| Your vet IS correct that pinch collars can cause problems especially when they are incorrectly used.
Pinch collars used to correct young impressionable Rott puppies at an age when they need to be actively socializing with other dogs/people can create lifelong problems. Example: your Rott lunges toward another dog, BUT, he is young and is not doing this in the spirit of aggression, just stupidity and overeagerness to play with another dog. He gets a painful corrective jerk off the other dog. He begins to associate other dogs with this painful/emphatic correction. He learns to avoid other dogs....even learns to actively dislike other dogs, because their presence means a correction to him....Got the picture??
IF you have a trainer astute enough to let him understand that he CAN go play with other dogs when allowed to you can avoid this scenario, but there are FEW trainers out there good enough.
Your dog has been on a pinch for 2 years. Not much you can do to erase the initial damage that may have been done by using this collar.
Keep following your vet's advice on the thyroid medication. Even a borderline low, but acceptable thyroid level can cause long term damage to your dog if left untreated and thyroid problems are epidemic in Rottweilers due to lack of testing and "blinders" among breeders.  |