When I am out & about I see some people walking their dogs on pinch/prong collars & I realized they probably do it because someone told them to. I wanted to answer some common questions & comments I have heard about their use. I will refer to them only as a pinch collar so less typing.
Question: I was told a pinch collar works the same way a mother dog corrects her pups, is this true?
Answer: A mother dog will use her teeth lightly on the back of a pup’s neck, but not on it’s throat & not with all her teeth. A prong collar has 40-70+ prongs that surround a dog’s neck.
Question: How does a pinch collar work?
Answer: This steel or plastic collar has many steel prongs that are towards a dog’s neck & throat & press in on the dog’s neck. When the dog pulls or turns its head the dog is poked or jabbed in the neck with most or all the prongs. This in turn is supposed to stop the dog from pulling. Some people put covers on the tips to try & ease the impact.
Question: Does a pinch collar hurt my dog?
Answer: I believe YES, if I were to place one of these collars around your neck & lead you around or put on you & have you just turn your head, you wouldn’t like it or me very much. Research has shown the use of these types of collars can lead to several potential problems.
Question: I have been using a pinch collar on my dog & it works, why should I change?
Answer: The pinch collar may work, but it is working by causing pain, & if your asking this question you care about your dog & what he or she is feeling & most likely don’t want to hurt your dog anymore. These types of collars work on the concept of pain to get results, there are safer alternatives that do not work on the concept of pain (will list some at the end of this post).
Question: I was told by a trainer if used correctly they do not hurt the dog?
Answer: If it is not pain that motivates your dog to respond to this collar, why is it working. If it was just a little pressure, the pressure of any collar would work. Yes it is pain & even most people would do what you want them to to prevent pain.
Question Can a pinch collar lead to aggression?
Answer: Studies have shown that it can, dog doesn’t see the person holding the leash as the cause of the pain, but the person or animal it is going towards when it feels the pain in its neck. So if that “thing” is causing the pain. the dog wants “it” to stay away which can lead to aggression to keep that “thing” away.
Question: Why do some trainers tell you to use a pinch collar on dogs?
Answer: There is no formal training required to train dogs at a lot of places (or very little) & they don’t know how to teach any other way. Some honestly might just like being in control & making a dog submit to them. Bonding with your dog is not important, just getting the dog to do what they want is their goal. Dogs are property in the eyes of the law here in the US, so no one says this is cruel. I hope someday the US follows countries who don’t allow these types of training collars or at least it is frowned upon. A certified positive trainer is tested without the use of such collars & a good positive trainer will not allow painful training collars (nor choke or shock) in their classes.
If these collars were not painful why do some people cover the collar so others don’t see it, if you’re hiding it what is that saying, same with putting rubber tips on the prongs. I think it means deep down inside you know you’re hurting the dog you say you love.
Question: My dog pulls a lot when we walk, what are some safer alternatives to use instead of a pinch collar?
Answer: The best thing to do is to enroll you & your dog in a positive only obedience class or hire a private positive only trainer to teach you at home how to walk your dog on a flat collar. It takes time & is not a quick fix, there are many harnesses & aids to help till you can eventually switch to just a flat collar if that is your goal. If you are unable to take a class at this time for whatever reason there are many positive only trainer on You Tube trainers out there. Pay close attention to what they say & how they claim to get results, if you sense it is not right, find another trainer to watch. One of my favorites is Stephanie who is in Canada, her website is https://happyhounddogtraining.ca/ She works a lot with reactive dogs, has a book out now about stopping your dog from chasing animals & she has many great videos you can watch as well.
Some alternatives to pinch collars would be:
- A Freedom harness https://amzn.to/44fWuYt This is the one I use as my dogs have short fur & the leg straps are padded to prevent rubbing
- Gentle Leader head collar https://amzn.to/3SYfF3U It is not a muzzle, dogs can fully open their mouth, it goes behind their muzzle & directly behind their ears. It leads a dog like a horse halter leads a horse. Some dogs take some time to adjust to a head halter & not good for short nose dogs like some Pitbulls & Boxers. Putting this on correctly & using it correctly will be why you have success or not. I recommend one like this with a padded nose piece. I use a harness & Gentle Leader & a Freedom harness with a coupler (split lead) https://amzn.to/3Txy3kf which allows me to have extra security as Echo is dog reactive.
- A Martingale collar can be better for a dog who’s head it smaller than its neck like both my current dogs. It will not tighten past a certain point like a choke collar, keeping it on but preventing choking your dog. https://amzn.to/4kRz3f7
- A flat snap collar https://amzn.to/45zkHve or a flat buckle collar https://amzn.to/4ed6037 I do not recommend a rope shaped collar or round, this can put too much pressure on the throat.
You can read more about finding the right harnesses check out my post # 32. If you want to know more about Martingale collars check out my post # 26. A list of all my posts can be found on my main page under the show tab in the upper left corner.
I hope you are finding my blog helpful, educational & sometimes it makes you smile. My goal is to help people to help their pets to Thrive & not just survive. I’d really appreciate your help with getting my blog out there to more people. You can help me by visiting often, telling your friends & family on your social media sites, commenting on my posts, hitting the like button on the bottom of the posts, Subscribing to my blog (won’t get spam, just notice when I post). Purchasing items from Amazon that I recommend on my posts. If you have questions for me you can email me directly at echoinggreatpetcare@gmail.com Thanks for reading, come back soon. Debbie
Echoing Great Pet Care 