How to Understand Dog Training Equipment

Choke collars are one of the most popular training collars available to dog owners today. In my opinion, choke collars are the worst collars for dog owners to use. They are very difficult to make work and they can injure your dog's trachea. In order for a choke collar to work properly you need to keep it slack and give a quick jerk and release. This is difficult for most people because most dogs are already pulling when you put the collar on.

The other problem that I see with choke collars is that the dog develops a tolerance to the collar. Over time the collar does not have the same effect which requires the trainer to give harsher and harsher corrections with less and less results.

The one good thing about choke collars and the only time I ever use them is for dogs that easily escape from regular flat collars. A nylon slip collar is good for dogs that back up and escape from the collar.

Another popular collar is the prong collar. Prong collars are much more effective than choke collars. Most people are turned off by them because of the way they look. They really do look like medieval torture devices. A prong collar can get excellent results for dogs that are strong pullers. Prong collars are not recommended for group classes. The problem with a prong collar in a group class is cross association.

A cross association is when your dog gets a correction for pulling, but associates it with another dog. A dog will come into a group class and get excited by the sight of the other dogs and start to pull. Your dog is pulling so you give a correction on the prong collar. Your dog is looking at another dog when he feels the correction from the prong collar. You are giving the correction for pulling, but your dog associates the correction with the sight of the other dog. If this happens enough times with enough dogs your dog will start to have negative feeling towards other dog which can lead to aggression.

Electronic collars have become very popular over the past five years. An electronic collar can be very effective. Thousands of dogs are kept safely in their yards through the use of electronic collars. The problem I see with electronic collars is that many people use them without a full understanding of the training process.

Training requires excellent timing. If your timing is a little off when you are using positive methods there is really no problem. When you use negative methods to train you have to understand that there are negative side effects. I have seen electronic collars overused and it has a big effect on the dog. One client that I worked with had bought an electronic collar for his 5-month-old golden retriever. His dog was digging, not coming back when called, pulling on the leash and stealing food off the counter.

He used the collar on his dog for all of these behaviors. I tried to explain to him that his dog was way too young for an electronic collar and that his timing was way off. He would sometimes come home, find that his dog was digging, put the collar on, bring his dog to the hole and give the dog a correction with the collar.

His dog now had bigger problems. Electronic collars can be very useful for certain training situations, but they are not the solution for everything. An electronic collar should never be used on young dogs, and your timing has to be right.

Gentle leaders have become very popular over the past five to six years. There are pros and cons to gentle leaders. Here are the good points to gentle leaders: They work instantly; as soon as you put one on you will get results. The gentle leader works by controlling your dog's head. Where the head goes the body follows. Another good thing about gentle leaders is that they do not inflict any pain on your dog, unlike a choke, prong or electronic collar.

Here are some of the drawbacks: Your dog will probably hate the gentle leader when you first put it on. Most dogs really fight to get it off when you first start using them. Another drawback is that they look like muzzles. Some people will think that you have a mean dog when they see you walking down the street.

Clickers have been made popular by great trainers like Karen Pryor, author of the book: "Don't Shoot The Dog" and Gary Wilkes. A clicker is an excellent training tool. The sound of the click is associated with something positive like a treat. Over time the repeated pairing of the click with the treat conditions your dog to the sound. You can now use the clicker to communicate to your dog. You can shape your dog's behavior with the clicker. Clickers are great because timing is crucial when training. A clicker will help you pinpoint behaviors that you are trying to teach.

A no-pull harness is great for dogs that have pushed-in noses and thick necks. Choke collars and gentle leaders can't be used on dogs that are built like English Bulldogs. With a pushed-in nose and very thick necks those types of collars are not effective. A no-pull harness can be very effective.