I started using a prong collar with Kaya about two weeks ago as I was sick of her pulling and sniffing everywhere. Walking with her was not really a pleasure, just hard work. She only weighs 30lbs, but I felt like I had been to the gym every time we came back from a walk, which I did not love.

After putting this new collar on her, it was like a switch had been flicked and within 2 days she became a different dog altogether. When she tried to jump or pull ahead and got a pinch from the collar, she learned very quickly what she was doing wrong.
Now when we go walking, she stays by my side, doesn't sniff anything or pick up sticks and stones, doesn't pull ahead or to the side to investigate every blade of grass or tree trunk.
She just.....walks.....
I don't even have to do anything other than the most minimal correction on the rare occasion.

Even when we pass other dogs and I move her to the side, she accepts it. Before she used to go bonkers trying to say hello.

Eh...I don't advocate use of the prong/pinch collar. I find it terrible. My roommate recommended I get a choke chain for Tyrion. I just looked at her with such disgust. I bought a gentle leader and holt collar instead.

She then had the nerve to tell me he's in pain/the collar is irritating him...sigh.

Anyways, I feel like collars like that should be used if it is the only option left...i.e, after headcollars, training, etc.

Sniffing the grass is normal, walking is supposed to be enjoyable for a dog...not sure why it's so problematic for you.

I don't even like the looks of those prong collars, they are scary If I won't put it on my own neck I'm certainly not going to use it on my dog. Lots of training is best to teach them how to walk. It may take a long time, but it's worth it in the end. Lucian is nearing 30lbs, and he can tire my arms out pretty quick, but he's getting better.

Kick wrote:

walking is supposed to be enjoyable for a dog...not sure why it's so problematic for you.

Ouch.

I use a German Prong collar. With correct usage, it can be very effective. Kale walks loose lead with a prong, He doesn't have to walk right next to me. Contrary to popular belief, the tool isn't used to maim them, just to give a minimal correction so they know to keep on track and not swerve around and trip you, or pull your arm off. It is not painful to a dog, if it was, I'm pretty sure they would let you know. Kale gets excited when he sees it, so I guess he's not traumatized by it... I personally don't like head collars for pulling breeds because of the potential for neck injury, I've seen it numerous times at work. They train working police and guard dogs with German prongs (the correct way), and obviously have great results. If it's working great for Kaya and you, then keep at it. Many have been able to graduate to the Martingale collar once they understand loose lead walking and heeling. Many members of the forum use both and have had awesome results.

Prong collars aren't as barbaric as they seem. Used and sized correctly- they require slight corrections to achieve results and cause only slight discomfort. Personally I don't like head collars- but that's why there's so many different kinds of tools.

I'm glad it's working for you! The best way to see if it's working or if they become collar wise is to attach the prong to them and then attach the leash to the collar at various times. I will use a splitter (the leashes with the 2 heads, sometimes called a coupler) and rotate which one I keep attached. That way there's no way for them to take off in that split second you're unhooking

kaya2012 wrote:

Now when we go walking, she stays by my side, doesn't sniff anything or pick up sticks and stones, doesn't pull ahead or to the side to investigate every blade of grass or tree trunk.
She just.....walks.....

I'm not against prong or choke collars..and without being there - I can't say for certain but from the description it sounds like the dog has actually shut down. But I could be reading too much into it and if I am I apologize.

I say it sounds like the dog has shut down because even on a prong they should still investigate or at least want to and they should be allowed. Is her tail up and wagging? Does she hold her head slightly down? Ears alert with tail? One sure way to tell if it has had a negative effect is to put the regular collar back on and see if there is a change in her disposition between putting the regular collar on and putting the prong collar. If not (and I did read too much into it) than congratulations on finding a tool that works for you ! Like Brooke said - when used properly they are excellent tools.

I used a German prong collar on Fargo (rip). After the initial training, we rarely actually engaged the prongs. The training allowed me to be able to exercise the dog with control. It kept us both safe. Yes, it's not for everyone and I'm okay with it. Lola uses a plastic triple crown collar. We adopted her at seven months and she had not been trained to walk on a leash. She pulled like crazy and this can be dangerous to dog and walker. With the collar and training she walks really well on leash. So the prongs aren't engaged. To each their own as there are many ways to get the desired result of a well behaved dog getting a good walk!

Niraya wrote:

kaya2012 wrote:

Now when we go walking, she stays by my side, doesn't sniff anything or pick up sticks and stones, doesn't pull ahead or to the side to investigate every blade of grass or tree trunk.
She just.....walks.....

I'm not against prong or choke collars..and without being there - I can't say for certain but from the description it sounds like the dog has actually shut down. But I could be reading too much into it and if I am I apologize.

I say it sounds like the dog has shut down because even on a prong they should still investigate or at least want to and they should be allowed. Is her tail up and wagging? Does she hold her head slightly down? Ears alert with tail? One sure way to tell if it has had a negative effect is to put the regular collar back on and see if there is a change in her disposition between putting the regular collar on and putting the prong collar. If not (and I did read too much into it) than congratulations on finding a tool that works for you ! Like Brooke said - when used properly they are excellent tools.

