Don't Let A Training Dog Collar Torture Your Dog | Pets and Animals

By SteveWagstaffe
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Without training dogs go, well, to the dogs! If you own a dog in a family environment, then you need to ensure that the dog understands its boundaries and knows the consequences should it overstep them. Training collars are one tool to help train a dog, but there are several varieties. This article will hopefully explain some of them.

The prong collar looks like a medieval torture device, but is actually one of the gentler training collars being investigated here. When the leash is pulled, the prongs start to pinch the back of the dog's neck. The thinking behind this is to replicate the memory of the dog's mother's teeth nipping the scruff of the puppy's neck. The collar is quite safe to use, the only real problem occurring if the fit is poor. If your dog is one that pulls strongly at the leash though, the prong collar might not be suitable.

Prong collars can be quite easily adjusted by adding or removing some prongs until you get the fit right. A rough guide to fitting is if you can fit a finger between the collar and the neck of the dog. Any looser than that and the collar will not be effective.

The Halti and Gentle Leader dog training collars look like horse harnesses. The method of control is certainly different to the prong collar in that the design is meant to control general movement and stop distraction. The plan is that if you can control the head, the body will follow it. The device works by closing the dog's mouth when the leash is pulled. This type of training collar is particularly suitable for animals that bite or lunge towards people or other dogs. In other words, the Halti or Gentle Leader is good for aggressive or unruly dogs.

Head control in this way does present the trainer with some difficulties. Most dogs will not take kindly to have any sort of restriction placed over their face and nose, so the dog might take a while to get used to collar. Also, by pulling on the head, it is possible to injure the dog's neck or back, so you need to take care when using a head collar.

Choke collars can be very effective in controlling a dog. Sadly, in the wrong hands, choke collars can be exceedingly cruel and can hurt dogs. Control lies within the trainer themselves. If you genuinely think that a choke collar will do what you want, but you are not sure how to use one properly, seek expert guidance.

Choke collars must be fitted correctly in order to be effective. When the leash is pulled, the collar will tighten around the dog's neck. When the leash is relaxed, so is the collar. At least that is what should happen. If the collar doesn't fit correctly, it might not loosen with the leash. This could obviously restrict the dog's airways and cause it to suffer.

An electronic dog collar has the propensity for harm. Whether it is used to abuse dogs though rests entirely with the people that use them. Used correctly, electronic dog collars are a very humane way of training a dog. In inexperienced or malevolent hands though, they can hurt dogs.

The electronic dog collars work by allowing trainers to give dogs small electric shocks via a remote control to control the behaviour of the dog. How much of a shock the dog gets is entirely in the hands of the trainer, so in good hands, the electronic dog trainer can be very flexible and very effective. As a rule of thumb, the shock that is applied should be just enough to make the dog's ears twitch, but obviously the amount of electricity involved will depend on the size of the dog. In any case however, if the dog cries out when the electricity is applied, then the setting is too high. Once again, this type of collar is only really suitable for experienced trainers.

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