The Truth about Dogs Repository

A curated, evidence-led repository on humane, force-free dog training — peer-reviewed studies, official positions, and expert voices, with sources you can check.

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Peer-reviewed2020Open access

Reward-based training matched or beat e-collars on recall — the use case e-collars are most defended for

A University of Lincoln field comparison found reward-based training was more effective at improving recall during training sessions, with fewer commands, fewer errors, and shorter response latencies than e-collar approaches.

Reward-based training was more effective at improving recall during the training sessions.

Source details

Source

Efficacy of dog training with and without remote electronic collars vs. reward-based training

China, Mills & Cooper

Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Evidence level

Primary evidence

Credibility

Last reviewed

May 30, 2026

Why we included it

The single most useful study when someone argues "you need an e-collar for a reliable recall." It directly tests that claim.

RecallE-collarsWelfare