Oh goodness, not sure how I feel about this. LOL We have a pretty "crazy" dog, and tried and tried to train her to stop barking when she was in
her kennel. Nothing worked, so our vet suggested a "shock collar". We researched them, and ended up getting one that has different settings, from
very mild to pretty strong as well as just a "beep" setting.
Before we used it on our dog, we used it on ourselves. We figured if we were going to use it on our dog, we better know what it felt like, and how
powerful it was. So, my husband and I took turns "shocking" each other (though we did not put the collar on our necks, we put it on our hands),
from the low setting to the high setting. LOL I took it better than my husband did. Our kids were laughing at us, and both of them wanted a "turn"
at getting shocked. I only allowed them one finger on the collar, but they did get shocked, at their own request.
What we learned, was that the low setting, was really just a "buzz" feeling with zero pain, the high setting made everyone of us "jump and
squeak", so we have never used the high setting on our dog. What we also learned, was that a "new" battery, causes a greater shock than an
"older" battery.
What we also learned, was that if the collar was not on our dog right, then she could not even feel it, as her fur was in the way. The prongs have to
be on skin, and not fur.
So, anyway, our dog learned not to bark like a looney freak in her kennel pretty darn quick, and we have not had a problem since. These days, if I
have to use the collar, most of the time, I just use the "beep" setting, and she chills out immediately as she knows uh oh I just got a warning. To
clarify the "beep" setting, is just that, it makes a beeping sound without a shock. Thank goodness, as when we were first training her to not bark
like a looney freak, every time we had to give her a shock, I would almost be in tears, even knowing that she really was not being harmed, as we had
tried the thing out on ourselves first.
So, yeah if the dad had forced the child to shock himself, I think that would be different, or if the dad was using it as punishment that would be
different, than a child who is doing what children do, which is "checking things out", it's how children learn. Though as I said, in our
situation, our children wanted to try the collar out, but we let them put their finger on it, and did not put it around their neck.
Oh, and having grown up on a farm, we used to run around with BB guns and Pellet guns having "wars". Still have a few scars from it. Children can
sometimes do the strangest things. My brother was even "scalped" during one of our wars, thought Mom was going to "kill" us over that one.
We also had those electric fences going around our property, and we talked one of our neighbors (a guy), into taking a "pee" over the fence, he was
not a very intelligent young man. Anyone wanna take a guess as to what happens when a guy tries to pee over an electric fence?
I'll give you a hint if you need, shock, pee, shock, pee "help, I can't stop" he yelled as we were all standing around laughing until he finally
fell backwards, and stopped his peeing.
He was a bully, and bullied all of us, so we felt vindicated, and he left us alone after
that.
These days? I feel a "little" guilty over it, though in truth he was not permanently harmed, and he DID stop bullying people after that.
Harm None
Peace