I have written many different blogs, articles and posts about prong collars. Well, here is another one; when I see it, I have to talk about it…again.
The other day as Elsa, Riggs and I were finishing up our long leash walk at the park; we walked by a beautiful little German Shorthaired Pointer just starting his. Of course I read the dog closely as I always do; he looked amped to be on a walk but as we passed by him and his person I noticed the collar and then the tail. His short tail was tucked hard under his body and the collar around his neck was a prong collar. Sadly I am seeing these collars more and more and I hate where many guardians are turning for help.
As we walked by them I realized that the dog had this bundled energy inside but was spinning and turning in a frantic manner. I kept moving, albeit slowly as I was and unraveled what was going on. It was the collar, the dog knew that expelling his energy in a big way meant pain. So he did tight spinning movements with his eyes flashing and high pitched whining. My heart sunk for this dog; especially because Elsa and Riggs were comfortable with their body harnesses on attached to 10 foot leashes (reeled in when needed.")
People wanting dog related help are turning to the uneducated for help; the guy next door, a supposed pro trainer, your average Joe on Facebook. I shudder when I read many comments online from people trying to help but their expertise is often here say, unresearched, average Joe experience. “My dog pulls really hard, help” is often the line thrown out for all to have a bite. “Use a pinch/prong collar, it’s like power steering” they explain. So the draggy orders the collar and off they go.
My question here is:
If it doesn’t hurt your dog, how does it work?
This is not a rhetorical question, it is an actual question from me to you. If it does not actually inflict pain, then how does it stop a dog from pulling (if it does?)
This blog is about prong collars, not choke, slip or any other aversive type collar, the prong, pinch or anything else you want to call it. I am seeing them more and more as our society turns to “quick fixes” for pretty much everything. Well, I am here to tell you that fixing takes a long time. Changing behaviors takes time; it takes a really long time for us and our dogs. And slapping a pain inflicting collar on doesn’t fix anything, it simply stops the problem by inflicting pain. But what most people don’t know, is that you are now adding more problems into the mix.
So what happens when we inflict the pain of a prong collar to our dog?
First, a prong is inflicting pain, that should really be enough not to use them right?
Second, typically the pain comes with pulling; so that means whatever is around when the dog gets hit with the pinch, creates a negative association.
Third, aggression fuels aggression. So if you have a dog with even the slightest big of aggression while out on their prong collar, it can get much worse.
Fourth, the negative association could be YOU.
Fifth, pain inflicted to your dog could cause redirected aggression.
Sixth, prong collars don’t teach your dog anything. When they pull they receive pain, that’s it.
Think about this, you are putting a chain with spikes on the inside around your dogs neck and calling it good. Hmmmmmmmmm…
I am not judging anyone, what I am doing is trying to spread the word. We humans often don’t think about what we are doing; especially if we’ve been doing it a long time. Or it is something that’s been around for a really long time, we just jump in before checking the waters. Research, research, research and consider your dog first.
I often see people out walking their dog on a prong and extension leash (hate these), yikes. Just imagine the pain when the dog hits the end of the leash. It is also inflicting constant pain with the continual pressure from the leash.
There is a person I see weekly with a gorgeous but out of control dog. The dog is obviously a high energy, working type breed. The person takes her dog to the same place at the same time each and every day and does the same thing. This in itself is a driving force for the chaos that ensues. She walks the dog on a 12” reigned in leash on a prong. When he gets a bit crazy she corrects (yanks on his leash) and the dogs spins with vocals. It is a horrible scene to watch…like I said, people just don’t know.
We humans need to teach our dogs to not pull. Sadly some of the big boofy type dogs just get use to the constant pain. This can cause a huge amount of damage from our dogs lack of response to the pinch. “Look he doesn’t even care” says one guy as he yanks harder and harder.
There are a lot of things that you can do and use to help your dog to understand the idea of lose leash walking. There is no quick fix, it takes work but it is well worth it.
This is your dog, do you really want to put a chain with spikes on it and take them for a walk?