One of the most misunderstood and therefore misused and underused tools of the trade, is the pinch or prong collar.
Partly because of the appearance and partly because of the name but mostly in a lack of thought about the logic of it.
It looks barbaric, the names
“pinch”, “prong”, “spike” implies that it is painful, but in
reality it is the “power steering” in dog training. It works great for
anyone that doesn't have the strength to walk a strong large breed dog or if you don't want your dog, regardless of size, pulling on the leash at all.
The prongs on the collar are not pointed or square, they are round so do not poke holes or hurt the dog. They can be uncomfortable, but it is the dogs choice. The collar I sell is stainless steel made by Herm Sprenger from Germany.
I also have the Good Dog prong collars that are made of a hard
plastic that looks like a regular collar on the dog. They
work especially well on dogs with very short fur such as a
Doberman or Weimariner.
People that don’t understand this training tool assume that it works as a negative reinforcer or as a punishment. Some people that see their dog as disobedient
or defiant, or those who are angry with their dog, often use pain as a motivator and assume that more is better so crank on the pinch collar harder than
is necessary. Those who recognize the dog’s right or wrong response to a given command or stimulus reads their dog well enough to use a pinch collar the correct way.
When fitting the prong collar, it is best to have it snug and higher up on the neck (some of the prongs may need to be removed) than a regular collar.
The strongest muscle in a dogs body is
his neck so if the prong collar is at the bottom of his neck,
you are not going to get the response you want and will blame
the collar, so if you aren't going to put it on correctly,
then don't bother, you will just be nagging the dog.
Do NOT put it on over the dogs face.
The collars I sell hook together just like hooking a leash onto a collar.
With a prong collar, any pressure is distributed evenly around the whole neck.
Other collars can do irreparable damage to a dogs trachea
because they
put pressure only over the trachea causing the dog to choke and cough when he pulls
or lunges on the
leash. With a properly fitted
prong collar since the dog won’t lunge
or pull, there will be no damage.
Also beware of head halters as damage can be done to the
neck and back when a dog that pulls or lunges
is jerked back.
If the collar is
fitted properly a correction is usually not needed but
should one be necessary
no more than a light to moderate “pop”
will have the dog responding correctly. The only time a stronger pop would be needed is if the dog is so intensely focused on something it doesn’t feel the lighter pop.
Any training tool
can be used as a weapon or as a negative but "its the fool not
the tool". Get help from a professional on how to properly
use any training tool you decide on.
Using a prong collar is similar to the scruff shake the Mama dog gives her pup to make him respect and obey her. She doesn’t hurt him, she just gets his attention.
