Advice on prong collars vs a gentle leader?

Having used a head collar, I discovered that while it prevents a dog from using its weight against its handler, if you take the head collar off, you would still have an untrained dog because it had not been obedience trained.

Despite its bad press, a prong collar is simply one of many training tools that a capable handler, who knows how to fit & use it correctly, can make use of when training their dog. I use a prong for general obedience training & simply as a collar to control my dog, when I take him out on walks.

I like the mechanics of the prong collar because of the even way it distributes the pressure around the dog's neck & only bites {pressure, then immediate release} when you pop the collar to correct the dog. It's a great piece of training equipment & I was pleased how effective it was on my Dobermann.

Consistent obedience training & effective use of a prong, will teach the dog that pulling or any other bad behaviour causes an immediate correction that the dog would rather avoid & compliance is rewarded.

My Dobermann never quaked with fear when I put the prong on because he associated it with walks & training which he enjoyed.

It is important to bear in mind, that like any other piece of training equipment, it's important to learn how to fit & use it correctly & a prong collar is only as effective as the quality of the training the dog receives.

A prong collar is a training tool, but it is not magic. If you do nothing but put it on a dog, there is a decent chance that in a year if you stop using it then you will have the same problems. There is also a chance you won’t. A prong collar discourages a dog from pulling on the leash; that is a good step in training. However, you need to follow that up by teaching the dog what it should be doing instead. Not only must you discourage bad behavior, you need to encourage good behavior. This means you need to teach your dog loose leash walking. I'll put a few links to some articles on training that below.

To note, all dogs are different. Some will never need a specialized leash or collar, some might need a prong for a little while, but some might always need it, even with training. A prong collar is usually only a training tool, but sometimes it will need to be used indefinitely. It depends on the specific dog.

Regarding prong collars specifically, one needs to be careful to size it correctly. See the links below on a details guide. To note, a properly utilized prong collar does not hurt the dog. And a mishandled gentle leader can hurt the dog as well. The danger is in misuse, not the device itself.

The advantage of a prong collar over a gentle leader is that the prong collar discourages behavior, while the leader merely masks the problem. This isn't to say that a leader is bad, just not ideal (though I would argue that a prong collar isn't ideal, just better).

I hate gentle leaders! lol

I use a prong - I'm away from my personal computer at the moment, but when I get back in about 10 minutes I will be adding to this post with all the info on prong collars!

Here you go:

1. A prong collar has a limited slip - this means that it can only tighten so far. This feature prevents the dog from having the breath choked out of him. It also prevents neck injuries that can be caused by choke chains, such as a collapsing trachea, soft tissue damage, and damage to the spine. Radiographs (X-rays) of dogs that have been trained with choke chains have shown misalignment of the cervical vertebrae, and choke chains have also resulted in injured ocular blood vessels, severely sprained necks, fainting, transient foreleg paralysis, laryngeal nerve paralysis, and hind leg ataxia.

2. A prong collar cannot be put on backwards like a choke chain can. When a choke chain is put on backwards, once it is tightened, it does not release. This means that the user is continually 'correcting' the dog even after the correction has already been given. This is not only confusing and frustrating to the dog, but it can also be very harmful. Since the collar isn't releasing, the dog has trouble getting enough oxygen and may start to cough and hack, or even pass out.

3. A prong collar does not require NEAR the amount of force during a correction in order to be effective. With a choke chain, the user has to make a very precise movement, and jerk the leash to administer a correction. With a prong, all the user has to do is usually just a flick of the wrist for training in basic obedience or for teaching good leash manners.

4. A prong collar distributes a correction evenly all the way around the dog's neck, simulating the way one dog would correct another by biting the other's neck. A choke chain has only one correction point - the ring. That's why so much force is needed for a correction with a choke chain to be effective.

http://www.dru.org/prongcollar.html

http://www.cobankopegi.com/prong.html

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/prong.html

http://www.flyingdogpress.com/prong.html

http://www.leerburg.com/fit-prong.htm

The prong is WONDERFUL. I have an 80 lb German Shepherd who I've had trouble with since he was a puppy for pulling (It's not that I don't know how to train, he is just very determined to pull). I used a halti for months which did help, but he still managed to find a way to pull with it, and I found that I had less control with it on him because you have to be careful not to jerk their head around so that you don't cause damage to their neck. He is the type of dog that needs corrections to understand. I got him a prong at christmas time, and since then I have had hardly any problems with him at all. I have much more control with him now and he knows it. I'd definitely invest in one if i were you :)

(Get a HERM SPRENGER brand, the prongs are rounded. If you buy one from a pet store or any other brand they are flat and will cut into your dogs neck.)

