what type of collars should be used

J

Janice

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Hi...We will be starting Shelly in some type of Pet Obedience Classes as soon as she is old enough. She only 9 weeks now and had her first set of shots so far. I have been told that she needs 2 sets of shots to start in any classes. So in a few weeks after she has had another set of shots she will be starting somewhere. We have been looking into a few training schools in my area and the one I really wanted to to start her in informed me I had to purchase a Pinch Prong Training collar for Shelly. (Now flashing lights are going off in my head. Remember my 9 year old son is going to be training her in the classes.) I told them that they looked horrible and looked like they would cause alot of pain. They asured me everyone uses them and they were not painful collars they just looked that way. They told us they were alot better than a choker chain collar. Has anyone else gone to pet obedience or puppy classes and what type of collar did you use? Any help would be nice. Thanks
 
My dogs were adults when I got them so no puppy classes for us :no:. They have been to manners classes (kind of basic obedience) and Callie went to another obedience class so we could learn some rally obedience :winkgrin:. We used just regular collars in all the classes. I did get Callie the rolled leather collar since I have read in several places that it is better for long-haired dogs than flat collars- doesn't damage the fur. My previous dog that I did get as a puppy in the early 90's had a training class with choke collars. Positive training wasn't as widespread then as it is now and I would personally look for a class that didn't use any kind of punishment for puppies. You could look on the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers) website (http://www.apdt.com/default.aspx) to see if there are any instructors near you. :yes:
 
I would never take a puppy in any class or to any trainer that requires a choke or pinch prong collar! Our puppy classes were all performed in regular collars or just rolled leather collars. Don't believe any trainer who tells you the other types don't hurt the puppy. Most training classes for pups as young as yours should be more socialization and fun than training. Around here they're called "puppy kindergarten." You don't start real obedience until six months of age. If you have any doubts I'd advise going to watch some of the classes with the trainer you'd be using before you enroll.
 
Collars

Janice--I dont know where in Mass. you are located but there are some great places in Mass. to train. Canine Mastery and Steppin UP with Terri Arnold to name a few. I know they would never allow chokes or pinch collars.
 
Calliesmom thank you so much for that website. I am hoping that by christmas I will have a new furkid and if so I was planning on look at puppy kindergarten and obedience training classes and I had no idea where to begin such a search especially for me who I have never been to one of those classes before. That site was a life saver, I definately know for next time. Thank you.
 
The prong collar can harm the dog if the handler doesn't know how to use it right. I don't know why they would require that. But then, I heard of an Agility class that taught that to teach dogs to do an Agility course they had to drag them over/through it with a prong collar.:dead: So I guess that anything's possible.
I highly recommend the book "The Dog Whisperer: A Compassionatte, Nonviolent Approach to Dog Training" by Paul Owens.
It's not the guy on TV, this book was written before Cesar Milligan was on TV.
 
I would stay away from any training centre that recommends using prong collars on small puppies. That is completely unnecessary!

While I think that negative reinforcement some times has its place (although I don't think I believe in prong collars at all, specifically at a training centre. And I also don't mean hitting) I also think that it should only be used as a last resource, posative training is always the way to go first and ALWAYS with puppies. I know when I was a child I responded better to gentle words and encouragement than to force of any kind.

When Sadie was a pup I got her a no-pull harness for her initial training. It helped me teach her early on not to pull while still being comfortable for her. When she was older (around 4-5 months) I bought her a martingale type collar instead. This collar is mainly flat but has a chain at the back that allows it to tighten like a choke chain type collar. The nice thing about this collar is that it can be adjusted to tighten without choking the dog. This collar is great if you have a dog that pulls out of its collar like Sadie does occasionally. I have the collar adjusted so that it doesn't tighten enough to choke her but she also can't pull her head out when she occasionally startles and pulls backwards.

Find another training facility, even training at a store like Petsmart would be better since as far as I know all of their locations use positive reinforement.
 
I train my puppies in no-slip collars (greyhound collars.) My adult dogs all have choke chains. Show size (tiny links, tiny rings.)
 
i always use a half choker on my dogs as they cant slip out of them,but being half collar it cant choke them,i find they slip out of anything else.pat x:yes:
 
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