The boundary shock collar system involves remote wire, control box, a collar with a battery and electrodes that generate an electric shock. The collar is designed to fit dogs so that the electrodes protruding from the collar make direct contact with the ventral surface of the neck (Polsky 1994).

Activation

A remote wire is usually buried underground, around the perimeter of a dog owner’s property. A control box is connected to the wire and an electrical power supply (i.e. dog owner’s home). When a dog comes within a predetermined distance of the remote wire, a radio signal is transmitted from the control box, activating the collar and the dog is shocked

Training

Boundary shock collars are designed to train dogs to stay within a defined area using negative reinforcement. Theoretically, a dog learns the desired behaviour of staying within the remote wire by learning that if he/she doesn’t perform that behaviour (goes beyond the boundary), pain will occur until he/she returns to the desired behaviour.

An example of training with a boundary shock collar. Did you notice the dog whimpering following the trainer described:”annoying shock”?