A quick aside, I started writing this post a few days ago on my way to South Lake Tahoe and since then, I have seen a couple posts from people I follow on Instagram and Facebook talking about prong collars. Interesting how thats such a popular topic all the sudden. Lol they attracted some hate for sure. A lot of people claiming animal abuse. William Koehler in his book, explains that true animal abuse is having a dog you can’t control and consequently having to take it to the animal shelter where it can’t find a home and must be euthanized. He asks if its more humane to train a dog so they don’t have to be put down. I agree.
So below follows my original writing before I saw everyone posting about prong collars.
“Oh I would never use that on my dog” “It looks so mean!” “How can you use that on her?” “You are a horrible dog owner for using that collar.”
Umm actually, its far better than the choke chain you are using that is slowly breaking down your dogs throat muscles, or cutting off their airway. And it is far more effective than the flat collar that you are using that is getting you dragged by your 70lb dog.
The prong collar is not barbaric as everyone claims. It mimics the nip a mom would give her pups when they misbehaved. “Hey squirt, don’t do that again” Nip! and now the dog gets reinforcement that they shouldn’t engage in that behavior unless they would like another nip.
When using the prong collar, the nip is actually called a correction. The correction can be tailored to any situation. A minor infraction requires a minor correction. Bolting aggressively after something requires a more forceful correction.
I highly recommend the Herm Sprenger Prong Collar. Large will work for most dogs. You adjust the size by adding or removing links to get the proper fit. When Scout was just a couple months old, she wore a prong collar with a total of 4 links.
Scout chilling on a ladder with her prong collar
I will do a future article on fitting the prong collar.
When used properly, the prong collar and lead form the bond between canine and handler. The dog is able to have instant feedback from the handler. Its been said that the dog can feel the mood and emotions of the handler at the end of the lead and conversely, the handler learns their dog.