Also, make sure you position it properly or you will not get the desired results. It goes behind the ears and high up on the throat. the chain part that tighens should be positioned on the back of the neck.

Good luck :) don't let anyone tell you it's mean to use one, they are much safer than a choke and don't hurt if used properly.

Gentle Lead Collar

The GL is a management tool- it gives you the opportunity to get the correct behavior, but that behavior still needs to be taught and reinforced, and then transitioned to not using the GL. People who put the GL on their dog for a while and then expect their dog to walk nicely on leash without it are almost always disappointed, especially since most of them start out with dogs that are already not walking nicely.

I'm not a fan of prongs, though I do acknowledge that with some dogs they work just fine. Problem is, dogs can, and often do, learn to associate seeing other dogs, or other things that excite them, with pain. Dogs that are already reactive to other dogs, or have any fear issues, are usually not good candidates for a prong. The behavior of barking/lunging at other dogs may get suppressed, if the prong is sufficiently aversive, but may also convince the dog that seeing such dogs is unsafe, as it causes pain- so the dog becomes more stressed every time this happens. Using positive reinforcement techniques such as those used in the Control Unleashed program is much more effective, and humane, in getting the dog to truly be comfortable with whatever is causing the reactivity. (Note- I don't know why you are using a GL to begin with, simple pulling or more complicated reactivity issues, just explaining what I have seen.)

Some people use the prong indefinetely, others will wean their dog from it, just as must be done with the GL. I consider it harder to wean from the prong, but that is simply my opinion, knowing many more people who use the GL than the prong. The prong collar relies on pain, I prefer to rely on positive reinforcement- if the prong comes off, or isn't on to begin with, I have no control, whereas with positive reinforcement, I always have reinforcement at hand- praise, play interaction, a stick on the ground, all sorts of things are possible reinforcements, whereas with the prong, I only have that.

You have some excellent answers. I can't add much but my own personal experience. When my APBT sees the prong collar she immediately sits and stays without command. She also calms.

When we walk on the prong she is absolutely fantastic. I have actually left her buckle collar on, during the walk switched the lead to the buckle collar and she continues to walk wonderful.

Now, if I do not put the prong on her first, she pulls. Not bad but hard enough to make it uncomfortable for me. So I start with the prong. As long as the prong is on her it makes no difference what the lead is attached to.

Figure that one out....

I had a dog that would walk without tugging when she wore hers. She was a big fluffy dog and she wore it as a regular collar. It did not interfere with her life style at all. I tried one on our pit and it did not work as hoped, she behaves better without using that type, and not a choke chain. We use a wide fabric collar that works somewhat in the same manner as a choke chain, but basically just prevents her from slipping out of it. she didn't object to any of them, she was oblivious to them.

Yes, if you go down the path of a choke or prong you will probably have to keep using them. Choke or prong collars do hurt your dog. Also, dogs learn that when the collar is on, they can not pull but once it is off, they can and will. That is not effective way of managing your dog.

Dogs learn to pull because it gets them want they want which is to go where THEY want. To change this behavior, you need to reward them for doing what you want. When you walk you dog, if he reaches the end of the leash and pulls, you need to stop and wait till the dog relaxes. You can even turn around and go the other way if the dog does not relax. You should reward your dog with praise and even some treats if is walking on a “loose leash” without pulling. Be consistent!

I would get a a gentle leader or Halti above getting a choke or prong but would try to train your dog correctly first.

Also known as a pinch collar, the prong collar is a collar with long metal pieces that pinch a dog. It is used for training and is a collar that is not allowed to be used on AKC show grounds.

Like the choke collar, these are not very advisable to use. I believe you can always resort to other pain-free training methods. Here's a link:

http://lnk.nu/dogtime.com/10sz.html