Maybe it isn't sized correctly if there is a change in demeanor. I had a GSD trainer at work help me correctly size one for Kale.

I only suggested that she may have shut down because I've seen a lot of dogs on a prong (obviously not used properly) and the dogs owners have confused the walking well on leash with a happy and learned dog as opposed to a dog who has shut down due to the collar. I've also seen many wonderfully happy dogs on prongs - my Great Pyrenees was one of them. I am by no means against them but I do know what can happen when used improperly or by someone inexperienced (not implying that the OP is inexperienced or misusing the collar at all). So I was just making sure the collar wasn't having a negative affect is all

Thanks for the interesting responses!
I know that prong collars can be a bit of a sensitive subject.

I only got the prong for her after 2 months of trying other methods - training, holt collar etc.
When the collar is on, her ears alternate between alert and relaxed as she takes in more of the sights and sounds of the walk, and her tail is up and wagging all the time, so I can tell that she is not unhappy. If she pulls on the leash and the collar pinches her, then she only has herself to blame and to be honest, I found that she stopped doing that very, very quickly.

Tyrion/Kick - thanks for the reply, although I thought it was a bit harsh. I have no problem with Kaya sniffing grass and trees and doing her little doggie thing. However, that's reserved for the backyard, the park, and the off-leash park etc. When I walk her it's part of my daily exercise too, so I don't want to spend 20 minutes just getting to the corner of my street!

I should also clarify - when I said Kaya became a different dog, I didn't mean it in a negative way.
I just meant that she started behaving herself.

Niraya wrote:

I only suggested that she may have shut down because I've seen a lot of dogs on a prong (obviously not used properly) and the dogs owners have confused the walking well on leash with a happy and learned dog as opposed to a dog who has shut down due to the collar. I've also seen many wonderfully happy dogs on prongs - my Great Pyrenees was one of them. I am by no means against them but I do know what can happen when used improperly or by someone inexperienced (not implying that the OP is inexperienced or misusing the collar at all). So I was just making sure the collar wasn't having a negative affect is all

Usually this comes with complete abuse and misuse of the collar. Anyone who is yanking away on the prong doesn't know how to use it and probably doesn't even have it sized correctly. It's quite unfortunate but the "beaten and defeated" look is quite hard to miss and the dog is usually slow to respond anyway because they fear the correction and are unsure of what they even want.

In regards to walks and sniffing... My dogs know that they aren't supposed to be sniffing and carrying on while walking. I periodically release them from walks onto grassy areas where they can sniff, pee, and do whatever it is that's so important to them lol Having structure on a walk isn't a bad thing.

I use prong collars on all three of my dogs if we're going somewhere for an extended amount of time and I'm alone with them, or if we're going to a dog event where I need to have complete control of my dogs.

Yes there are people out there that don't understand how a prong collar works which is harmful to the dogs but if used correctly it's a very good training tool. One thing that bothers me is people using them on puppies, how old is Kaya? You don't want to injure her trachea..

Is the idea to use them long term or in hopes of eventually moving to not using one? Or is it meant to be used permanently?

I've heard it go both ways. I wish in my case we could move from them, but it doesn't work. They know when they don't have the prong collar on, but sometimes for our dogs I think it's just pack mentality so when they're all together they're just in pull mode.

Kaya, I am so glad this is working out for you I'm not against prong collars used /correctly/, I'm actually thinking about looking into one myself for Yuki. She's 20 pounds right now and pulls like a TRAIN as soon as I open the door, and whines on the end of the leash while waiting for me to lock the door when we go out. I had a regular harness, but I eventually want to get into some activities with her that involve pulling when shes older, so I don't want her to learn /not/ to pull when on a harness, but rather the opposite. I tried a no-pull harness that had a keyring in the font on her chest but she just kept tripping on it and ignored it. I am also against a head collar due to the above statements. My eskimo doesn't pull at all and they were not trained any differently to make such a difference in their pulling, but maybe its just because of her husky blood I'm not thinking about for now (she's only 4 months old) but could any of you guys give me suggestions on how to find the right size prong collar and at what minimum age to start using it on her? When she gets to about 40 pounds I don't think I'll be able to handle her pulling anymore (I'm tiny lol). Obviously if I'm going to get a prong collar, I don't want to hurt her, I want to use it correctly and safely, which is why I want to get this information ahead of time.

Hi Jennet - Kaya is just over 5 months old so I got the a small size prong.
I still removed a whole bunch of the prongs for re-sizing on her neck, so there are only about 5 left.

To be honest, she probably does more damage to her trachea when she is on the regular collar because of the pulling. I can hear her choking and gasping because her excitement level becomes high.
On the prong, she doesn't pull even one little bit, so there is always slack on my leash.

