Prong collars or chokers?

[slleipnir]

Which do you guys prefer for a training collar?

I take Zeke to obedience, and she ONLY wants chokers. I know I just don't use them right, but I find myself pulling a lot to get a correction. Plus, if he sees a dog he will strain on the collar and choke (cause it's hard to correct when he's pulling)

However, I also take Josie out to a different trainer. He lets me use whatever I want (the prong/pinch) which is also what he uses. I find it's MUCH easier to control. A simple tug is all you need in most cases, and chances are if they run to see a dog, they give themselves a correction. I don't find Josie chokes at all ith this collar. If she isn't listening, I say "Noo!" and a quick pop. I'm amazed by this, because now if she is doing something (Before I would be like Josie, sit. Sit...SIT!!!! and she would be like yeeahh whatever. And sometimes I still catch myself doing it (I try to only say it once) but if I do, as soon as I say "Nooo!" she'll do what I ask. and now is doing it even without that. She tries to test her limits with me A LOT)

Anyway, I don't know if the prong collar is 'cruel'. To ME it doesn't seem like it...I have the smaller, lighter version with blunted ends. It seems better to have her heeling beside me, not pulling at all, then walking where she is straining against her flat collar. I don't know much about it though...the guy I see is a professional trainer and has a lot of experience...so I tend ot trust his judgement

However, the obedience lady (I don't know what experience she has, but I don't really care for her ways. She is one of those "It's my way, and ONLY my way. There IS NO other way!!" She tells me that prong collars are horrible, and that the people who use them just don't know how to properly use a choker. Hehe, actually, it's like she treats US like dogs...trying to dominate us. I don't care for it. She tells me how long Zeke's nails are and that they'll curl under and hurt him....they do need to be cut, but they're definitly aren't curling under

Anywho, what do you guys think??

Oh yeah, I was thinking of showing up to class next week with the pinch on...I wonder if she would kick me out? I really don't like the lack of choices I have for my own dog..

[Panda]

Wanted to mention, although I voted neither, it's not necessarily that I think they're horrible (although I'm really not a fan of those pronged ones) because I have a greyhound, I can't use either on them. I use a martingale (or Humane Choke Collar as they're sometimes called), and find they work wonderfully. Much softer and more comfortable for the animal, and if you're looking for something more for everyday, most collar makers will custom make them to fit other breeds.

Plus you get great variety - this is Elvis' football collar.


And this was his Graduation collar (had to look good in the pictures, after all!)

[Bigyummydog]

we said prong...it's the best thing for us....as for chokers, MAXIMUS, will choke himself to death, not kidding, his eyes get all red and, well, it's ugly, and your lady teacher, is absolutely WRONG, what's perfect for one dog, could be so horribly wrong for another....i have learned soooo much from all these wonderful people here at PT....and you're right, ZEKE is your dog not hers....and you do what works for you and ZEKE......good luck

...and a choker ends up pinching an awful sore when it's pulled as tight as it will go....but then again, maybe i used it wrong...

[LuckiLab03]

I defintiely thing a prong collar is more useful. Our dog school teacher says choke collars are bad because the dog can pull so hard and damage their trachea. Pinch collars doesn't allow for much pulling, when they start to pull you just give them a little pop and put them where they should be - it just gives them pokes all around their neck so it doesn't damage any part of their throat.

IMO and from what I've heard, prong collars are defintiely more humane.

[Glacier]

If you have to use one, I'd recommend a prong collar. They aren't as scary as they look! They are also less likely to damage the dog's throat when used correctly than a choke collar. A prong collar applies even pressure around the neck, a choke collar pinches.

Try one on yourself before putting them on your dog. Put a choker around your thigh and pull like you would with a dog. It will hurt, it will leave a bruise. Do the same with a prong collar. It won't hurt, won't leave any marks and won't pinch. (yes, I've done it).

Remember they are both for training only--they should never be left on a dog in place of a regular collar!

[Bigyummydog]

Originally posted by Glacier


Try one on yourself before putting them on your dog. Put a choker around your thigh and pull like you would with a dog. It will hurt, it will leave a bruise. Do the same with a prong collar. It won't hurt, won't leave any marks and won't pinch. (yes, I've done it).

that's exactly what i did...i don't do anything to my dog i wouldn't do to myself first...

[cali]

I prefere a choke chain, yesterday I had to use it with Misty and I was walking Blair as well so out came the coupler, and well Misty normally wears haltie, which was not really work well when using a coupler lol and it was not bad at all, she choked herslef far less then she does on a normal collar. Shadow was trained with a chcoker, she LOVES it lol I am not kidding, she hates the leash being on her regular collar and will pull and be a jerk, but she gets so exited to see the choke chain, and proceded to walk in a perfect heel and be a sweety lol. Shadow however has a very very thick ruff, so on her the choker would do no more then tickle lol

[wolfsoul]

Timber has a prong collar. It's been a life-saver. It doesn't hurt her at all because she knows she's wearing it, and when she's wearing it she won't pull. She just pulls and chokes herself on a chocke chain -- same with a nylon collar. She pulls BIG-time with a halti until her nose is rubbed raw and her tongue is bleeding. She also knows how to get it off. If she were back living with me I could correctly train her to walk on the leash again, but my family that she's living with right now are not patient with training, so the prong collar has been a God-send.

[pnance]

I prefer the prong collar. I confess I originally thought they were cruel, but after having used just about every collar out there except a prong on Nikka to try to get her to stop pulling, I gave in and took her to a trainer. She recommended the prong and though I was a little iffy at first I have to confess it's worked great. She'd choke herself to the point of coughing on the choke, but the prong, one quick "pop" and she remembers not to pull. Both of us enjoy walks more.

[Thandi]

I think I'll try a prong collar for Mika (lab/boxer/rhodie). She will choke herself to death on the choke-chain, the martingdale is what she has on all day for comfort, and the halti has her rubbing her face on me and her paws more than enjoying a walk. The harnesses haven't worked either.

She heels beautifully UNTIL she sees another dog, then she goes beserk.

Our trainer didn't really like prong or choke, but also understood that Mika really wasn't responding to anything. I only got her when she was 4 and she had never had any kind of training. The trainer also allows us to go back for refresher courses without paying, and I'll be doing that in the summer.

[Feismom]

I use a gentle chocker at the moment. It's also called a show chocker. My dog doesn't yank on the leash anymore. He just walks by my side with a very loose give to the collar. He starts his final training this summer and the Service Dog School uses a Gentle Leader collar which is suppose to be really good on all dogs. So, we'll probably be switching to that this summer. Here is a website that gives you a little more info on the gentle leader collar http://www.gentleleader.com/pages.cfm?ID=29

I like the looks of the gentle leader and I'll let you know how Shadow likes it if we switch this summer. Shadow's bio can be found @ http://www.dogster.com/pet_page.php?j=t&i=142635



This is a picture of Shadow taken last month. He's wearing his gentle choker.

[lute]

i said prong collar. they seem more affective.

[aly]

I voted neither, they're horrible. I would say why, but people have gotten mad at me in the past for expressing my opinions on them so thats all I'll say. You can probably find our most recent 4 or 5 page thread from a few months back if you do a search.

[k9krazee]

I really haven't used any of these, I used the choke collar on Shadow but it didn't work very well for her so I got a Halti.

[tikeyas_mom]

I found the prong collar worked quite well with my great dane, and my sibe.

I dont like the choke-chains because they tend to get caught on them selves.. plus they rust really easily.