[nellybell]

So, before a bunch of others would like to continue giving advise on my advise thread, please allow me a bit of time to do so. Some of these take me HOURS to research and write properly so please don't go writing over me, terribly rude.

Originally Posted by Id.

What do you think about the safety of this dare, using an electric dog collar? I know there are a lot of electric toys out there, both designed specifically for BDSM and improvised. But what do you think about the dog collar?

The collar must be designed in such a way that would not be harmful to a dog, so one would think that it would be a gentle enough shock to be relatively safe for a human who is generally larger. On the other hand, I wonder if one wrong electrical impulse might make its way to the heart or something and become dangerous. Thoughts? And what electric toys are generally accepted as being safe for dares/bdsm, if any? What are the general safety concerns/precautions?

This is by far one of the hardest set of questions I've ever been asked. I keep finding things that contridict each other, so I believe I'm going to put the basics down and then link to more in depth opinions.

So to start off, I read the thread that was linked above and personally, the idea has no appeal to me and doesn't sound totally kosher. I personally wouldn't feel totally safe using something that wasn't designed for human use when it comes to something like electricity. I think that playing around with something you don't properly understand and something that can cause a lot of damage is just a bad idea in general.

As for dog collars being used, the way he is doing it seems slightly less dangerous then having it around your neck. I've come across a couple of a different opinions of having it around your neck. One saying that it is really ok and another basically saying it is a terrible idea.

I honestly have to say that I really wouldn't want to risk having something bad happen and would avoid having it anywhere above the waist unless you seriously know what you're doing and have the proper equipment. Any sort of stray electrical current passing around or near your heart has the chance of distrupting the rhythm, damaging the heart, or, in the worst possible case, stopping it. Not only that, but, like your heart, your nervous system is also run by electrical currents and could aslso stand the chance of also being messed around with.

Most of those are far more likely to happen if you have a pre-existing heart condition or a pacemaker implanted, but if you have a malfunctioning piece of equipment or something that was not made for use by humans you have no real way of knowing what could happen. I may sound a bit paranoid, but it is generally better to be safe than sorry.

What I found out about shock dog collars is that, while many of them don't give off more than a feeling of a static shock to the dog, you have to keep in mind that dogs have thicker skin and additional fur for it to pass through, while humans to not. Also, "One misconception about shock collars is that the shock a dog feels when they get a shock is equivalent to the shock a human feels when they put the same collar around their own necks, leg or arm. While the idea of pain or shock may be subjective, what is clear is that dogs do not feel stimuli in the same way as humans. Watching dogs gleefully leap into freezing water, bite and play roughly with each other and run "barefoot" over rough ground should be evidence of this." (http://www.dailypuppy.com/articles/w...4-5152c9b28437)

The big warnings:
~Like any electronic equipment, shock collars can malfunction. Dogs have been left outside in the rain wearing an invisible fence collar, and very badly burned when the collar shorted out. This is more of a problem with older or cheap shock collars, as newer ones have built in technology to prevent this from happening.
~Make certain that your electrodes make good contact. Poor contact will often cause burns. Electrical burns tend to be deep and slow to heal. They also tend to have more damage beneath the surface than is immediately obvious.
~NEVER set up contacts such that a current path can be completed through the heart or brain! The safest way to be certain of this is to avoid any contact above the lowest set of ribs. It IS possible to work safely on the back, shoulders, neck and arms and I make some references to it later, but unless you are certain of your equipment, your knowledge and skill, and your subject's health, keep the contacts below the lowest set of ribs.
If playing with a partner:
~Don't tie your subject too tightly, allow some room for muscle contractions. It is possible to do some significant damage if you apply a strong shock to a tightly-tied limb. Also, make certain that your subject is bound or positioned such that a sudden movement won't cause a fall, impact against a solid or sharp object, or other unintended injury.
~I strongly suggest that when you try a new setup, you test it on yourself to the extent possible. This will give you some insight as to what the sensations are and what constitutes a tolerable level of current. This leads to a WARNING: NEVER EXPERIMENT WITH ELECTRICITY ON YOURSELF UNLESS YOU HAVE SOMEONE PRESENT WHO KNOWS HOW (AND WHEN) TO SHUT OFF THE CURRENT!
~ALWAYS HAVE A SAFE-WORD *AND* a signal which can be used if your sub can't speak. Make sure that you are always alert to it.

VERY IMPORTANT:
Always have someone around when playing with electricity. I know this isn't always the most favorable of ideas, but if something happens and your heart stops you only have about 4 minutes before you start having brain damage. At least have someone in your house in the hopes that maybe they find you before it is too late. If playing with a partner make sure the one giving the shocks knows CPR. It may make the difference betwen living and dying.

As for acceptable toys, I have heard of something called a violet wand. "This gadget uses a high-frequency circuit similar to a Tesla coil to build up a static charge in a gas-filled glass tube. If you hold the tube near your sub's body, Each time the charge builds up enough to jump the gap, a spark jumps from the tube to your sub's skin. Unlike shuffling across the rug, though, the Wand can spark many times a second. You can adjust the intensity and rate of sparks depending on your purpose. The nature of the body's response to this type of charge is such that you can use the wand anywhere on the body except for the eyes."

There are also things like Electro-Muscle Stimulation (EMS) exercisers that force muscle contractions. "These are less costly (and usually less powerful and elaborate) versions of the TENS units, and are intended to provide the effects of exercise by forcing muscle contractions electrically. I'll leave the question of whether they help build impressive biceps to others, but as electro-pleasure and electro-torture devices, they are excellent. They provide from 2 to a dozen separate circuits, each with adjustable current. Depending on the unit, you may also be able to vary frequency, waveform, and surge characteristics for each circuit. The units are powered by batteries, which eliminates any worry about a ground loop or component failure placing the full resources of your local power company in contact with a sensitive portion of your partner's anatomy. Also, the individual circuits are isolated from each other, so you don't have to worry about current flowing between electrodes of two different circuits and setting up a path that you hadn't planned on."

These are the safer things I've found, there are other things, like TENS units, that can beused but require proper training for safe use and are rather epensive.

Some of the earlier informantion can be found here as well as addition information: http://www.sexuality.org/l/bdsm/elecplay.html

Opinions on the safety of electrical use in BDSM can be found here but is an 18+ site so please no one under view it as I don't know what might be on the site too. The opening page will probably lead you to registration for the site but there is a button that will allow you to proceed as a guest and no registration needed. http://www.slaveregister.com/posts/162028/