Megan - the prong has been the absolute best investment so far, but as you say, it needs to be used and fitted correctly. Before I bought the collar I checked the Font of All Knowledge (ie: Youtube) for information and ideas about fitting and using. I also spoke with the staff at Petsmart and got them to find the right size and do the fitting for her. It's no good if it's too loose (defeats the object).

They came in X-small, small, medium and large, and the prongs get bigger as you go.
There are a couple of different models - I got the one with the quick release.

Jennet&Embry wrote:

Yes there are people out there that don't understand how a prong collar works which is harmful to the dogs but if used correctly it's a very good training tool. One thing that bothers me is people using them on puppies, how old is Kaya? You don't want to injure her trachea..

There are other "tricks" that you can use to get a puppy to walk with you. Most that worked for us involved treats in our hand which was held down beside our thigh. I would not use the prong collar on a puppy under the age of 6 months. I think the problem with the prong for the very young lies less in whether they can hurt a puppy physically (because I personally believe that they are very safe, in fact, safer than a regular collar and perhaps even safer than some of the head harnesses) and more about damage to them psychologically. You do not want them to fear their walks or become depressed when wearing the prong collar because they are not free to be a "puppy" and they do not yet understand how to control themselves for long periods of time.

Of course, as everyone else is saying, please use the prong responsibly. It might be best to find a trainer who can show you how to use one. Good luck!!

Hi,
I was having the same problem with my puppy Kao, I rotate between a no-pull harness and a choke chain. The the majority of the "learning to not pull" phase i used the choke chain, but i quickly began to notice that after a while she almost became used to it. Thats when i switched to the no-pull harness. Now i switch between that two depending on what were doing and her walking has gotten a lot better.

I have had dog my whole life and we have used the prong collars on a lot of the "pullers" we've had and havnt had any problems with them, like mentioned above, when used correctly.

Something I've noticed from talking to other people with dogs, is there a lot of opinions out there about everything, but as long as what your doing is working for you and your dog then thats all that matter

We have a small variety of collars and harnesses, but the only one that seems to stop the pulling is one that goes around his hips and tightens when he pulls. I do feel kind of bad teaching him to not pull, since he's by nature a sled dog, but the other posters are right about the pulling being dangerous for both the dog and the person. Bandit has almost dragged me in front of moving cars a couple times! I think I might look into a prong collar, but maybe later if it doesn't get better.

@ kick although I do not use a prong collar trust me you will be surprised at how devastating walking a husky can be once they hit 7-8 months. Walking saya has become a living hell!!! We walk for half an hour and we go around the park something which takes us about 10 minutes. I have to stop after every step because saya just refuses to walk properly. Sadly we do not get far now when I walk her she s slowly realizing though that pulling gets her no where. After 25 minutes of getting nowhere the last 5 or so minutes are surprsingly pleasant when she decides to stop pulling. With that said prong collars are not that bad of a thing as long as they are used properly. Most k9 officers I see have told me to get saya a choker which baffles me in reality. their reason for suggesting that is that they believe that prong collar should only be used by EXPERIENCED people, or else it can seriously hurt the dog.

I think that when all is said and done, there are tools for us as dog owners. Some people choose to use them, some don't. I personally love the fact that Kaya behaves herself now when we go out as I didn't want to spend months and months bribing her with food to do something fairly simple. With the prong, it was instant behaviour modification.

Today she went to daycare and normally she would try yank me into the PetSmart, gasping and choking as she tries to gallop around. I used the prong this morning and she walked beautifully through the store, all the way to the daycare check-in. When I was doing the paperwork, she sat down nicely without me even having to tell her to sit and generally just behaved.

So, for me, it doesn't matter if she has to wear the prong every time we go out for the rest of her life. The main thing is to have a dog who is a pleasure to take out and to walk, who enjoys the walk and basically accepts that I am the one in charge on the walk, not her!

Also, the other thing is that prong collars are not rocket science. They are very simple devices. There has been some talk about about just having experienced people use them. Well, how did these people become experienced? I would guess it would be by.......using the prong. There is always going to be a bit of trial and error in the beginning, everyone goes through it - that's part of becoming experienced!

There is so much information out there on how to fit, adjust and use these things, it is almost impossible to stuff it up completely.

Amen Bev! I knew nothing about prongs when I first got one (and I was not apart of this community yet) and I learned very quickly with a few short demonstrations from a professional Schutzhund trainer.

Prong collars are a nice tool for training, my dad used one to train our old Boxer Tyson into behaving because he was ball crazy (He even shattered a prong collar once trying to chase a ball lol). But after he was trained properly we put him on a normal collar because there was no need for prong.

I chose to go a different route and rock the Martingale collar and I am impressed with the results I've gotten. I have a well behaved husky on our walks and there is no pulling at all!

So as someone or many people have already stated every owner has their tool of choice. Depending on how they use it, it could have terrible or spectacular results. Gj and keep up the good work.