are times when my mind works almost normally; however there are times when my short term memory is nearly shot and it’s nearly impossible to think coherently.
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Another thing I recommend with the E-collar is to be very careful and consistent about how tight the collar is. To tight could reduce movement, circulation and possibly cause pain. To loose and the stimulation level can be very inconsistent. There has been several times that I had the collar too loose and the dog was not getting a stimulation because the contacts were not contacting the skin so I increased the level of stimulation to a level that was unnecessarily painful. A snug collar that doesn’t allow sloppiness will give the most consistent stimulation. Believe it or not a collar that is too loose can actually increase pain.
　
Veterans of using tens units should know what I’m talking about. A well attached electrode on a tens unit should give consistent stimulation. If you take a tens unit and attach the electrodes so the stimulation is reasonable; then try slowly pulling off the electrodes; the amount of stimulation will increase until it feels like it’s burning and/or painful. Electrodes that have good contact will spread the electricity over a wider area so there is less pain and burning. Electrodes that don’t have a good contact will concentrate the electricity to a small point where it can feel like burning or pain. Patients that are in such heat or in such pain that sweat significantly so the electrodes start falling off and sliding around and having inconsistent contact notice that stimulation becomes very inconsistent.
　
With a e-collar having the electrodes placed firmly against the skin will help limit the voltage that is produced by the small transformer. Without the resistance of the body to resist the transformer the voltage can climb to the point that it might arc over to the skin which would be more painful and inconsistent. So if you have your collar too loose sometimes your dog may feel nothing when the stimulation is engaged and other times it could be significantly painful.

There are risks with any type of training system or collar. Any tool can be used for good or bad and can be dangerous in the wrong hands.