puppy and prong collar?

Question

Note before the question, please save mine and your time and don't tell me its cruel. I think it will be more humane than having my puppy choke herself every time we walk
Now for the question
I have a 6 month old Dobie puppy. She is in obedience class right now. She is a smart girl overall but she pulls when we walk and jumps on people. She pulls so hard that she chokes herself. We have been training her to walk to leash and no jump on people since she has been 2 month (when we got her), but she gets 2 excited around new people and new things and seems to forget everything she has learned. We use a harness and its not much help. I am starting to consider a prong collar. I have used in before on an older dog so i am not sure if its appropriate for a puppy. Would it be ok to use on her or should i keep at it for a couple more month?

Stitch, don't want to use a choke chain cause with dogs like mine (that pulls like crazy) it can cause neck damage. When they studied effects of prong collars and choke chains, choke chains caused neck injuries to 48 / 50 dogs and prong collars cause damage to 2/50 dogs.

Hanna G
yes i have read about this breed. as i said she trains well, just gets really excited around new situations and new people. The other dog did very well with prong collar and we only needed to use it for training for a couple of month.

I know to turn my back on the dog when she jumps, and to have her sit when other people approach to pat her, but lets say i am walking on the street and a person is walking by, she tries to pull and jump.

we currently use Gentle Leader Dog Harness and as i said its not much help

I never leave any kind of collar on her when she is at home.

Lyn B
thanks for your advice, we have been doing that for the past 3 month. :-) we are the pack leader, we control resources, we walk through doors first, yada yada yada. and yet she can't control her energy. i stop when she pulls and stay in one place for like 30 seconds, sometimes she releases the pull sometimes she keeps going at it, i turn around and switch direction, and hear her choking herself. and yes we don't start walking again until she comes down. sometimes it takes us (like this morning) a half an hour to come from parking lot to the dog park.

trainer was the one who recommended a prong collar, but i wasn't sure if she is 2 young for it.

here is the study:
A Study* on Prong Collars was done in Germany: 100 dogs were in the study.
50 used choke collars and 50 used prong collars. The dogs were studied for their entire lives. As dogs died, autopsies were performed.

Of the 50 which had choke collars, 48 had injuries to the neck, trachea, or back. 2 of those were determined to be genetic. The other 46 were caused by trauma.

Of the 50 which had prong collars, 2 had injuries in the neck area, 1 was determined to be genetic. 1 was caused by trauma.

* from a seminar by Anne Marie Silverton

"Training with a prong collar is like power steering on your car."
- Miriam Barkus

used the harness as the trainer also recommended that. Its not the one that goes around her nose. its this one
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/pet-guys_1973_47863480
so i am really confused about how it can cause neck injury?

Answer 1

You need a gentle leader, not a prong collar.
Trust me. They work.

AND there are tips for modifying dog behavior, for example..EXACTLY what youre looking for.

http://www.gentleleader.com/

Answer 2

I have a 7 month old Beagle pup and he's taking obedience courses too. He gets really excited around people too, especially when he's outside (he's a Beagle...he just HAS to say hi to everyone and HAS to eat anything he comes across) and I know how frustrating it can be. I have tried making him sit and stay still and have used treats but none of this ever works when he's outside and faced with all kinds of better things to do. I've tried the harness as well but it does nothing but make pulling easier for the dog. I've been using the choker chain on him for a month or two but he's getting stronger and it's having less and less of an effect; my dog trainer says that in a few weeks we'll be putting him on the prong collar. Although your pup is younger, she's a big, powerful dog (mine's tiny compared to a Doberman) and I doubt that she's too young for the prong collar. Just in case, I suggest that you talk about it with your trainer and see what he/she says. Mine believes in using the prong collar, and seeing as he wants to put it on my dog within a couple of weeks you shouldn't have too many problems with your pup. Good luck!

Answer 3

Have you tried a Halti? It's the harness that goes around the face. When you correct her, it comes from the face, rather than the neck and the dog recognizes the correction sooner.

There is also a Martingale style collar from Premier Pet Products. It can act like a choke collar when the dog pulls, but has no prongs and is soft like a regular collar.

Continue with the training. I have seen many dogs continue to pull even with a prong/choke collar. Some are just that goofy.

