What's your thoughts on using a prong collar?????

[Caztratt]

I am not a professional in the strict sense of the word, I have my dogs but do not train for a living and while I have a few dogs and years under my belt I am in no way an expert. I have made more than my share of mistakes and still do learn something new with each dog I have .

I admire your answer every dog is different. Your dogs are very stunning


Carol

 

[Smokeycat]

I have never seen or heard of a prong collar so I googled it -
Well it looks like the most painful contraption I have ever seen!! I couldn't imagine putting something so horrid around my dogs neck. I know you all won't agree but there must be a better way round it


Carol

Like many things on the internet the pictures have been sensationalized and removed from context. Many of the pictures that are being used to 'show' how dangerous prong collars are actually embedded collars.

 

[Caztratt]

Smokeycat. I do believe the pictures probably were but they were still awful I just feel for them poor pips who were abused by them


Carol

 

[Caztratt]

*pups - bloody predictive txt lol


Carol

 

[scorning]

I use a prong on my dogs. My Dane barely needs any corrections, which is what I'm looking for since he would pull very hard/lunge on a flat collar and I don't think head halters and front harnesses are good for dogs known for issues like Wobblers. My Doberman rescue is just this side of crazy and really couldn't be walked on anything but a prong. I've tried harnesses and head halters with her and she hated them and I didn't have as much control. Neither dog minds the prong.

I do use the Herm Sprenger collars, and for my Doberman, I have an attachment to connect her leash to her martingale in case her prong came lose. I've never had it happen with a HS collar, but I have had it happen with the ones from the chain pet stores.

 

[OdinBB]

Yeah they do look horrible but I have been reading more positive then negative. I do appreciate all of your input thank you so much, I am going to look on line and purchase a HS. My poor pup is going crazy without his walks

 

[Hector]

Try it out first before you make your decision.

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

Like many things on the internet the pictures have been sensationalized and removed from context. Many of the pictures that are being used to 'show' how dangerous prong collars are actually embedded collars.

Thank you we are happy with them.

 

[DennasMom]

I think the prong will give you a much better means of communicating with your dog - so it should be a better tool for what you're dealing with than the gentle leader.
I'm glad you'll use it guidance from a trainer, though, since you want it to be a positive association for the dog and not just a means of punishment.

With our last dog, we used - at different times in his life - a flat collar, a nylon slip (show) collar (basically a quiet choker), a gentle leader and a prong.

He was a pretty easy dog (for us) to handle, but he would get over-excited with our dog-walker. She didn't like using the prong, so she used the gentle leader. The dog didn't like the gentle leader, but he was more interested in the walk, so didn't let the collar stop him (it did, however, calm him down significantly).

He had no problems with the prong, but I agree - they LOOK scary (and make the dog look "mean") - so we normally opted for the slip collar. He could back out of a flat collar, but otherwise he would respond well to that for us, too.

Our bulldog rescue... who was a bully when we first brought him home did not respond at all on a flat collar, and I was concerned of strangling him with a slip or choker of any sort... so we went with a prong. BEST thing ever! We used a puppy prong with him - smaller links, with soft tips (you can also get plastic covers for the tips to make them even softer than the filed metal ones... but AVOID cheap versions - non-filed tips can be SHARP). As soon as that prong was on him, he would go from a '9' to a '5' on the 'deaf bully' scale, so we could get through to him and redirect as needed.

Prongs are great tools - but they can be dangerous if used improperly. One of the worst stories out on the interwebs is of a big dog tied up on his prong... he went after a squirrel (or some small animal) - got a good 20ft head start... hit the end of his rope and impaled his neck on the prong - he survived, but the initial pictures were not pretty. The owner in the story was VERY sorry... But, just a nasty reminder, the prong is for TRAINING, not for casual tie-out, and really, should not be left on the dog when you're not on the other end of the leash. Note - if that dog had been chained on a choker, he probably would not have survived...

One of the best videos I saw of introducing the prong was from Tyler Muto on YouTube - if you google "YouTube Tyler Muto Prong" it should pop right up.

The other side.... I tried putting a prong on Denna, just to see how she'd do, and if she'd respond well to it... NOPE. I put it on her when we were 1 block from the house on a causal walk... just putting it on, no pressure AT ALL - she flopped to the ground and wouldn't move. She'd let me drag her home with it (which I obviously didn't do), but she was NOT moving with that on her neck. She's a sensitive girl! As soon as we went back to her slip collar, she POPPED up and we were out on our happy walk again. Silly dog!

 

[DMikeM]

I have used them when my dogs seemed to be pulling too much on walks or during training. I ended up loaning mine to a classmate and never got it back.
I will say I do miss the control I had over these big dogs with one and will need to purchase at least one in the near future.

You do need to remember that this is not a collar that is left on the dog when not in use. If you are not training or walking the dog you must remove the prong collar or turn it inside out so that the prongs are not working on the skin any longer.

 

[Hector]

[video=youtube;23zEy-e6Khg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23zEy-e6Khg[/video]

[video=youtube;nVvy6fztL2Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVvy6fztL2Q[/video]

 

[JamieHalverson]

I occasionaly use a prong with Yogi, when we are in areas of high stimulus or I just need extra control. I did use it all the time when I first got him, he is only about 70 lbs Pit/Mastiff X, but can pull like a train and had ZERO leash manners.

I combined the prong with clicker training. Every time he walked in place on my left, he got a click-treat, when he pulled forward we changed direction and he got a gentle pop, catch up on left, click-treat. Then start spacing out the click-treats, go from immediate to 5 steps, then 15 steps, then a block, then 3 blocks, etc. between click-treat. Now I space out about 3 teats per 2 mile walk. Unless something like another dog lunging at it's leash at us, then he gets more treats for good behavior.

Did this over and over and over... increasing to areas of greater distraction. When I started getting consistent results, I switched to a martingale collar and continued. There are times I'll notice he's gotten a little lax, and I'll pop the prong back on and put him through his paces, or I'll put the prong on but attatch the leash to the martingale just to switch things up. They learn very quickly if there's no prong, there's not much risk... and so, like other's have said, training is key. It has taken a year of training to have a dog that consistenly walks by my side on a regular collar. Maybe that's longer than for some folks, but hey.

Also, a couple key tips my trainer gave me, when out in public, the ONLY place for your dog to be is immediately at your left side, it's not enough that they "just" don't pull, if they are out ahead of you. A dog who is in the lead is tense with decision making ability, they are not looking to you to decide on appropriate actions. There is also never any confusion in the dog's mind as to where he's supposed to be. The second was to NEVER allow pulling to result in a reward. If the dog pulls to get to a fire hydrant to sniff and pee, he doesn't get to sniff and pee there. He gets corrected and guided back to left side. When he's walking nicely again, he can be rewarded for THAT by getting released to sniff and pee at the next sign post/hydrant so that you are making all good things rewards for walking nicely.

Prongs can become a crutch, just like head halters or no pull harnesses. And frankly, head halters can cause significant neck/spinal injuries and front clip no pull harnesses can cause shoulder issues as they cause the dog to walk incorrectly. None of these tools should be used indeffinitely.