I receive this question a lot. With so many collars on the market, I know it can be confusing to the average dog owner. Lets take a few minutes to address this question.
The first thing to address is your dog’s age and size. For the purposes of this article, I am going to assume that you have a larger somewhat adult dog. In other words, we are not dealing with a small breed or a young small puppy.
Let’s start off with pulling. Is your dog dragging you down the street when you go for walks? Is it creating you some discomfort and actually keeps you from wanting to go on walks? I am referring to serious, almost dangerous pulling here. If so, then the pinch collar may be a place to start.
This collar when adjusted and fitted properly may be just right for you until you can get some help in teaching your dog to walk nicely at your side. In fact this collar is like putting power steering on a car. That will probably only make sense to you if you are old enough to remember what a car without power steering was like. Keep in mind when using this collar it should only be used when going for walks and taken off the dog when at home or not supervised. I sell a plastic version of this collar in two sizes.
If the pinch collar is too scary looking for you, there is a martingale collar. It has a double strap that can tighten and release quickly so will not slip off the dogs head easily. It can either have material or chain where the double strap is located and the rest of the collar is material. They come in all sorts of patterns and colors and is allowed in some of the competition rings.
The next collar choice is a simple buckle type collar that looks like a small belt. Adjusting this type of collar is important. It should be tight enough that is can not be pulled over the head but yet you can still stick two fingers between the collar and the neck. If it is too loose you dog can slip out and that could be very dangerous for your dog.
There are two halter type collars like those used for horses called a Halti or Gentle Leader. These work on pressure on the bridge of the nose and behind the ears to check the dog like a mother dog would do to her pups to get them back in line. Again understanding the release of pressure when using these is crucial for the dogs comfort and safety.
The last choice choice for the dog that is pulling but you still have control is a chain type collar that we call a slip collar or choke chain. You may need the help of a trainer to teach you how to put it on, because there is a right way and a wrong way. The trainer can also show you how to teach your dog to respect it and quit pulling. You need to release the pressure quickly so there is slack in the chain around the dogs neck. This type of collar is another one of the collars that is accepted in every type of dog training and competition that you can think of.
I hope this information gave you some ideas on which collar may be best for your dog at it’s current level of training. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions or view any of my products. Thank you.
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