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Equipment
Do you use e-collars in board and train?
The short answer is no. The longer answer covers what we use instead, why the question matters more in a board and train than in a weekly class, and how to read another program's wording when it never uses the word e-collar.
The short version
No e-collars at Dogtown, in any program, and none goes home with your dog
An e-collar delivers an electric stimulation to the neck when a handler presses a remote. Programs that use one may call it a remote collar, an e-collar or a training collar, and describe the sensation as a tap or a page. Whatever the name, Dogtown does not use it. Gabriella Pope leads every program on relationship-based, fear- and force-free training built on positive reinforcement, and that is settled before any dog is assessed.
The rule covers the whole stay, not just the training blocks. Group time, walks, recall work and the go-home lesson all run on a flat collar or harness and a standard leash, with a long line where a dog needs freedom with safety. Nothing comes home that you would need to keep pressing. Our board and train page lists both programs, and every skill on them is taught with rewards.
- No e-collars, remote collars or shock collars
- No prong collars or choke chains
- No leash jerks or physical corrections
- Nothing sent home that relies on discomfort
Why
The evidence points away from shock, and a board and train is where its costs are hardest to see
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior's 2021 position statement recommends reward-based methods for all dog training and lists electronic shock collars among tools that work through pain. It also reports that recall, the most common reason owners buy one, was not taught more effectively with a shock collar than with rewards. If a tool brings no gain and some risk to welfare, there is little left to argue for it.
An older study shows a cost that a stay would hide. Schilder and van der Borg compared German Shepherd guard dogs recently trained with shock collars against dogs trained without them. Even on free walks where no shocks were given, the shocked dogs showed lower ear postures and more stress-related behavior, and the authors concluded the dogs had learned that their owner's presence or commands announced shocks. In a board and train, the cue word carries whatever the dog learned with it, and after pick-up the person saying it is you.
What we use
Instead of shock, a stay uses a marker, food, a long line and management, and each one hands over easily
A marker, a short word or a click, tells the dog the exact moment it got something right, and food or play pays for it. A long line lets a dog range on a recall while the trainer keeps it safe, with no correction involved. Management does the rest: a gate at the door so jumping never pays, a cot for place so settling has an address. None of these needs precise timing to stay humane, which is why they pass to a family in one lesson.
The steps below show recall, the job e-collars are most often sold for, built the force-free way: indoors first, then the turf yard, then outside. After the stay, Gloucester's beaches make a good long-line test once the season allows. At the time of writing, Good Harbor takes dogs off leash on even-numbered days from October 1 to March 31, and Wingaersheek on odd-numbered days from October 1 to April 30.
- 01
Say the recall word once, then reward generously when the dog arrives
- 02
Practice indoors at short distances until the response is instant
- 03
Move to a fenced yard on a long line, still paying well
- 04
Add mild distractions one at a time
- 05
Call away from something interesting only once the easier steps hold
- 06
Keep the long line on in open places until the go-home plan says otherwise
Reading the wording
How to tell whether a program uses an e-collar when its website never says so
Some programs avoid the word. Phrases worth asking about include remote collar training, low-level stimulation, e-collar conditioning, a pager or a tap, off-leash obedience in a set number of weeks, and balanced or all four quadrants. None proves a shock collar is used, but each is a reason to ask directly which collar your dog will wear, whether it can deliver a stimulation, and whether one comes home with your dog.
Ask us the same questions. The answer here does not change: no stimulation collar, no prong, no choke chain and no leash jerks, at any point in a Dogtown program. If your dog wears a remote collar now, tell us at the consult. The stay trains on a flat collar or harness, and the go-home lesson covers walking and recall without the old equipment.
- Remote collar training or e-collar conditioning
- Low-level stimulation, a tap or a page
- Balanced, or all four quadrants
- Off-leash reliability promised in a fixed number of weeks
At Dogtown
Force-free training at Dogtown
Every Dogtown program, from puppy school to board and train, is taught with rewards and management under Gabriella Pope.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Will you use an e-collar if my dog's recall is dangerous?
My dog was trained with an e-collar before. Can it still do a stay?
Is an e-collar ever sold or sent home after a Dogtown stay?
Does force-free mean my dog can ignore me?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
- AVSAB position statement on humane dog training (2021)
- Schilder and van der Borg (2004): shock collar effects, summary from Purdue's Center for Animal Welfare Science
- City of Gloucester: beach rules for dogs
Rules and dates change. We re-check every beach, licensing and ordinance page each spring and fall; the source above is the current word.
Keep reading
Next step
Ask us about methods first.
Send the training form with what your dog wears now and what you want to change. Gabriella Pope will explain exactly how the stay teaches it without aversive tools.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
