The more I read about the dominant dog collar, the more confused I have become. Can you please help me with what sort of collar set up I should have with my dog?

Hi Cindy,

First let me thank you for all your advice and the very educational DVDs that are available through your website; and second, let me apologize in advance for the questions I have in this email as I should've been able to get my answers from all the helpful Q&A sections....but apparently, I'm a "slow learner"! Ok, that said, here's my dilemma: I'm slightly confused about if the dominant dog collar is exactly what I'm looking for, or not; the more I read, the more I confuse myself! LOL

History: Shadow is a 2 year, intact, male, East German bred, GSD. Different things I've done with him are, private lessons; enrolled him in a local group class (to practice working around distractions: i.e.: dogs and their owners); take him on my errands etc. In general, his (& my) obedience skills are MOSTLY good. Not "competition good", but "mannerly citizen good." He's very sweet, yet he's a young male still learning his rules and boundaries. I use a prong collar with a choke collar as a back-up in case the prong should pop open. The choke is loose and doesn't come into play at all if and when he needs a correction. He knows how to heel and doesn't pull when I'm walking him. EXCEPT for when he sees a strange dog on the street. And here's where my confusion begins. I've read what you've written about how a prong can over-stimulate in a situation such as this, and actually add to the "problem." Shadow doesn't go crazy when he sees the strange dog, he just gets "strong" and sometimes he barks. If it weren't for the prong, if he wanted to, he probably could pull me over to the strange dog. With the prong, I have "brakes" and his attention. So, what kind of collar set up would you suggest? A dominant dog collar instead of a prong? Or just stay the course that I'm on? He and I are getting better all the time, and I realize I need to work more on him focusing on me. We have the Michael Ellis DVDs: Marker training; Training with food; Playing Tug; and Focused Heeling. I was just wondering if the different collar would help with the encountering strange dogs in a more "subtle" manner? But as I have also read on the website, a prong collar is the way to go for fine tuning obedience skills...right?

Again, sorry for being so "wordy." Just thought it would be unfair to ask your opinion, if you didn't know the whole picture!

Thanks again for being so helpful and for all the services you provide!

Lynn