Dominance Theory

There is a lot of information and television programs that tout the merits of being the "pack leader" or "alpha dog." At best, this method is misunderstood and poorly defined by the media and proponents of this method.

The theory itself has been loosing favor in the pet training field for several years. The most highly respected trainers (by their peers) use non-aversive training techniques. These include Ian Dunbar, Patricia McConnell, and Karen Pryor. All are published writers and well worth checking into.

More info on the topic can found at:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/2297
http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/dominance%20statement.pdf

I think this bares repeating

I wanted to revisit the subject of different types of collars. As reasearch and articles have been written by people much more informed than I, I'll just leave a few links to their research. I will say that as long as I own Mudd Puppies, we will never carry or sell any aversive training collars and will always recommend flat collars as "a place to hang their tags."

There's a lot more information out there, but the research done since 1980 (the first study I'm aware of) all point to the same thing.

http://www.dogremedies.com/dangers_choke_pinch_shock.html

http://www.helpinganimals.com/animalsHome_dogs_collar.asp