Following up on my last blog…WE GOT OUR LUGGAGE BACK! I’m actually shocked; I truly did not think after it went missing on October 5th, we would not be seeing it again. We have no idea if it ever left San Diego or it was lost in the shuffle but we have it back and I am VERY thankful for that.
Now, I had wanted to talk about what I noticed when I was power shopping in Niagara-on-the-lake. Prong collars, they were everywhere and I have to say that I am saddened by this. I have written many blogs on the subject and this will not be the last.
So many dogs were wearing prong collars. While we were there, running from store to store to buy the bare necessities and clothes for a wedding, I couldn’t help by notice the collars. From the biggest brutes to the tiniest fluffy dogs, all with prong collars on. Why?
Is it something that people are seeing on social media? Are there more and more prong type trainers popping up? Are pet stores pushing these as the “thing” that people need for their dogs? I don’t get it. I truly don’t. I think I truly only saw one dog, a tiny little shivering Chihuahua that wore a harness.
As we stood in line to purchase our replacement clothing; a tiny fluffy doodle got our attention. She was adorable, BUT, she was wearing a prong collar. So when my husband asked to pet her she jumped up as the prong pulled at her neck. The whole thing made me recoil and I stepped back so that I would not be involved. I did not want to be the cause of her sore neck. It’s just sad.
There were most definitely doodles of all sizes there; and the runner up was Border Collies. Where the mall is situated is quite rural so therein lies the Border Collie thing. But no matter what they were, they all wore prong collars.
You see, I hate prong collars and this is why. They pinch; they inflict pain, that is how they work. So many people say “they don’t hurt the dog if used correctly.” The correct use of a prong collar is to inflict pain in the dog so that they stop. Sadly this often does not work, and the dog continues to pull. Not only do they inflict pain, but they creat a negative association.
I will NEVER, EVER stop and visit a dog wearing a prong collar.
Okay, just imagine. You have a prong collar around your neck and every time someone walks by and you want to visit with them. But everytime you pull to go visit you are receive pain from the collar around your neck. Soon you associate those people with the pain; then interest turns to reactivity and things just go south from here.
It is not hard to conjure up the logic behind it all. When people say that prong collars don’t hurt I always ask “then how do they work?” They are literally left speechless as they ponder the question posed to them. There is a reason, like choke collars, for their name. The pinch/prong collar does just that, pinches.
Just when you think that things are slowly changing for the better of our dogs; something like our visit happens to prove that things are still bad for our dogs. Prong collars are not kind, humane or ethical. Dogs require an education. Education takes time; look how long we are in school just to get through the High School stage. That isn’t even all of it if you want to go to University or further. Nothing happens overnight.
We owe it to our dogs to stop throwing painful apparatuses around their necks as a convenience to us. It’s 2023 and quickly closing in on 2024. It is time to start changing the way we see the equipment we use to attach a leash to our dogs. No more:
choke collars
prong/pinch collars
slip leads
e-collars
If a trainer or person tells you that you need these pieces of equipment to train your dog, they are not being honest. They only know how to train using these. There are many types of prong collars so don’t be deceived by a collar with prongs, spikes or points of different color or look. They all work in the same manner. Even the ones with rubber tips on the prongs pinch; in fact they probably pinch the skin even worse.
Collars that cause pain can cause huge issues when dealing with aggression. I have seen dogs redirect aggression onto their owner because of a prong collar. It is scary when this happens and ones it happens it can be very difficult to modify.
Pain is never and answer to train. If a trainer tells you that they don’t hurt your dog, they are lying. That is how they work.