Prong Collar

So ultimately(just clarifying for my own sake) ... Iris was fine with her martingale for the first week or two and now she just leans on it and still pulls to all bloody hell. I am thinking of going to a buckle, but she slips her head out of it and living in downtown Toronto on Yonge street.... slipping out of her collar could prove to be fatal.

What I try to do is whenever she is really pulling I stop and ask her to sit and then proceed... although I mean, stopping and sitting every 5 seconds, is rather inefficient... if thats what it takes I will do it though...

what are you training methods for that?

(sorry if thers a thread already on this)
 
yea I'm having the same problem with Bailey. She's only 5 months old, so I'm hoping she'll grow out of it. She just lovesss to walk and she gets so excited. She pulls a little when I first take her out. After about 5 minutes, she'll stop pulling, but she always walks about 1-2 feet in front of me. Also, when she sees another dog, she'll pull and bark and whine to go play with the dog. I really want her to take the CGC test when she's one years old. I tried stopping and making her sit, but it didn't work. I definitely would never use a prong collar to solve this. I wouldn't use anything that would inflict her pain. Even if it's a for a second.
 
take4roll10 said:
yea I'm having the same problem with Bailey. She's only 5 months old, so I'm hoping she'll grow out of it. She just lovesss to walk and she gets so excited. She pulls a little when I first take her out. After about 5 minutes, she'll stop pulling, but she always walks about 1-2 feet in front of me. Also, when she sees another dog, she'll pull and bark and whine to go play with the dog. I really want her to take the CGC test when she's one years old. I tried stopping and making her sit, but it didn't work. I definitely would never use a prong collar to solve this. I wouldn't use anything that would inflict her pain. Even if it's a for a second.
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Iris used to just pull a bit too at first due to high level excitement (as if shed never seen the outdoors before)
The older/bigger she got the stronger she got and the more excited she would get... now she leans on her martingale... unless we have been walking for 20 minutes or more then she just chills out
 
IrisLove said:
Iris used to just pull a bit too at first due to high level excitement (as if shed never seen the outdoors before)
The older/bigger she got the stronger she got and the more excited she would get... now she leans on her martingale... unless we have been walking for 20 minutes or more then she just chills out
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ahhh don't tell me that. I was hoping Bailey would get less excited as she got older.
 
she very well may !! Im just sharing my experience after having thought the same thing !:) Although again some days are better than others, this morning I swear she thought she was a siberian husky pulling a sled! hahah ...
 
IrisLove said:
So ultimately(just clarifying for my own sake) ... Iris was fine with her martingale for the first week or two and now she just leans on it and still pulls to all bloody hell. I am thinking of going to a buckle, but she slips her head out of it and living in downtown Toronto on Yonge street.... slipping out of her collar could prove to be fatal.

What I try to do is whenever she is really pulling I stop and ask her to sit and then proceed... although I mean, stopping and sitting every 5 seconds, is rather inefficient... if thats what it takes I will do it though...

what are you training methods for that?

(sorry if thers a thread already on this)
Click to expand...

The martingale is not intended to be like a choke (i.e. for pulling dogs). The main advantage of the martingale is that it stays loose when not attached to a leash, but when you have hold of the chain portion, it tightens just enough that the pup can't slip his collar. With buckles on a Sheltie, we invariably keep them too loose so that it doesn't rub/matt their fur - and hence it's easy for them to slip out.

Prong collar on a Sheltie! Never! Perhaps as a last resort for other, short-haired, large dogs that were incorrigible and would pull your arm off. I would focus on training first.