A Dobie puppy is going to be goofy and require a "firm" hand at training. Stick with it!

Answer 4

Some of her zeal is her age> But she needs to know you are the pack leader and a good power walk is the best way. Be sure she has the "sit" command down.

Take her for a walk, your regular collar. Put her in a sit and don't start the walk until she accepts the sit and calms down.

You are the one who controls the walk and the start of that walk. Be sure that you are in the lead; out the door and on the walk. If she gets ahead of you ....she is taking the pack leader position. Stop her by pulling up immediately on the leash (up not back) If she persists stop her and put her into a sit position. Make her stay there until she calms and you are in control again. The you decide to continue the walk.

You can also reverse direction in the walk so that you are now in the lead. Keep reversing until she understands.

If you approach another dog, put her in a sit until the dog goes past. If she tries to get up, immediately put her in the sit. You are the pack leader....try to retain that thought. This is not easy and takes a few sessions.

When you can control her on a good power walk, everything else will be easy.

Answer 5

Ignore the entire bunny huggers who've certainly not truthfully educated a puppy however declare they did. Prongs collars will also be accurately used on a puppy the age of yours, so long as you already know what you're doing. I have used them for 33 years and I have certainly not had a poor incident. As lengthy as you already know what you're doing and you're making the puppy put on it effectively, it'll be pleasant. Hope I helped.

Answer 6

Ignore the entire bunny huggers who have certainly not surely expert a canine however declare they did. Prongs collars can also be safely used on a canine the age of yours, so long as you know what you are doing. I have used them for 33 years and i have on no account had a negative incident. So long as you already know what you are doing and you make the canine put on it correctly, it'll be first-class. Hope I helped.

Answer 7

Prong collars are not cruel if used correctly as a training aid. It was a huge benefit for me in training my female GSD. She would pull so hard she could bring me to my knees if I didn't brace myself. One correction with the prong collar was all she needed. I was one of those people who was 'horrified that anyone could use such a torture device on their dog!' That was until my trainer suggested it as an option. What a huge difference it made for her.
I think it's important to remember that what works great for one dog, may not work for another. I see folks at dog class using a variety of methods; clickers, halties, gentle leads, and shock collars. You just determine what works best for you and your dog and the heck with the naysayers.
None of us knows your dog as well as you do. A variety of suggestions is great as long as people remember their way is not always the right way. Good luck!

Answer 8

What I would do is get a choker collar and take about half an hour a day and train your puppy to heal (keep it in a place where it's just you and her). Make it fun for but be serious at the same time. At the end of your training session play a game that she's not all that familiar with. After a while bring her out and train her in a more busy area. Try to have her keep her attention on you. As she gets better just keep slowly bringing her into more busier areas.

Answer 9

First have you done any reasurch on this type of dog? Some dogs take up to 4years to grow up into a real dog, others grow up and learn supper fast and are easy to train. In the book "Marley and Me" The dog has a messed up brain and can't be trained your dog might have this. I'm not calling your dog dumb or anything but I'm just saying. What happened with this other dog you used prong collar on? Did he get better at walking? Prong collars are pretty mean and she's still just a puppy keep trying to train her and when she's a month or two older if it doesn't get better try the prong collar. I wish I was more help but I hope you get you puppy in control

Answer 10

I am a trainer and behaviorist- a prong collar can be a good tool, but I am worried about the classes you have been paying for...
A good trainer would have been able to help you before now-(yes, maybe with a prong collar).
Please check around for a more competent person to help you.
(If you are near VA give me a hollar! 540-809-7213)
Dobies are very clever dogs and usually can pick up leash walking quickly.
Also, please have her spayed if she is not already...every time a female dog cycles into heat she doubles her chances of getting breast cancer!!
The Monks of New Skete have excellent training books as does Carol Lea Benjamin.
Good luck- you sound like a caring owner.

Answer 11

a prong collar is for bigger dogs over 1 year but i have a dobie puppy that is 11 months and had the same thing so what we did is when she or my dog was a he is when she jumped to just wait until or set her up and when she jumped to go back inside and keep doing it 5 to 10 times every day until she stops and when she does stop give her a treat

p.s good pick in dog i have had dobies for 15 years