I have some questions on the proper use of a prong collar.

Question

I got one of your prong collars for my mother's Springer Spaniel. This is a very hard dog that does not respond to ANY level of correction on a choke collar. She is now 7 months old - at 14 weeks when I first tried correcting her by shaking her by the back of the neck it had no effect. I have one major concern.

This dog (bitch) is very dominant and the prong collar is very useful for correcting her since the normal choker had no effect. I have to snap the collar very hard to get a response - for example, if she has a toy she won?t give up. My question is how do I know if I'm popping too hard. The dog never yelps and doesn't really go into avoidance for more than a moment. I am concerned I will injure the dog (e.g. break her neck!) - do you think this is likely? The dog does yelp if you accidentally step on her toes so she does feel pain!

For my mother, I am using your technique of tying a choker to a solid object and then pulling another choker in the opposite direction to get toys back from her. Every time I give the toy back she fights harder next time before she'll give it up. It almost as though she is holding on against her will. Is it a good idea for me to repeat this exercise over and over since she seems to get more determined every time?

I have your Basic Obedience tape which is really a great help and this training is going on in parallel but I'm anxious to concentrate on this possessiveness problem. It has got to the stage where my mother is afraid to take something from the dog because she has tried to bite my mother a number of times.

So in summary my questions are: Could I injure the dog by popping too hard? Should I repeat the exercise where I give her a toy and then take it back?

Regards,
David

Accepted Answer

I agree that you have a very hard dog. This is unusual for this breed and then again because it is a female.

First make sure the collar is on properly. It should be very snug and under the jaw right behind the ears. If its on that way you will not have to pop so hard. Many people do not put them on any enough.

I think there are better ways to take toys away from dogs than to punish them for not releasing.

Begin by using 2 toys. When she goes to get one and brings it back tease her with a second one and do not allow the dog to have it until she drops the first one and then instantly toss the second, make a game of it. Give an OUT command when she brings it back. It will not take a dog long to figure out that getting the 2nd active toy requires it to drop the first one.

If she will not give it up put a long line on the prong, toss the first - reel her in - give an OUT - and a pop. The key is to instantly give up the second toy the instant the first one comes out.

In a very small number of dog cases the prong collar has to be sharpened a little - this is very unusual and I would doubt that is the case with this bitch. It sounds like a handler training issue and not a dog issue.

You also may want to consider a Tri Tronics Sportsman electric collar, but this does not mean you would just shock the dog for not releasing. You approach the release in the same way. Teach it 2 ball, when it understand this then reinforce the out with the collar. To just put it on a shock the dog will confuse the dog and do some damage to its mind.