And let me add that his crying was simply because I wasn't moving lol. I am currently using a good ol' fashion nylon buckle collar (which he likes to slip out of).

Heatherann0420 wrote:

Wow thank you all for the advice! I had never heard of the martingale so I will look into that too. It looks like I will most likely try out the prong collar on him.. I just have this horrible image of him getting stabbed in the neck by that thing

Update:
This morning I went youtube crazy looking up leash training tricks plus a few Cesar Millan videos. There is actually a video of him rollerblading (first time w/o walking the dogs) THREE huskies. He got control of them but they still pulled. I don't know what his point was.. Anyway, I used what I learned on Beau. I opened the front door and just stood there. He bolted and became irritated when I wouldn't move. I wanted him to calm down before we walked. After about ten minutes passed of him whining and crying he finally sat down. I proceeded outside where he immediately pulled - I stopped. He cried and finally quit pulling. I began to walk, he pulled, I stopped. This continued for about an hour. He was crying so loud it was echoing through out our apartment complex. You'd swear he was being tortured! lol He kept looking up at me, "Woo, woo, woo, woo!" as if saying "What is wrong with you, let's move it lady!" He seemed to get more irritated than anything. He also attempted to pull out of his collar numerous times. So now, I am sporting lovely rope burns on my hand. *Sigh*.. I will let you all know how it goes when I get the prong!

I thought the same about the prongs, but I actually pressed it as hard as I can on my arm and while it's uncomfortable it's doesn't hurt in the least bit. Plus they get the point. Like somebody else mentioned, they will get used to it and still pull if not trained correctly. I should know, it happened to me

Oh, and on the whining. Let's not go there. Kody whines before walks, in the car, and when arriving to places as if I was killing him. Not even kidding! It's horrible. Funny, but horrible!!!!!!!!

Hey all, first post:)

I may be a little unorthodoxed in how I keep Keeonah at my heal when we walk, but I think sometimes creative routes are the only way to handle Huskies:P

Keeonah has always responded really well to positive reinforcement training, vs a swift reminder with a collar, and I have taught her two different commands using her favorite treats (I use her favorites because taking a good walk is not an easy thing, thus the better she does the better the reward) for when we are walking, depending on the behavior i am trying to correct.

If she straggles back or off to the side and wants to sniff or stay put i quickly say heel-up (kinda sounds like "hupp!" cause i say it fast) hold the treat a couple inches in front of my left knee. She smells, and trots right up like a horse after the carrot, i say good heel and give her the treat mid stride. I am now at the point where i actually gift her the treat every third or 4th time, and give verbal praise in between.

For lots of pulling, i say "keeonah, cool-down", and she will stand in place, looking over her shoulder. i walk up to meet her with the treat in the same place as for heel-up and give it to her as we start walking again. After the treat we will usually get about 15-20 yards before she goes off on another tangent, and i get to correct again.

She catches up better than she cools down, but i blame that on instinct:P

I use a prong collar. Verry effective, and the dog does there own correction with it. they only hit the end of the leash hard about once. The prongs change the game verses a choke collar, dogs will choke themselves to death! Especially if they see something that gets them super excited. So it really doesnt do us any good since we own a pulling breed. But i worked with Sadie on heal "mind you it was with the prong collar" and now she wont have the leash pulled tight. I only need it to get in and out of the dog park or when we go inside stores. Just my 2 cents.. Good luck with whatever you choose, but training will be your biggest weapon.

I have used body harness and now use a choke collar with a longer lead....

I had him on the harness and he pulls and literally broke the 110lbs lead through the wheel handle so choke collar.

It has totally stopped the pulling and his random Husky or chasing animals leaves blowing etc to almost non existence

He realizes the collar is around his neck. But for walking purposes I want to go back to harness only for the reason of the lead getting caught up and under his legs.

update later...?

harrise wrote:

The only thing I use for training is a "choke collar". For the love of god, if the dog is choking you're doing it wrong. For me they are an invaluable tool that yields great results. You don't use it forever, just like any of the other training collars and harnesses. I still use it when in the forest as a backup should a harness clip break. But my dogs are all capable of walking politely on a standard plastic buckle nylon collar without a problem.

If you're at this point I suggest finding a trainer who uses that collar confidently. Not harshly or angrily, and not meekly or submissively. With the right setup and consistency, I would say 95% of dogs (yeah, even huskies) can be taught to walk comfortably (maybe not perfectly) on collar within 14 days.

In short: No, you're not bad for wanting to use one.

I agree!

I only used a pronge "choke" caller. Was raised using them, our personal trainer uses them, and I have NEVER had bad results. I hve yed the from tiny dogs to giant schnuazers. I love them.

Speaking of "choke" or "slip" collars, do you not have a problem with the long fur jamming it up?

I have an issue with Neos not staying where ilt is supposed too. It either hangs in his fur or gets stuck on his nylon collar. Ive tried taking links out to make it smaller and it still does it

Appa had a chain slip collar when we got him, and it would bind in his fur all the time. No matter how we put it on, it wouldn't "release," it would just tighten and stay tight. He's good now, so it doesn't really matter, I was just wondering if there's some trick I just didn't know about.

When they do that, I would give it a quick jerk. Not jerk the dog lol, mire like a whipping action with the leash. It worked most of the time, but still moments where you just have to undo it yourself

I've not used the choke collar on my Husky, because he walks so well on the leash, but I do use it on both my Dalmatians. I would never walk them without it! I've not had any bad experiences with it. I guess if you use it properly and not in a harmful manner, than it's ok. The collar usually is loose on them, the only time it tighten's up is when they misbehave (and I step in right away to calm them down and correct the situation, so it's only tight for a few moments).

