Attitude Adjustment
They had 2 sizes left; about 3/4" wide links and 1 1/4" wide links. The owner recommended the smaller one. The link got so tangled in his hair it took 5 minutes to take it off him. The owner said the other was too large for him but agreed a larger one may not tangle in his hair so bad. Dexter had an immediate attitude change when we put on the pinch collar. No pulling, very good heel, pranced, stopped on a dime and sat immediately. He was the star of the first night (at least as far as we were concerned, not that we are prejudiced or anything). We will definitely get the right size tomorrow, but what size is that? We also need recommendations for a training backpack. We have seen so many and can't decide how to determine the merit or value of any of them. He will only use it on walks, not to actually be a beast of burden. Please help with 2 issues - what size pinch collar and what is a good value (and size) backpack? Thanks |
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| You want to go with the smallest, lightest weight pinch that you can. We have a local person that makes these amazing microprongs that are just enough to get through a coated dog and do not tangle in the coat. Definitely don't get that huge one - no dog should wear it. They all fit any dog just by adding links. Did you try other collars? Isn't your pup young? Sorry - can't remember his exact age. While I appreciate the collars, they usually aren't needed on the really young dogs. (Usually - and I've never met your pup). Just make sure the collar isn't training the dog - that YOU are. In other words, make sure you give the command that you want, and the collar is used only when he doesn't respond. Don't let the collar do the talking...otherwise you are not training, the collar is. And then you have a dog who only "listens" with that collar on - a sad thing...  |
| Dexter was 6-months old last Saturday. He normally walks on a slack leash very well but gets over-enthusiastic when he sees other dogs or people and jumps/strains on the leash so hard he chokes. We're hoping we can work through that in Obedience and a pinch collar seems to provide an edge to the training. We know animal and people socialization will improve it and we are working on it but in the meantime he becomes a hand full (arm full?). Very good advice about us doing the training and not the collar. We plan to do our daily, at home training without the collar, using it only for some of his walks and during class. He seemed to realize what the collar was tonight and behaved perfectly as soon as we put it on. We are concerned how tangled the small collar we used tonight got and thought a larger collar (not the monster collar) may not tangle as much. It got so bad tonight we may have to cut that size off after a long walk. |
| We have always used Nylon slip leads for training and LOTS of treats!!!!!!! We did try a pinch collar on Quin and we had no luck at all with that What we had to do on walks was 1: Put him in a sit/stay as the other dog passed(it will come in time your baby is young) 2: Head the other direction....when he pulled I would go the other way!! Then he got nowhere fast! BTW...It does make ya dizzy  I am certainly not saying this works for all dogs but, just a thought  |
| We use a Lupine Martingale style (called a combo collar) at our school and Dahlia is 6 months old. Our school does not recommend the collar that you are mentioning. Ironically, this combo collar is the same collar type that my old school recommended 15 years ago for our other sheepdog that was in training so I was familar with the design. It is designed to prevent a dog from ‘backing out’ of its collar, the Combo has a limited slip choker action. Features a sewn-in D-ring so it can be used as a flat collar as well. http://www.lupine.com You can find lupine dealers at most speciality pet stores (not the big box stores) They are also guaranteed for life.... even if your dog chews it to bits! Dahlia will be 6 months old on Friday. She is 56 lbs already and she is very powerful. We are being trained on how to work with her from pulling and she is doing great. The collar helps to some degree, but, it is mostly how we are being trained to walk her. It requires a lot of treats or peanut butter on a big spoon to keep her engaged on our left side. We also have to redirect our walking a lot by changing directions. Good luck! I know what it is like to be pulled around by a sheepie! |
For an avid puller like you describe I'd stick with the prong. It does the least harm. Some times all you need is a little power steering/brakes to buy yourself the time you need to break the behavior long enough to be able to work with him to the point where he understands attention is supposed to be on you, not on all the fun new dogs and people he'd like to meet.  Like Dawn said the smaller prongs are generally fine if well-fitted. That's something you need someone hands on to help you with. Perhaps his instructor? If she's recommending one she must know how to fit them correctly. Because links can be removed, as long as the collar you buy is big enough it can always be made to fit simply by removing links. To avoid tangling you can easily make a soft cloth cover to slip the collar through. That way the dog can still feel the collar tighten if he behaves like an idiot, but the prongs don't have direct contact with the hair so won't get tangled up in them. Once you have his attention you can usually wean him off the prong collar pretty quickly. Kristine |
| I agree with the small prong pinch collar. My trainer says that the more pinch per inch is the best way. Those big pinch collars are no better than the small prong for getting caught in the coat. I usually only have one link that will catch in his coat when I'm taking off the collar. I had to start using the pinch collar with Teddy at a little over 3 months old because he just wouldn't stop pulling and choking himself. I started out with the transition collar and then that was no use. Yes, the pinch collar is a miracle training aide. He's almost 6 months old now and doing well with his training. I don't always have to use the pinch collar now unless of course he's getting really excited about another dog. He believes all dogs on this earth want to play with him....lol Make your training fun with lots of treats. It takes time and work but it's so worth it to have a well behaved dog and the training might also save his life someday if he gets loose.  Cindy |
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