Collars and Leashes and Training! Oh My!

When training a dog there are many types of training collars and leashes that you can use. The fallowing is an outline of the pros and cons of each. Every dog is different and will need a different type of training collar to work to their highest potential.

Note: Never leave a dog in anything but a flat buckle collar or martingale collar while unattended!
The Flat Collar 
If you own a dog, you should own one of these... 

Use: Identification, Training pups under 6 months, Small or Shy dogs.

Pros: Will not injure your dog, Can put ID tags on it, great for shy dog and puppies when beginning training or as a benchmark to pick the appropriate type of training collar for your dog.

Cons: Dog can easily back out of this collar even if it is fitted correctly and there for should never be used in environments where an of leash dog could run or get into trouble. Only for use on well trained dogs.

The Metal Choke Collar  


Use : Showmanship, on gentle well trained dogs, police dogs

Pros: Dog can't slip out of this collar easily if fitted correctly.

Cons: Very dangerous, this collar can cause esophageal, tracheal, and nerve damage to your dogs body that could be irreversible. Even if you know how to use it correctly you can still injure your dog. Experienced dog trainers and showmanship exhibitors are the only ones who should ever use this collar.

The Metal Prong Collar "Pinch Collar"

                                                               Use: For Training, Correction of lunging, pulling,             sniffing, and strong dogs that are difficult to handle, for pups 6 months and older.

                                                    Pros: Created by a veterinarian as a safer alternative to the choke collar, it works by applying an even amount of pressure across the dogs neck with a slight mouthing feeling to the dog. It's more natural because it acts as the mother dog giving a small mouthing correction to her young, most dogs are familiar with this feeling and associate it with a behavioral correction. When used properly it gives a quick correction to the dog and then returns back to having no pressure on the dogs head what so ever. Besides the flat buckle and harness this is by far the safest training collar when used properly as it will not caused any nerve damage or esophageal damage.

Cons: Not everyone can use this collar as it takes a lot of patience to learn how to use. Dogs often make whining sounds when first introduced to it and can be a traumatic experience for the owner to watch. Not for people who like to keep tight tension on the leash. The prong collar should only be used on dogs 6 months or older as puppies like to have temper tantrums and could have a traumatic experience if they are fighting the collar. Not that great for breeds under 30lbs.

Note: This is my favorite collar to use however the general public seems to think it is a torture device. It's not, I have used it at least a few times on every guide dog puppy I have worked with and gotten very positive results. Eventually I was able to switch all of my dogs (except sage) to a flat martingale  collar. To keep from getting comments from the public on what a terribly abusive dog trainer I am I started putting a lightweight bandana over the prong collar. This seems to work very well and is also useful in summer if your worried about the metal heating up.

The Flat Martingale Collar

Use: For well trained dogs that don't need a lot of correction, a safer alternative to walking your dog on a flat buckle collar, great for training dogs that don't pull.

Pros: great to transition to after training your dog in a prong collar. Good for dogs with over sized or small heads, grey hounds and pit bulls for example. Prevents your dog from backing out of their collar.

Cons: dosen't work great on dogs that pull. You have to learn how to properly use it for corrections, constant pressure could damage your dogs neck. Can't put your dog on tie down with this collar on.
This is the same Collar I used on Nick from the time he was about 16 months until he returned to the school. If he had good days I would use this and if he was super high energy I would use a pinch collar. oh, and I love this design!



The Head Halter "Halti"

Use: for dogs that pull or have intense sniffing problems

Pros: an easy way to control a large dogs head. This collar was created to reenact the horse halter by putting pressure on the dogs face. Its very effective for dogs with sniffing and nose dragging issues. This is also a good collar to use on dogs that have focusing issues. 

Cons: puts constant pressure on the dogs head and can be dangerous if not used correctly. In reality horses are 10 times larger than dogs so using a halter is much more effective on them than it is on a dog. It is not effective for small dogs but can be a good option for some larger breeds.

The Harness
Use: Sled dogs, Agility, Service Dog training
 
Pros: great for people how put to much tension on their dogs leash but don't realize it. Harnesses are good for older well trained dogs that respond to verbal correction and don't need a collar to correct them. The gentle leader harness that hooks at the front of the dogs chest is very effective for puppy's that like to jump up. By double leading it with a flat head collar your easily in control of the dogs entire body. Very good for guide pups still trying to figure out what they are supposed to be doing. It's very difficult to do any type of damage to your dog with a harness on.

Cons: Harnesses aren't very effective at controlling larger dogs. They where originally designed for sled dogs to wear as they pulled a sled behind them. You can't use them to train a dog over 6 months or a large dog very well.

Leashes:
 Nylon leash: good for training puppies who like to eat the leash, they are cheap and easy to buy. They are not very comfortable to the hands and can burn blisters into your palms if the dog is pulling a lot. They are also good for double leading puppies.

Double leading: In this photo you can see that I have two leads on Nick. The black lead is connected to a gentle leader harness on the front of his chest (to keep him from lunging ahead of me). And the blue lead is connected to his head collar (to correct him of unwanted sniffing). You can use a double sided leather lead or two nylon leads to accomplish this technique. It's very effective on young puppies. I used it on Nick when he was going thru a terrible phase of teething, bad behavior and crazy little man hormones. I prefer using a leather lead for it however Nick would have figured out a way  to chomp thru it while I wasn't looking. You can also use the harness in conjunction with a prong or halti if your afraid of over correcting or hurting your dog. Different color leads work well to keep track of what goes to what as it can get confusing at first. 

Leather Double clip leash: I discovered these when I started puppy raising. These are the same leashes that our graduates use on their dogs. I'm in love with them as you can do about a thousand different things with them. You can make them longer or shorter, hook them over your sholder, around your waist, onto a belt loop, around a chair or desk, Around a tree (for camping), or as a double lead as mentioned above. Oh, and if you don't have your dog with you but your walking several dogs you can clip it over and across your shoulder and it won't fall off :)
There are many different types of leashes and training collars. I have just touched on a few that I have had experience with. It takes a lot of experimenting to figure out what works for you. Everyone is different and likes different things. Asking around to see what works for other people is often the best way to try new things on your dog to figure out what works for them and for you. My two favorites are the double lead harness-flat collar for puppies and the prong collar for older pups with a leather guide lead. That's what works the best for me but different things work for different people. You have to decide what works for you and it's okay to change your mind more than once.