If Hayden did need such a collar, I would probably go with the prong like everyone else, just for the sake of his fur getting caught inside of the choke collar would probably be painful, like Riley mentioned. I've never used one before, so I can't say how effective they are, but if so many people use them, I guess they gotta be good!

Mine still pull on the prong collars, I use the one with the caps on the prongs, IDK if that's why.. I tried sizing it correctly but it always moves around..

Jennet&Embry wrote:

Mine still pull on the prong collars, I use the one with the caps on the prongs, IDK if that's why.. I tried sizing it correctly but it always moves around..

Same here. Mine still pull with the prongs. I've taken links off to make it stay higher up where it should be, but then it's too tight. Almost have to force it together and that's not cool. While they still pull, they definitely pull less than with a normal collar or harness. With the harness it's like they're literally dragging me down the street

I would never walk mine without the prongs. That's just me though. I know some people don't like them.

If you're having to size the collar down so much to make it stay and it's getting to the point where it's too tight you probably need to move down in prong size. Rodeo is using one now because walking like a civilized animal is a concept foreign to him... we have the smaller prong which works fine because it's sized just right for him. I tried another one I had (for Mickey) and the prongs were too big for it to function properly.

Thanks Kristina, I'm going to go look at some after Zoeys class tonight. I think mine both have a large and they're definitely not sitting right.

umm trust me harness don't work that great for labs either, can't tell you how many "rope burns" my pulling monster of a lab has given me

I broke down and got a pronged collar totally didn't want to but OMG! the best thing I ever did but only use it when needed

Pronged collars the the way to go in my opinion.

The pronged collars don't hurt when tugged on and they are very effective when getting your pets attention. I have been training our two Husky puppies with pronged collars and a very light tug when they aren't listening is all that is needed for them to focus on the command.

I have always been against chokers, prong collars and other training tools that seem cruel but when you use them correctly they are very safe to use.

Also a side note thanks for the tip on walking, I never thought about the stopping until they settle down. May be hard in my case with two puppies the same age. . . and sisters but always worth a shot.

Bijiont wrote:

The pronged collars don't hurt when tugged on and they are very effective when getting your pets attention. I have been training our two Husky puppies with pronged collars and a very light tug when they aren't listening is all that is needed for them to focus on the command.

Just be careful with the amount of pressure you're putting on them when you tug the pinch collars. Ideally it should only take a small flick to get the desired response. Puppies are still developing and you just have to be careful

arooroomom wrote:

Bijiont wrote:

The pronged collars don't hurt when tugged on and they are very effective when getting your pets attention. I have been training our two Husky puppies with pronged collars and a very light tug when they aren't listening is all that is needed for them to focus on the command.

Just be careful with the amount of pressure you're putting on them when you tug the pinch collars. Ideally it should only take a small flick to get the desired response. Puppies are still developing and you just have to be careful

Yup, bad choice of words plus I use the plastic ones as of right now because they have removable links making sizing a little easier.

I wish I had found this thread earlier! My husband and I first got our husky a harness that goes around his chest. As you all know that just makes them want to pull even harder especially since ours already had poor walk etiquette to begin with. We then switched to a regular collar and it worked for a few days with his pulling but then he went on to pull just as hard as always when he got used to it. Now we have a prong collar but as soon as we even get it over his head, he starts yelping and howling like we're abusing him. We don't even pull the collar but as soon as he feels one of the prongs on his neck he starts freaking out.
Has anyone else had this problem?

sofi.mitchell wrote:

Now we have a prong collar but as soon as we even get it over his head, he starts yelping and howling like we're abusing him. We don't even pull the collar but as soon as he feels one of the prongs on his neck he starts freaking out.
Has anyone else had this problem?

To place the prong collar on correctly you really should open up the link and put it on him rather than sliding it over his head. That way you won't poke him and it's sized correctly. A correctly sized prong won't fit over a dogs head.

Prong collars are certainly a new sensation and letting the dog "self correct" can cause unnecessary pain. Personally, I would advise against using prongs on young puppies due to their developing and fragile tracheas.

What I've done with Rodeo who was a horrible puller was put him on both a flat collar (or harness) and the prong. Attach them with a double sided leash or 2 leashes. Since they have such a problem with pulling I simply use the prong as the correction but the pressure of the pull is placed on the regular collar/harness therefore eliminating the "self correction" and allowing a more pleasant interaction with the prong. I also use positive reinforcement coupled with my prong collar and reward the dog for the behavior I want and gently correct what I don't.

You may want to try the 2 leash system and just get him used to having the prong on without issuing a correction, take away that negative correlation between the 2.

+1 Kristina.

Sofia, it might be good to find someone who is knowledgeable in fitting and using prong collars to show you how one works. I agree with Kristina, prongs should NOT be used on young puppies. I personally would keep using the harness and employ some of the "stopping and turning" methods mentioned on this forum. Also carrying treats (or a frozen cheese stick at your side) will help him stay focused on you. And that's what you are ultimately going for with the prong collar... getting and keeping their attention. I'm not a fan of walking in flat collars either because of the potential for trachea damage.

As much as I would love to try these tools, I just can't reason with myself to try the prong collar. Thankfully Delilah is pretty good on leash. On any long walks we do she has to wear her no pull harness, which is actually a martingale harness. It works absolutely wonderful. Cato has one too, but he isn't quite big enough yet.

I like the martingale harness because I don't like the idea of squeezing my pets neck. I am certainly not judging any of you. It's just not for me.