This is definatly usefull, and can in fact be too effective if not used carefuly on a hunting dog. It can litterally scare them away from wanting to hunt if used incorrectly. All our dogs get "Zapped" so they don't go after sheep, and this is actually a requirment if you want to use hunting dogs in many areas in Norway since the sheep farmers often don't get them in from grazing in the mountains until long after the specified "gathering date". We've found sheep that were sanding in so much snow that they would soon have died if we hadn't notify the owners. The problem was that they had reported the sheep as lost (eaten by wolves) and were going to recieve compensation from the government so they didn't really give a shit...

Back to topic; an electric shock collar can save a dogs life.

Erik D.