The new Animal Welfare Law prohibits the use of harmful methods to train dogs. However, hunting and working dogs are exempt from this prohibition. Furthermore, despite what is stated in the law, there are people who still defend the use of methodologies that hurt the animal for training, such as electric collars.
However, there is more than enough evidence to support that this is a less effective method than positive reinforcement and that it also harms the dog's well-being. The GEMCA (Specialty Group in Animal Behavior Medicine of AVEPA, Association of Spanish Veterinarians Specialists in Small Animals), dedicates a post on their blog detailing 10 reasons not to use electric collars and recommends reward-based training instead. .
