Pinch Collars

[Chocolatewoman]

I adopted a Rottie from the shelter (about 5 years old) and have been working hard on training her. She is coming along but is terrible when I am walking her and we pass another dog. I have an extremely difficult time controlling her and she becomes totally focused on the other dog. Even really great treats do nothing to break the spell. She broke her Snoot Loop yesterday (similar to the Gentle Leader) and I am wondering about trying a pinch. My concern is that if she "loses" it when I have her on a pinch what could the effects be. If no one other dogs are around she walks nicely most of the time. I am working with a trainer but I don't believe she will agree with the use of the pinch.

Thanks

[Zumie05]

Has your trainer seen first hand your rottie's reaction when on lead around other dogs? Once she has seen what your dog's behavior is like then she can best recommend what tools and techniques will work best.

Don't be afraid to try and find another trainer if your current one isn't helping much.

On a pinch collar you would be giving your girl corrections if she started showing signs of acting up while another dog passed. You wouldn't wait until after she has already started to react, it is all about preventing her from escalating. Watch her like a hawk and learn to read her body language. Put her in a sit stay when another dog is passing, and if she tries to break her sit you can give her corrections using the prong.

Some dogs do better with different techniques. There are so many different things you can try to be doing with your girl, I am sure others will chime in

Thank you for rescuing!

[mck9]

There is nothing wrong with using a prong collar and when used correctly there should be no Ill effects. I would also teach the dog the leave it command and watch me. I to would like to stress the importance of finding a more educated trainer.Good luck hope all goes well.

[Mick Trainer]

Ditto to others on finding a more receptive trainer if the one you have is not creating as solution.

There is indeed nothing wrong with using a pinch collar, infact when used correctly they are an extremely effective training tool however when used with dog aggression there is a potential side effect of causing the dog to load etc when the stimulation level that the dog is placed in is to high for it (meaning that you are too close to the other dog) and the correction given is not high enough to place the dog into true avoidance but rather causes the dog to lift it's aggression levels due to the frustration caused by the pinch collar. However if you get a trainer who can show you correctly how to use it etc this shouldn't be a huge problem.

However in saying that a good trainer should be able to help you use anything. I train 95% of dogs now days on a "Halti" collar (whilst they are similar in appearance to a GL etc they are not the same) and a good trainer will have no trouble teaching you how to use this effectively. The same goes for a Slip/Chocker type of chain. I often find once people know how to use a slip correctly in curing dog aggression it is more effective than a pinch (a slip is a superior negative re-enforcement tool than a pich is with the pinch being vaslty superior in positive punishment).

Mick.

[Nishasmom]

My dog had a very high "prey drive". She heeled perfectly....until she focused on a bird, cat, dog, leaf....(the list goes on). We put her on a prong (with the help of our trainer) and it was a MIRACLE . We tried the gentle leader harness, but heeling wasn't her issue. She needed a quick correction, which the prong collar did. After the first week, she learned to control herself; now most times a "leave-it" with slight pressure will work.

You need to "correct" as soon as your dog focuses, or tenses up. Timing is very important with the prong. Good luck!

[Skip]

Originally Posted by Nishasmom

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You need to "correct" as soon as your dog focuses, or tenses up. Timing is very important with the prong. Good luck!

Totally agree. The key is to correct the "thought" before it becomes an action. If the dog is already commiting the action, the correction is too late, and sometimes it will even escalate the dog's frustration and cause a stronger reaction.

[ChloeBear]

Ive never needed a pinch collar on any of my dogs. My Rottie never showed what you are describing, but I have a Shephard rescue that we battled the same exact problem with. We/you need to see the situation way ahead of time and like stated above start telling him/her to "Leave it" and "sit" and make the dog stay in that position until the other dog passes by, and praise your dog afterwards !!! It takes a while though, PATIENCE is the key.
Unfortunately for me my Shephard would do it also with birds,squirrels,lizards,people etc etc !!!

[wamack]

I also use the sit stay at the side of the trail in conjunction with the leave it command while the other dog passes by. This works much better when people don't stop on the trail to say hello. I have started giving the leave it command loud enough for the other dog owner to hear so as to get the hint that we are training and please keep walking by. I use pinches on both dogs just to ensure I have control as I generally have both by myself and they are stronger than I am, I almost never have to correct anymore though. It does take diligence and consistency however you handle it for anything to work. We tried a gentle leader, my shepherd cried bloody murder the whole time and refused to even budge out of the living room. Consequently we returned those.