Hello all,

Anytime that I try to put ANY kind of collar on my hound (24-week old Mal), he immediately lies on his back, and rolls over and over and over again, attempting to bite my arm, the collar, or both, preventing me from getting the collar secured. These attempts usually turn into an all out brawl between the two of us (it never becomes physical, but he I often hear him "swallow hard" while he's rolling over and I'm attempting to secure the collar, if that makes any sense). I am wanting to get the prong collar on him now because he is a ferocious puller when he's walking, and I am trying to put a stop to it. Popping the lead is ineffective, as Beau is a hard dog. Once again, it's not just the prong collar...he acts this way with any collar, and even when I am trying to attach his lead to the collar.

Outside of this one issue, he's a wonderful dog. Obedience and tracking are great, prey drive is phenomenal, and I've started gradually introducing him to the controlled bite. The more I go, and the more I learn, it seems that he is viewing the collar as a prey item. I have put him in the "setz", and tried to put the collar on him, but as soon as I make a move for him, he immediately goes to his back and opens his mouth. His focus immediately goes from me to the collar. I've tried to put it on him while he is eating, but he eats too fast! I'm not a fan of that method anyways, as I don't want him to associate meal time with something negative. The whole thing concerns because I don't him to hurt himself while I'm trying to get the collar on, but I also feel that I will never be able to walk him anywhere unless I imprint the negativity of dragging me down the street now.

Maybe one of you well versed canine specialists can help me with this. Thanks ahead of time...

I am not an expert by any means but if one of my dogs tried that roll on the floor crap I would have her by the scruff so fast it would make her head spin.
Same goes for the pulling; one good pop with a properly fitted prong would fix that.
Again I am not an expert but what you describe sound like a pack issue, you are the follower.
Don’t give up or give in.

This worked me when I was training the dogs to tolerate a muzzle. I put it on, remove and treat, did that repeatedly then put it on and started to play and run with them. You could try to associat play time with collar time. Right now if I just rattle the prong collar all four my dogs go nuts ready to go.

Or could you associate putting on the prong before each meal? In my house the dogs have to "earn" their meals and I put whatever the tough part of the obediance training right before they get fed. I think it motivates them more, gives them a bigger reward associated with the task, and helps establish me as the leader.

 Quote: Kelly Hardy

Or could you associate putting on the prong before each meal?

That's a good idea. I also have my dog accustomed to once we put the prong on her, we go & do something fun. When she hears me grab the prong, she is wiggling all over the place. Of course when she began wearing it, I put it on and took it off 30 mins prior/after. I don't always do that anymore but, she loves to wear that thing.

Go back to baby steps for your baby dog. Give tons of treats while you touch his neck like you are putting on a collar (but wihtout the collar).

If he's OK with that, get a slip lead. Make a big loop and "lasso" your pup. Then feed treats while you tighten the tab so it doesn't slide off.

(Note: a thick slip lead like the one Leerburg sells is a lot easier to drop over a dog's head. The thin $.50 ones are floppy and drop into the dog's mouth.)

When you pup gets used to you messing with the slip lead to tighten it, then go for fitting the other collars.

I don't recommend a quick-release prong for a fidgety dog. I can't get the snap on even with the best behaved dog!

If he starts to have problems again with the prong (because it makes noise... etc) Get A LOT of extra links, flip it inside out (prongs sticking away from the dog) and drop it over your dog's head - right before mealtime. Take a link out daily until you need to put it on correctly (taking it apart, not sliding over the head).

This way, you've conditioned your dog that 1) being leaned over and touched around the neck is SAFE 2) being leaned over and touched around the neck is not stressful and generally pretty cool and 3) the metal collar is not scary.

Scott,

Put the collar over your wrist like a bracelet. Treat the dog with the same hand but dont slip the collar onto him. Treat him a few more times and while he's chewing, gently grabbed his muzzle with your hand and let him get used to this. After a short time you can then slip the collar off your wrist and over the dogs' head as he is enjoying his treat. Once its on, treat again then do something fun.

I think your biggest problem is that the act of putting the collar on is stressing the both of you out. Make it nonchalant and quick, then move on.

Howard

Being as this is on the prong collar section, don't try this with the prong, just a flat collar or check chain. Once the dog realizes that good things happen when the collar goes on then he should be good to go.

Howard

Thanks for all the suggestions. I haven't been on since the day of the OP. However, I am happy to say that we are making progress. Adding links to the prong and turning it inside out was a no-go. I still got the same reaction. After some deep thought, I had an idea about how to stop the behavior altogether.

Beau tends to be an attention hound. No matter how much we play or how much time I spend with him, he's always ready for more. I feel (reinforced by his actions in our afternoon training session) that his rolling was more of an attention seeking behavior than a unruly or dominance issue. This afternoon, we did a little obedience, and I tried to put his new chain collar on him (used only for the purpose of familiarization of a metal collar). His initial reaction was the same as before. The only difference, though, was instead of fighting him (giving him attention), I stood up and walked away, ignoring his pleas for attention for about two minutes. After his "cooling off" period, I put him in a sit, and tried again. Same results...same reaction on my part. I tried again a third time, and was successful. Granted, he still dropped to the ground, but no rolling. Now that I think of it, he was actually in the platz when I put it on him. I treated him, and we did more obedience and drive work.

Taking it off was easier than putting it on (traditionally, he's unruly during the acts of both donning and doffing the collar). I put him in the sit. I grabbed the dominant dog collar first, and got it off with ease. Then, i attempted to get the chain collar off. He fell to the ground again, but didn't actively resist me. I took the chain collar off, and we did some more tug work.

Now maybe my approach to this was all wrong. I think I have sewn the seed, however, that the collar will be a way of life, despite his feelings on it, and fighting the inevitable will only get him ignored.

What I intend to do now is make him sit and take the collar for his twice-daily meals, and before our daily training session. I think that his issue is less dominance (as he has presented no other dominant traits), and more a lack of familiarization with a metal collar.

Thanks ahead of time for the criticisms/suggestions.

Okay...so maybe I spoke too soon. He was absolutely defiant at the evening feeding. I was able to "sneak" the chain collar on him while he was eating. When I tried to put the dominant dog collar on him, he went into death roll mode again. My ignoring him had no effect this time. I ended up having to bring him up off the ground via his flat collar to gain compliance (which scares me, as I feel that I'm doing more damage than good). Then again, he was still looking for more of the ground chuck that he had just inhaled. Either way, putting a collar on a 50 pound hound should not be this hard.

Standing by...