As for training, there are scores of techniques which would be thread of its own. For me, its as simple as either a gentle tug back to and a "look" at me command to remind the dog where he's supposed to be. Or its a complete stop until dog settles back down. Then "Let's Go"

Toffee's Mom - you mentioned early on in the thread that you're changing your mind about martingales. How come?
 
take4roll10 said:
yea I'm having the same problem with Bailey. She's only 5 months old, so I'm hoping she'll grow out of it. She just lovesss to walk and she gets so excited. She pulls a little when I first take her out. After about 5 minutes, she'll stop pulling, but she always walks about 1-2 feet in front of me. Also, when she sees another dog, she'll pull and bark and whine to go play with the dog. I really want her to take the CGC test when she's one years old. I tried stopping and making her sit, but it didn't work.
Click to expand...

One technique to try is to turn around as soon as she gets excited/starts to pull. That way, she can't see whatever is getting her worked up and it's not rewarding the pulling by letting her go wherever she wants to go. She only gets to go where you want her to go. so when she is calmer, you can go whichever direction you want. I've seen this method on several shows including It's Me or the Dog (Victoria Stillwell).
 
BarbV said:
The martingale is not intended to be like a choke (i.e. for pulling dogs). The main advantage of the martingale is that it stays loose when not attached to a leash, but when you have hold of the chain portion, it tightens just enough that the pup can't slip his collar. With buckles on a Sheltie, we invariably keep them too loose so that it doesn't rub/matt their fur - and hence it's easy for them to slip out.
.....

Toffee's Mom - you mentioned early on in the thread that you're changing your mind about martingales. How come?
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Because I see it being used as a choke collar... but I also kinda did NOT realize until you just clarified what it IS supposed to be used for, lol :sleepy::rolleyes2:

But looking at that now... you are right, it probably works great on Shelties!! ... aka Toffee wouldn't slip his collar and leash next time a crazy Pit bull attacks him in the parking lot, lol
 
For every dog that pulls, there is an owner that pulls back. It called opposition reflex. The direction the force is applied, the automatic reaction of the dog is to go in the opposite direction. So know matter what collar you use if the force is applied continously the dog will and can learn to pull against it.

Head collars are designed to reverse the force applied to the dog so the automatic reaction is to move backward. The reward is to stop the pressure when the dog is in the proper position. ie negative reinforcement. Head collars are not non force tools. They can cause injury too if the dog is determine to fight them. Prong collars the dog work to avoid pressure when they move backwards the pressure is removed. Also negative reinforcement. Chain collars are popped. Dogs learn to avoid the pop. Which is why I hate them as most of John Q. Public don't have the timing to use them.

The best way to teach heeling is to not let the dog ever learn to pull. Use treats and lure the dog into position, reverse directions etc there are lots of techniques. I like the Choose to Heel method. The leash is to keep the dog safe nothing more. However, once a dog learns to pull and that pulling gets them what they want. That is when other techniques unfortunately need to be brought in for a lot of dogs atleast for a short time.
 
yea I'm having the same problem with Bailey. She's only 5 months old, so I'm hoping she'll grow out of it. She just lovesss to walk and she gets so excited. She pulls a little when I first take her out. After about 5 minutes, she'll stop pulling, but she always walks about 1-2 feet in front of me. Also, when she sees another dog, she'll pull and bark and whine to go play with the dog. I really want her to take the CGC test when she's one years old. I tried stopping and making her sit, but it didn't work. I definitely would never use a prong collar to solve this. I wouldn't use anything that would inflict her pain. Even if it's a for a second.
Click to expand...

I was kind of skeptical of the stop-and-sit thing too, but it did work for us after some consistency and patience. I started using it in a low distraction environment--like inside the condo. Then we started using it toward the end of walks (Buffy's usually more focused toward the end of walks, I don't know about Bailey) or in quieter places we walk in.

The command I use is "let's go" to go, go like one or two steps, and then "sit" to stop. Treats if she does either one well--especially "sit" in your case. You do need to learn how to have her sit while you're standing up. We use a hand signal. Doing this does keep Buffy more focused on me and really does help her heel better. It doesn't always work right away, but she'll catch on given some time.

Another thing you can do is teach her the "touch" command and use it on walks to guide her back to your side.
 
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