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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on Dog Training Collars/Harnesses
With so much information out there on dog training equipment, it is hard to know what is safe to use. Here is a break down on what is safe and what can harm your dog.
Thank you to Dr. Sofia Yin for some of this information!
FLAT COLLARS - these provide an easy way to attach ID tags but can be potentially dangerous in some situations.
Dogs playing and mouthing can get their mouths caught in the collar of another dog, causing panic in both dogs.
This can result in the collar tightening and dogs have suffocated and broken their jaws due to this type of play.
Dogs should either wear a break-away collar during play and unsupervised times or no collar at all. If you
attend a class with us, and we have free play time, all dogs must be naked and your instructor will ask you to remove
all training devices from your dog.
As well, a dog that pulls can worsen the clinical signs or disease progression if they have glaucoma,
thin corneas, or other eye conditions where the pressure in the eye is the issue. Also, dogs with sensitive
tracheas may find that even the slightest bit of pressure causes them to hack.
CHOKE CHAINS - Beware, especially with dogs with short noses, bulging eyes and small tracheas or tracheas prone to collapse.
The traditional way these chains were used by professional trainers was to give a sharp jerk - strong
enough to make the dog stop what it was doing. Unfortunately, most people use them ineffectively because they are not that easy
to use and there are some secrets that the old school professionals used to make them more effective and the correction stronger.
As well, a choke chain must be fit and on properly, as it does not loosen after a correction if not fit properly, therefore it "chokes" the dog.
We do not allow these collars in our classes as we focus on rewarding the dog's good behavior and removing rewards for unwanted behaviors. There are also some medical reasons
for not using these as well. Strong yanking on a dog's neck can cause health issues. If the force from a dog pulling on a flat collar can raise
pressure in the eyes, imagine how high that pressure must be when you actually yank the dog with a thin chain! Even if your dog has no issues, the choke chain is notorious for
exacerbating airway issues. It can worsen coughing in dogs prone to collapsing trachea, and affect the ability of dogs with small tracheas (Pugs, Bulldogs, etc.) to breath.
Dogs may also develop neurological damage when the corrections are strong enough. The damage, called Horner's Syndrome, can result in changes to the pupil in the eye
and nerve-induced lameness in the front legs. Lastly, even if you used a choke chain in a perfectly acceptable manner, if left on a dog they can get caught on all sorts of things and
it can tighten to the point where they strangle a panicked dog.
MARTINGALE - These are like flat collars but they tighten when the dog pulls. These are not used to give a correction, but are used because they are less likely to slip over a dog's head
when adjusted properly. These collars should be adjusted so that even at their tightest they cannot accidentally strangle a dog. We recommend these if your dog's neck and head are close to the same size.
Dogs like Greyhounds, Whippets and Miniature Pinschers to name a few.
PINCH OR PRONG COLLAR - This collar is almost as old as the choke chain in terms of dog training correction tools. This product looks like a torture device, but
truth be told, it may actually be safer in some respect than the choke chain.
The pointy parts are spaced out so that the force is spread across all of them. Overall, these collars produce less pressure on the neck when jerked compared to choke chains.
Although, they may cause less pressure on the neck, they do still increase pressure and can lead to all the same issues as a choke chain.
Even when the owner doesn't use the pinch collar to give corrections, there are still some very important downfalls that owners need to be aware of. The biggest one is that if the dog is
fearful, say of another dog, and it simultaneously feels the pain of the pinch collar, the dog may learn to associate the pain with the dog it fears and become more fearful of dogs, to the point
of fear aggression.
We do not allow these in the classroom and I have NEVER recommended one.
HEAD HALTERS - I find that dogs have a long adjustment period to having something over their nose.
With a head halter, the body does go where the head is pointed and you have better control of the head. Unfortunately,
these can cause injury to soft tissue, the neck and the spine and they do not work well with short-nosed breeds. As well, the nose strap can ride up around a dog's
eyes causing discomfort.
HARNESSES - Vets will routinely recommend that dogs with short noses, bulging eyes or ones that have collapsing or sensitive trachea, wear harnesses. It is very important to choose the right one.
I avoid harnesses that hook on the back unless I want to train my dog to pull. These harnesses actually help train your dog
to ignore you and pull you because when you pull on the leash, the dog's attention is not directed to you. So, I recommend a front-attaching harness. Unfortunately, there are several types.
We recommend the SENSE-ation or SENSE-ible harness and sell and fit these in our faciliy.
SENSE-ation and SENSE-ible Harness - these are the best no pull harnesses in my opinion. The pricing is wonderful as well. This harness is designed to be used with or without a regular flat collar.
This offers the following benefits: it prevents the leash from pulling the back and girth straps against your dog's front legs, it offers safety for unexpected behaviors, prevents too much load on
the chest strap, prevents chewing the chest strap while walking and keeps the chest strap up. These harnesses do not include restrictive devices, so they do not choke, punch, constrict or hobble. The
snap buckle positioned away from your dog's shoulder prevents chafing and irritation. As well, the chest strap does not restrict his front legs, does not tighten across the chest and shoulders and
allows your dog full range of motion.
PREMIER PET EASY WALK HARNESS - with this harness, when the dog pulls, it redirects the dog's attention back to you. However, for many dogs, this harness can alter their gait and tends to hinder shoulder movement. This is not good
for any dog, especially if you plan to play sports.
WALK-IN SYNC - This is a more recent harness. It has a strap that attaches between the front legs and over the back. As a result, it does allow for unhindered movement of the shoulders.
Unfortunately, when you try to guide the dog in a new direction, the harness tends to guide from the strap that goes around the dog's neck rather than evenly across the harness.
FREEDOM HARNESS - This is another front attaching harness that has a strap that goes between the dog's front legs. It does provide more freedom of movement, but the front clip does not actually do the work.
This harness has a clip on the back that when the dog pulls the harness tightens around the dog to cause discomfort, hoping that that will result in the dog not pulling.
I have used many training devices in my years of training and by far, the SENSE-ible/SENSE-ation harness has proved to be the best. If you are interested in this harness, we can book a time to meet with you and fit the harness and
show you how it works. Just contact us!
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