Some interesting links on prong collars and even regular collars
x-posted from Shiba side:
Saw this on someone testing out a prong collar on themselves. It is one of the continual lines used by "balanced" trainers and others that use aversive methods: supposedly, prong collars don't "hurt" the dog. I've never believe that for a moment, but this is an interesting experiment done by a positive trainer:
http://awesomedogs.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/pinch-me-a-k-a-prong-me/
Then there was this, with Dr. Dodds talking about potential damage to the thyroid and optic nerve from collars. Brief, but thought provoking:
http://drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/41645121585/dog-collars-thyroid
Good reasons to be very cautious about use of collars in walking a dog who pulls--any kind of collar. It doesn't give a lot more information, but it makes sense as something to be cautious of. My vet has told me never to use a collar for walking my Akita (who already has damage to his cervical vertebrae) because of the stress it will put there, and how too much pressure there can effect his vagus nerve. The vagus nerve controls everything! So while we were talking about a dog who has a narrowing in the vertebrae there, it makes sense to be cautious about putting undo pressure there for any animal.
(And on a sidenote, I have some friends that always use a prong collar on their dogs, and now their 10 year old dog is coughing terribly from his collapsing trachea. They told me that "that just happens to older dogs." No it doesn't. It happens to dogs that have too much pressure on their throats for years--in other words, they did it through use of that collar!)
oh, and here is a link to scholarly article showing evidence of damage caused by collars. It is linked in the blog above, but I'll add it here too: http://www.jaaha.org/content/42/3/207.short
Saw this on someone testing out a prong collar on themselves. It is one of the continual lines used by "balanced" trainers and others that use aversive methods: supposedly, prong collars don't "hurt" the dog. I've never believe that for a moment, but this is an interesting experiment done by a positive trainer:
http://awesomedogs.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/pinch-me-a-k-a-prong-me/
Then there was this, with Dr. Dodds talking about potential damage to the thyroid and optic nerve from collars. Brief, but thought provoking:
http://drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/41645121585/dog-collars-thyroid
Good reasons to be very cautious about use of collars in walking a dog who pulls--any kind of collar. It doesn't give a lot more information, but it makes sense as something to be cautious of. My vet has told me never to use a collar for walking my Akita (who already has damage to his cervical vertebrae) because of the stress it will put there, and how too much pressure there can effect his vagus nerve. The vagus nerve controls everything! So while we were talking about a dog who has a narrowing in the vertebrae there, it makes sense to be cautious about putting undo pressure there for any animal.
(And on a sidenote, I have some friends that always use a prong collar on their dogs, and now their 10 year old dog is coughing terribly from his collapsing trachea. They told me that "that just happens to older dogs." No it doesn't. It happens to dogs that have too much pressure on their throats for years--in other words, they did it through use of that collar!)
oh, and here is a link to scholarly article showing evidence of damage caused by collars. It is linked in the blog above, but I'll add it here too: http://www.jaaha.org/content/42/3/207.short
Comments
No collar, regardless of the type, should be used like that anyways. If your dog pulls you need to find a different training method, or work with the dog's leash manners more. Not "upgrade" to a different (harsher) set of equipment and hope the dog's actions do all the training for you.
I feel the same way about "no-pull" harnesses and head collars. Learn to use it right or don't use it at all. Any tool can be abused, and unfortunately, I see that frequently here with those things.
We've noticed this first hand. Dragoon would choke like crazy in a standard 3/4" wide nylon collar, and even some nylon harnesses. 1" wide leather tho was perfect, no choking. [ til she got bigger LOL ] Now she needs a 1.5". ~
There is one owner and their dog who volunteers at our AKIHO events and she has a prong collar on all the time -- not even just during training!! -- and it sits way down on the dog's neck and I'm like