Prong Collar complaints

[tugger5000]

Dante's trainer equated the correction to speeding...
If you get pulled over for 30 mph over the speed limit, you will get a ticket. 10 mph over, you'll probably get a warning. So if you keep getting warnings at 10 mph over, you will likely continue to speed at 10mph over. However, if you get a ticket for 10 over, you'll probably be less inclined to speed. (He told us the story when we first started with the prong collar because we weren't issuing solid corrections)...
"That's NOT a speeding ticket!"

Sometimes we get strange looks with the prong, but when asked about training, we explain why Dante is on the prong and Aedia is on the gentle leader. Most of the time, we end up educating more than anything else.

[BellasMom]

Tugger - I LOVE that analogy!

I get comments occasionally on the prong. I almost always use it as an opportunity to educate. It took two years and a lot of explanation/demonstration but I finally got my boss to try one on her hyper lab, she was a convert after the first 15 minutes that I had it on her dog. I also provided her with a homemade Scrunchi cover and they've been in love ever since.

What drives me crazy is training facilities that encourage/allow their use but then don't show people proper sizing and placement. I have a trainer at our school that never corrects people on its use and it drives me NUTS! I've even tried to pull these people aside and explain the correct use and they just look at me like I'm butting in. So if any trainer/facility isn't going to take/have the time to explain its correct use and actually monitor it I think they're better off excluding it.

[Jamie & Odin]

I have gotten a few comments about how "mean" prong collars are. My standard answer goes something like this: Well, I adopted this large, squirrel obsessed dog as an adult and she happens to be vastly stronger than I am. I think it would be much, much meaner of me to loose control of her and have her run over and killed by a car while chasing a squirrel across the street!"

Through training, the likelihood of this happening is pretty slim at this point, but when I brought her home, untrained and a terrible puller, the risk of loosing control of her was very real. I still keep the prong on her when we are out and about in public, because while her progress has been great, I will not take any chances with her safety.

[laurlitt]

Maddie must love the abuse then b/c everytime I get the prong out to put on her, her back end is wiggling away...

These are the same kinds of people who will complain when your rottweiler is out of control too... I'd much rather inflict a bit of pain than have an unruly dog...

[LORHEL]

I haven't used the prong for a few months now, mostly used it because of pulling issues. My vet does not like to see them, he doesn't make a big deal, but made a point of it, also because Makita was having skin problems around her neck and head (staph dermatitis) and thought maybe it was causing the irritation (similar to a person having a reaction to nickel in a watch--it wasn't the cause.

I haven't really had anyone say anything, specifically. But if so, I would have explained that it is much kinder to use than a choke chain, as it causes less stress on the neck, etc.

One other thing I wanted to mention: When I had Makita out for a refresher course at our local obedience club, she was allowed to wear it during the class, but not during the testing. So if you can alternate with both it helps in those situations where you can't use it.

[Judi W]

Either collar can cause stress if misused. The pinch/prong does help add authority to corrections if that is what is needed but constant pressure from either simply teaches the dog to disregard the collar.

Any testing or trialing must be on a regular slip or on a plain buckle collar. The reason is that if the dog is not sufficiently trained to be worked that way, then it is not ready for the testing or trialing.

[pbhound]

i was in a pets plus store in PA and i a guy came up to me and said that they prong collars can cuase cancer (after he asked me why i used it) that is the only negative comment i have had using the prong collar; although i get alot of people inquiring what it is for and after i explain to them they seem to think that the collar is a very good idea.

i can really tell the difference between the prong collar and Ravens flat collar. and we can really tell the difference on Reeses too.

we have tried the gental leader on both our Rott's but they get this look of punishment when we put it on their nose, you know the head goes to the floor (or atleast the nose points to it), the eyes look at you from the top corners and their whole body posture appears to be that of when they get scolded for doing something they are not supposed to. so we dont use them

[lucky82c]

