Ok so koda is finishing up his first puppy class. He has te star puppy test tuesday then hopefully starts the next lvl class.. In the next lvl class a trainin collar and leash is provided.. I asked on the phone wit it was and she said ether a nylon choker, metal choker, or princh collar i think. I go to a all breed trainin center and i really liked the frst class.. Im hesitant on the trainin collars though.. Should i be? Or are they really helpful and safe?

Any collar used in training is a tool.

Any tool is only as efficient or strong as the person using it. Comfort comes into play a lot when talking about training tools. I'm more comfortable with certain tools or methods and my training reflects that.

I think the important question to ask is What would you be more comfortable with???

Ericobeasto wrote:

nylon choker, metal choker, or princh collar i think.

I am not comfortable with chokers or pinch collars. They do not fall in line with my methods and are not strong tools for me. I use flat collars as I've had the best results with them.

If however I had to pick one of those 3 I would select the pinch collar only if it didn't only have a choking option. Known as dead ringing (A Pronged collar). Out of these 3 choices a properly sized and placed pronged collar would be the safest in my humble opinion.

It sounds by the choices however that your trainer believes in a lot of leash corrections, and I wouldn't use any of those collars if that was the case. As I said I personally don't believe you NEED a choker or pinch collar for any training and I don't advocate the damage any collar can do with a leash correction.

I can however understand someone using a pronged collar/chokers to control pulling and have no problem with it, but I wouldn't use one for training.

Just me. Hope you both enjoy the class
~Chris~

This is what im thinking... Koda is only a puppy.. I feel its unfair to go straight to these trainin collars without tryig to use other methods.. When he gets older and if he has problems it might be something i consider.. But i feel its not needed right now.. I wanna do classes there.. Im hoping the allow me to refuse the use of the collar and still allow me in the class.. I think they will still allow me, they seem very nice.. And i am sure other people refused them in the past.. I just hope through the whole 8 weeks they dont say well of you would have a trainin collar on that wouldnt happen.. Or this would be easier.. Cause then i might walk out and loose my money

Dog trainers (Or the ones I know / knew) get 90% of their business through word of mouth.

People group up as their dogs play and talk about issues and then suddenly someone goes

"I Know this awesome trainer who helped me do blah blah blah".

I don't know many that would be childish like that or refuse you admittance to the class in the first place because you wanted to learn in your manner or use your own tools. A good dog trainer lays the ground work but in a way you can relate to and feel comfortable with.

Quote :

I just hope through the whole 8 weeks they dont say well of you would have a trainin collar on that wouldnt happen.. Or this would be easier.. Cause then i might walk out and loose my money

Confidence plays such a huge role in training a pup, and if you don't believe in the methods 100% you aren't doing them justice anyways. Again any trainer acting like this and attacking your confidence during training would just be shooting himself in the foot.

You could always call ahead and find out I would assume.

~Chris~

I already been through puppy classes there and loved them! I should be getting a email about the next class soon and i plan on asking about me refusing the collar.. You made great point about confidence and feeling comfortable i hope they are like that.. If i get them same trainer i think he will understand. But i might get a different one..

I would be concerned at the use of those collars. What Jean Donaldson - author of the Culture Clash - says about them is "These devices (choke and prong collars), when they work, do so to the degree that they hurt. With the advent of modern methods and tools they are irrelevant.”

Ultimately he's your puppy and so you have to do what you are happy with. If it was me, I would prefer to find a class that uses positive reinforcement as using choke and prong collars is really old-fashioned these days. Chris is right that the prong at least doesn't have the choking option. But you can do so much better with reward-based training.

I am not comfortable with leash corrections or using training collars. My own personal beliefs and my personal training methods do not call for use of either and I don't believe in them. Especially with a young puppy, I don't believe harsh methods need to be used.

While the trainer may allow you to opt out of using the training collar, the method will still be the same. Collar checks and leash corrections. Those methods have no business being used on dogs, let alone puppies. People don't understand how fragile the necks of dogs are. I would not be involved in a training coarse that focuses on methods such as those.