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I'm looking for a way to disable the shock feature on the remote. I know of some trainers disabling the shock in two ways. Upon opening the box, there should be two small screws. One way is to snap off the shock prongs and fill the holes the prongs went through with aquarium sealant. Alternatively, I think the screws can be covered with the rubber tips commonly used for prong collars. This way if one accidentally hits the shock button, it won't shock the dog. However, yes, best to call the company as models may vary and you want to be extra sure no shock makes i through. Or even better, return it and use a vibration only collar or "pager." I feel awful about it, but I managed to shock her even with out the prongs. I guess they don't have to be attached. I had it turned to the lowest setting Just in case so thank goodness for that. She acted like something bit her butt and recovered quickly, thank goodness. They put the shock button right in the middle and I was juggling her treats with the remote in my hand and accidentally pushed the button. 😞 I'll just make sure I don't have the remote in my hand until we're all situated. I'm contacting them to see about disabling that shock so we don't have another accident. If she was shocked, this may require extra conditioning to undo any possible negative associations. To be honest though, I would use a vibration collar as a tool of last resort. I mean, her hearing is good, so a smacking sound or any other visual or auditory signal should work, it would just need to be trained over a variety of distractions over time. With the vibration, we need to consider things at different levels. While a vibration collar may seem rather innocent, it ultimately boils down to how the dog perceives it. Some dogs can get easily spooked by its vibrating sensation and noise. To a sensitive dog, a vibration collar can be perceived as aversive as an e-collar using shock. Important is to point out that, how the vibration feels and is perceived is something that is ultimately up to the dog. Sure it may be advertised as "a little tap on the shoulder" while the dog's body language says something totally different. There are many other less risky options for non-deaf dogs before considering a vibration collar and these have less risks for possible fallout (possible suppressed behavior, increased anxiety and fear, negative association with the owner, insurgence of new unwanted behaviors ). For instance, dogs can be trained to reliably respond to a verbal cue or a smacking sound/silent whistle from a certain distance. It takes time to build up to that, you may need a long line first, then wean that, and find how to fill the gates' gaps, but it comes with less risks. Sure, the vibration collar can be used in the least aversive way possible. Through a careful conditioning process it can be used as a reward marker, informing the dog that a treat is coming. It can also be used to get the dog's attention as a recall, telling the dog to come for a treat. However, there is thin line between using it in a positive reinforcement manner and a negative reinforcement/positive punishment manner. For instance, if the dog doesn't redirect his attention, one may easily be tempted to use a higher setting and keep using it in hopes of getting the wanted response. Using a vibration collar for training in a positive way though is not to stop a behavior due to an unpleasant sensation, but it's meant to increase a desired a behavior courtesy of a history of positive associations. If the dog finds the vibration aversive, it's not a good tool for that dog. It's therefore important always monitoring the dog closely, watching the body language and the slightest hint that the dog perceives it as aversive. Important is to also realize that, not always dogs are great at communicating how they feel. It could be the dog is internally finding the vibration aversive, but we cannot observe that. It can therefore be a non-observable internal perception. I was thinking of an invisible fence, but the husband mentioned wire. I even joked that we have enough Amazon and Chewy boxes to really puppy proof it, lol. The Puppy Bumper may work as well. I only have her collar on her if the girls aren't playing and I take it off inside. Most invisible fences use shock. Sure, there's a beeping to alert, but the goal is to use the shock to create a strong impression that potentially stops the escaping behavior. However, can be several setbacks with this. There is a very thin line between making the boundary unpleasant enough to deter the dog from approaching it, and not traumatizing the dog to the point of affecting his well being. There are countless reports of dogs being traumatized by the use of the electric fences. Dogs live in a world of associations. When they are shocked, they may therefore end up associating the shock with just about anything. Some dogs start associating the shock with the yard. One of the first signs suggestive of this is a sudden reluctance to stay in the yard and wanting to stay in the house. Next, a perfectly house-trained dog may start pooping and peeing in the home, because the yard has become a scary place to be and they want to avoid being there. In other cases, if the owner or other is nearby, should the dog become scared of the shock, he or she may associate the shock with the owner or other dog. Not to mention,according to a study, electric fences have been found to potentially cause instances of redirected aggression in dogs. Five cases involved severe attacks on humans by dogs being trained or maintained on an electronic pet containment system. In these cases, the pain caused by shock, has likely caused these dogs to react aggressively and redirect to a proximate target such as a person nearby. Here's the thing: When working on changing dog behavior it's important to firstly look at what needs to be taught first and what can be done to prevent the undesirable behavior to take place rather than relying on a tool first. It ultimately boils down to, when training dogs, using the least invasive options first before considering the more invasive ones. To better understand this concept, consider that many modern dog trainers now adhere to the "Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive”- LIMA- strategy. In other words, they are committed to “do no harm” and therefore choose the options that are the least intrusive, minimally aversive as possible first and only consider the other options later. Here is a chart that shows how LIMA is applied: A list of hierarchy of behavior change procedures starting at Level 1 (most recommended) and ending at Level 6 (least recommended). Source; 2015, Freidman, Frtizier Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) IAABC.org Of course, everyone is free to choose what tools to use and what methods, but it's important to point out the risks and alternate options that can be used prior to resorting to them. For example, with a dog escaping a fence, the first step would be considering wellness (Why is the dog escaping? Is he exercised enough? Offered enough mental stimulation? Is he fed a nutritionally complete diet? Is the dog healthy? Suffering from anxiety or stress?) Anything that can impede and prevent a dog from being in a learning state needs to be evaluated. The second step would be antecedent arrangement, that is, managing the environment to prevent the behavior from occurring. Erecting a dog-proof fence, fixing gaps, making outdoors stimuli less tempting by adding enrichment in the yard, providing outlets for natural behaviors. Then we have positive reinforcement (rewarding desired behaviors). Differential reinforcement that is, rewarding alternate behaviors. What would we like our dog to do in lieu of the undesirable behavior? Then, there are several more potentially aversive methods to suppress unwanted behaviors/ reinforce escape behaviors and last in the list is positive punishment (using corrections to stop behaviors). Just wanted to point these out, I hope it didn't get too boring!