I would just ignore people's comments, back home, I went to a pet store with my best friend and his pit bull mix. A lady looked at the dog who had on a prong collar and said "they just let anyone have a dog nowadays." My bud oh so calmly pet his dog's head and looked at her little terrier mix who was acting a bit crazy and barking and said, "yeah isnt it sad", then just smiled and walked away. The lady was baffled, while we just laughed

[Matt322]

A prong collar is the only thing that I've had any success with... when we adopted our adult dog she pulled like a Clydesdale. I tried the "stop walking when she pulls" method, the Gentle Leader (which she'd Houdini out of no matter how loose or snug it was adjusted), a regular collar with verbal reprimands when she pulled... nothing worked. I was leery of the prong at first because I thought it'd hurt like hell, but I got some of the black rubber nubs to put over the prongs and it works fine.

She gets walked daily and it only took her a few days to understand that she wasn't allowed to pull. I've got it adjusted extremely loose on her now and we've got no problems at all. Never any comments from people out and about either.

[rottielover2004]

I had the same problem as pbhound. Until I invested in the prong collar for Angel, now she sees the prong and is happy to go for a walk. Every dog is different, I believe people should eduate themselves before passing cruelty judgement. If you ever saw my dog, I do not think you would believe she was tortured, LOL. She loves the prong collar, makes her feel proud because she is behaving and being rewarded for it

[Skuly]

Took Skuly in for her yearly and we had the prong collar on. Vet tech told me it was too tight. I said "no it's not" "it's too loose, look how far down it is on her neck. it should be behind her ears" I even put my fingers inbetween and showed her how loose it was. I offered to show her the pressure on her arm. Then she asked me if I ever tried a gentle leader with her......ha ha ha. I go, "the one that goes around her nose?" she affirms and I just start laughing and say no, it doesn't work. tell her that prong is like power steering and that most of the time if she hears the chain click once that's all it takes. grrrrrrr
Then the vet came in and I told her about my exchange and I said, " I know y'all dont like prong collars her but obviously my dog is not abused. And she said "of course not. i's obvious"

when i come in, they dont see me yanking my dog around. she's always well behaved even with cats, 2 loose parrots and other dogs in the room. it would be different if i was choking her with the darn thing..........

[laurlitt]

I brought Maddie into the Humane Society Pet Store the other day (w/ a pinch collar on)... Her obedience is fine but I wanted it in case there was a dog loose in the store... Sometimes she needs a reminded that she should leave others alone :) Anyway, the woman politely asked me if I ever considered using a gentle leader for training... I laughed at her and said "NO". She dropped it.

[hmeadq]

Originally Posted by pbhound

we have tried the gental leader on both our Rott's but they get this look of punishment when we put it on their nose, you know the head goes to the floor (or atleast the nose points to it), the eyes look at you from the top corners and their whole body posture appears to be that of when they get scolded for doing something they are not supposed to. so we dont use them

The Gentle Leader worked very well for us for a couple months between 5 and 7 months. But you cannot really correct a dog in one because of the danger of neck injury. Now that our puppy is a Stubborn 7-1/2 months we have switched to a choke, which is working very well for the time being.

But when we go to HIGHLY distraction situations (specifically PETSMART!) we still use the Gentle Leader, and while he behaves in it, he to looks so sad when we put it on him, as opposed to when I pull out his chain collar he starts walking in cicrles near the door waiting to go out.

[rott'nrottie]

Daisy is a little over 10 months old. As with most pups, she can be a bear to walk sometimes. In the last month or so, she has gotten really bad with pulling. So Friday I picked up a prong collar and used it when I got home. IT WAS GREAT! It took her about 2 minutes to get used to it, and we were walking down the street and her nubbins was wagging like crazy. It's like she didn't even notice the collar.

On Saturday, I was out of town for the night and my wife had 6 of our cousins (all ages between 3 and 11) over to spend the night. From what my wife told me, the three walks they took were wonderful. Even with the kids running around and yelling, Daisy was right there at my wifes side the whole time.

My hope is that after a while walking with the prong, we can back to using just the flat collar.