Choker Collar

phong919

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone can advise me on the following? I've been walking my shiba name BINGO on a harness and it's been hard getting him to walk on one side, i was thinking about using a choker collar? Are they any other collars or what should i do to correct his walk? thank you.

KFontaine04

I would strongly suggest NOT using any sort of prong or choke collar on a Shiba. They do not respond well to them and you want your Shiba to be happy on walks, not fearful. This type of harness may be helpful:

Front Pull Harness - Bark and Giggle Custom Front Pull Harness
or Gentle Leader Easy Walk Harness

This harness clips to the front so when the dogs starts to pull they get flipped around.

Calia

Choke collars are so often misused by many people, and is not supposed to be used for general walking. It is meant to only be used during training sessions that require the use of it.

Personally, I HATE choke collars. Not only are they misused, but they are so very harmful for the dogs throat, especially the smaller dogs.

One way to get him to better walk at your side it to work on training him to do so, with the use of treats (and a clicker is desired) and either use the leash to maintain him in heal position and/or use the treats to rewards him for being in heal position. You do get better control if the leash is hooked to his regular collar, but smaller dogs have a better risk of gagging. With some work, and a lot of rewards, you can train him to do this.

Another thing is to use the Halti/Gentle Leader or what is otherwise known as the head halter. This gives better control than the harness/collar, and is a very good training tool. With this, you do not do the leash jerk/pop that is normally used for choke collars (or you can seriously hurt your dog), but slowly pull the dog in the direction you want them to go.

Heidi

What kind of harness are you using? Just a plain ole harness? I'd second the recommendation to try a harness specifically to stop dogs from pulling.

Personally, I've never found choke chains to work all that well. They just choke your dog and don't teach anything.

phong919

i'm using a soft harness that looks like the puppia one...he gets really excited sometimes and just pulls. trying to figure out a way to make him stop pulling and walk on my side. Thanks for all the input. Would a leader harness make a big difference?

tjbart17

I had the worst behaving dog once. A Cocker Spaniel who pulled and pulled and pulled. I loved him, but that dog was a terror! A nice terror, but terror none the less.

Now this was 24 years ago, so ofcourse we got him a choker. DID NOTHING to correct the behavior. He may have inadvertantly passed out once or twice though. He pulled twice as hard as if he was going to break it off.

I would go with a gentle leader and read up on some positive training techniques. Also remember, that you are the real leader. He is to go where you go on walks and not pull to one side or another. When he pulls, make a sharp 90 degree turn. It'll annoy the heck out of him, and he will think you are nuts for walking in circles, but it has helped me to train dogs. We learned this technique 2 years after the choke collar tryout. It worked with our Cocker very well.

Also, it may be good to buy a clicker. When he is walking nicely beside you, click and treat.

AkiraleShiba

Like tjbart17 said, you have to be unpredictable during your walks like turning around when he's pulling util he's not pulling anymore. You can also zig-zag between the street signs, trash cans and the like so that your pup as to pay attention to where YOU are going.

He'll probably rebel at first but it will get better soon enough!

Sangmort

I am also against choke collars. I've seen wonders worked with the Gentle Leader harness. Definitely give it a try. ~

AkiraleShiba

I just want to add though that special harnesses are a tool not an end. So it's not a magical solution since you have to do training at the same time.