Story Behind Dominant Dog Collars vs. Slip Collars

By Ed Frawley

URL Copied!

Dominant Dog Collars (DDC) and Slip Collars are tools used to manage dominant, aggressive, or reactive dogs. In this article, you’ll learn the differences between both collars and why Dominant Dog Collars should be used on almost all dogs.

The Challenges of Using a Slip Collar

Slip Collars are designed to slip over the top of a dog’s head and down to its neck. If you have a dog with a larger head such as a Pitbull or Bulldog, you’ll need to have a larger slip collar just to get over the head. In fact, these dogs have larger heads than their necks. So once the slip collar is on the dog it has 5 to 9 inches of slack when down on the neck.

Dominant Dog Collars are Designed for a Secure Fit

Dominant Dog Collars (DDC) were designed by Ed Frawley as a better solution to Slip Collars. DDC has an "O" Ring on one end and a clasp on the other end with a floating ring on the cord.

The DDC doesn't go over the head. It wraps around the neck and the clasp is clipped onto the floating "O" Ring. This allows for a much smaller collar fitting around the dog's neck - with very little slack. A good fit is when the collar is just under the jaw and right behind the ears, there will be between 1 inch and 3 inches of slack.

When properly sized, a DDC doesn't require much leash movement to put leash pressure on the dog's neck. Compare it to the slip collar with 9 inches of slack where you really have to take a lot of leash slack to apply pressure. This dramatically changes the timing of a correction.

How much pressure should you apply?

The amount of pressure you apply depends on the dog. I look at it like how I look at a correction on a dog. A correction is not designed to punish a dog. It should only be strong enough to get a behavior change. That’s the same concept to use when looking at Dominant Dog Collars.

The Story Behind the Dominant Dog Collar

I designed the Dominant Dog Collar back in the 1990s when I used to import selection-tested police service dogs. I would bring them into the US and sell them to vendors who would then finish training them for a police department.

Many of these high-drive dogs came from Germany where as puppies, they were sold to pet homes. As they grew up they were not properly managed and trained. They didn’t know rules and ended up being handler assertive, pushy, or aggressive. So the owners sold them. I would buy them and bring them to America. Many of these dogs needed to learn that old habits would not work with me. I didn't have a lot of time to teach them that handler aggression would not be tolerated. I ended up having dogs that wanted to bite me.

I learned very quickly that a slip collar worked much better than a prong collar. In fact, the prong collars were just triggers for handler aggression. I also learned that many of these dogs with big heads required slip collars that had a ton of slack. That was a problem when these dogs were trying to bite me. The less slack the better the timing on getting control of the dog.

So I basically designed a dominant dog collar to reduce slack. Dominant Dog Collars allowed me to get control over these dogs much quicker.

Perhaps I should’ve patented or trademarked the collars. But now, there are several competitors that are selling Dominant Dog Collars.

However, what makes us stand out is the cord we use. We use a solid hollow core cord that won’t stretch. Our competitors use cheaper cord material that will stretch 1 to 3". Three inches can be the difference between getting dog bit and getting control of the leash.

Finding the Right Collar and Size

It is crucial to have a properly sized Dominant Dog Collar. When you measure your dog’s neck, you need to measure right underneath the dog’s chin and right behind the ears, then add 1 to 3 inches to that measurement to get your dog's correct DDC size.

Leerburg still offers the Nylon Slip Collar for trainers who have dogs with small heads that a slip collar can get over the head and only leave 1 to 3 inches of slack.

Shop Training Supplies

Enroll in Training Courses

About Author

Ed Frawley

Ed Frawley is the founder of Leerburg. He has been training dogs since the 1950s. For 30 years, Ed bred working bloodline German Shepherds and has produced over 350 litters. During this time, Ed began recording dog training videos and soon grew an interest in police service dogs. His narcotic dogs have been involved in over 1,000 narcotics searches resulting in hundreds of arrests in the state of Wisconsin. Ed now solely focuses on producing dog training courses with renowned dog trainers nationwide. If you want to learn more about Ed, read about his history here.

0 Comments

There are no comments.

Have a question?
Ask Cindy

Sorry, adding comments is currently disabled.