faerie

currently i use a prong on temperance when we go out walking in public. she walks well, doesn't pull and doesn't even need to be corrected. it just reminds her.

on regular collar she pulls pretty bad.

someone recommended a gentle leader over the prong. what is your feelings on them v the prong? i happen to like the prong and how it works for temperance.

would the gentle leader interfere w/ obedience training to have a dog being corrected by something over it's face?

i'm taking her back to obedience training in a few weeks (She took puppy classes) and i hope this will help us fine tune the training so we can move off prong onto regular collar when walking.

plus get better at stay etc.

thanks.

CharismaticMillie

My trainer said that a prong collar works better of you want your dog to permanently learn not to pull. The correction from the prong collar teaches the dog not to pull. He also said that head halters (gentle leaders) work well while they are on, but many dogs will still pull when off the head halter.

Finally, he said that a prong collar needs to be used for months even after the dog has been mostly trained in order for the habit of walking nicely to be firmly established.

I know there are many different opinions about this. Just expressing one that I have heard.

whitepoodles

I would never use a prong collar on a poodle. A gentle leader will give you great results and is much more humane.

CelticKitti

I don't use prongs, so I can't compare. I used a head halter on Mia. I was successfully able to wean away the head halter by clipping it to her collar for a bit and then removing it totally. I won't lie I do still use it when I am expecting lots of distractions, but we haven't gotten that far in her training yet. Mainly I don't want her to fail and start pulling again. It was the best thing ever when I started using it. It was almost an immediate off switch.

If you do decide to switch, Temperance will need to get used to it. Mia fought it for a bit but with lots of treats when I got the head halter out/put it on she learned to tolerate it. You don't want to give leash corrections with the head halter on. It causes a self correction by pulling their head down if they pull. A harsh leash snap may hurt her.

Mia has learned almost everything with her head halter on as a puppy. So I don't think you'll have a problem with obedience training.

AgilityIG

I won't use a prong or choke collar on my guys. I use a gentle leader, an easy walk harness or a plain buckle collar - depending on the dog/situation.

Ideally, the best way to teach your dog not to pull is to stop all forward motion the minute the leash becomes tight. Don't say/do anything - just wait for the dog to make slack in the leash, praise and move forward. It does take longer, but the dog learns that a loose leash allows forward movement. It takes a lot of patience and practice (something I don't have, so three of my four dogs are leash trained VERY well - guess who's not!!!) LOL

Fluffyspoos

I love my prong collars, I just don't like hair getting caught in it. Vegas will do great on any collar now that I've made heel such a strong word in his life, but when I'm walking him with Vienna (who's.. not so good on the leash) he thinks he needs to go in front of her.. but if I have both on prongs they heel great on either side of me.

aprhj

I have and use both on Poppy. I really like the prong when we are going out or for a walk. She does pull some without it, but not like some dogs I know of. The reason I have the gentle leader is that a prong is not acceptable to use when she will be on her therapy visits, been assessed and pass and will start visits in late Sept, so I had to get the gentle leader. She does not like the gl, but is getting better on it each time. I would not have got the gl but the prong may scratch skin and in assisted living visits we can't risk a cut to the patient's skin. On the prong she behaves perfectly, rarely a correction and just a wiggle then. On the gl, well lets say we walk in circles a lot and she hears "come around" my command to get her into a heel position a bunch. Getting better, but not there yet, although I think she will be fine on our visits with the gl I will still use the prong some also.

cbrand

Love the prong. I have trained through UD using one. I find that using the prong you can teach a dog self carriage and eventually they can be moved to a regular buckle collar. I find that dogs that are trained with a halti never seem to transition out of them.

grab

I haven't had to use either on my dogs. But, if needed, I would prefer a prong over a gentle leader.

Feralpudel

Be very very careful with a head halter. I have heard of them causing serious neck injuries. For all their medeival appearance, I think prongs are the most humane and safest collar to use on a dog that pulls. Because of the way they work, they actually put *less* pressure on the trachea than a flat buckle collar. And the dog is essentially in control of the correction--no pull=no correction. I have never used a halti with Dexter, but my first poo *hated* it and never completely got used to it.