My GSD puppy is just over 5 months and weighs about 40 pounds. I have been really sick the last 10 days and my husband has been taking him out for most of his walks.

Pup has been pulling him badly on his leash, something he doesn't do with me unless we see cats!! My husband is a big guy and stronger at restraint apparently. The choke collar has rubbed off fur around my pups neck particularly on one side. I only noticed this last night and am horrified that on the one side of his neck, his fur is really broken and thin. I dont want to put a collar back on him until it has gotten thicker or it will make matters worse.

This is not the first GSD I have trained and so I know he doesn't need a prong collar and unless that is my only option...it would sit away from the spot, but there HAS to be an alternative... which is why I came here. Generally he is a good puppy, eager to learn and please and responding well to all I ask of him and ONLY 21 weeks old. I am the "handler" and pack leader. He has established that my husband is still learning about dogs and so ...well you all know what I mean!

What can I use meantime for our outside training sessions?( I have just been studying the marker dvd while sick and am eager to start)Would a harness work? Does that give enough control in a "cat" situation? If so what type and do dare i say "pet shops" sell them? If not, what? I need to buy something today so we can get out tomorrow and do some work. I don't have time to wait for a Leerburg purchase sadly...

Grateful for any suggestions...

Why are you using a choker collar? Do you know that choker collar is pretty deadly and dogs have had damaged trachea. Have you considering flat collar or pinch collar? Are you sure that your husband knows where to put on the dog's neck? It should be place right behind the dog's ears and deliver a light correct. How does your husband walk the dog? Relax or uptight?

Do you have a yard?

If so, I'd lay off walking the dog entirely, and let him get his exercise by playing fetch and running about in the yard.

I don't like taking young dogs for walks. One, they don't really have the option of controlling the length, and can be inadvertantly over-walked at a young age, causing unneccesary wear on growing joints.

More so than that, though, I prefer to teach a pup to walk nicely on a leash in the yard, to avoid the very problem you are having.

I would recommend getting Leerburgs new Marker Training DVD, and starting some fun marker training in the yard, working on an informal heel, walking on a loose lead. Once a dog learns to pull on a leash, it becomes a very hard habit to break. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.


Can someone find the video of Cindy teaching Rush beginning heeling for me?

Yes he knows where the collar should but he is uptight and doing his best to correct that but forgets and panics. He feels terrible that this has happened. Yes I know that if handled wrongly a choke collar can cause serious damage. I use a flat collar alernately. As I said...I haven't really had much of a problem. My husband didnt correct by jerking, he just held his ground.

The damage is done and wasnt done intentionally and so I have to correct as best I can. Having read Leerburg forums for the last 3 hours, I understood that 5 months was too young to use a prong/pinch collar? We are both upset and I just came here to see what to do to move forward.

Thanks for your comments Lindsay

TY for all your prompt replies. Perhaps I didnt make it clear enough. He has walks very well on the leash and to heel when he is with me...I mostly use a flat collar and train using praise and NOT correction. I work with him alot during the day in short bursts. We have an individual training class on Saturday morning. We don't do long walks AT ALL...Max 10 mins round the block start to finish. I have a yard, but it has a large pool that is currently blocked off from him, so that doesnt leave us with much "play" space. Also I am keen to keep his socialization active. I dont leave him unattended in the yard. It's all supervised play. In fact if I cant give him 100% attention he goes to one of his crates. I have the marker training DVD and have studied it, was about to start when I got sick. I am still sick but feel well enough to make a start.

I was advised to get him used to a variety of collars and that is how the choker collar came in about 2 weeks ago just before I got sick. This is an unfortunate accident of miscommunication. Very upsetting for all, fortunately no permanent damage has occured. I want to know where to go from here and what I can do today...

How long does it take for fur to grow back?

If I have misunderstood about the right age to use a pinch collar please correct me...

Since you already have a flat collar, why not just use that? Maybe I missed something in the thread, but it does not seem to me there is real urgency to purchase another collar. At some point, as others had mentioned, I would pick up a prong collar and just put it on him to get him acclimated for a while.

Somebody asked about Cindy's heel video - you can find all of her videos on http://www.youtube.com and in the search field, type in the kennel name: Kaiserhaus.

The fur will have grown back in a month. Don't beat yourself up over it. Fur grows back.

I'm in agreement with the others that swapping the prong for the choke collar is a good idea. A prong collar can't hurt him, so if he's big enough to pull on the leash, he's big enough to wear the appropriate collar. My GSD started wearing a prong at about 5-6 months. But it's not a forever thing. Once the dog learns how to behave himself on leash, you can graduate from the prong collar to a plain flat collar. Or use each tool interchangeably as needed. Expecting high distractions, use the prong. Leisurely walk in the woods, use the flat collar (or a rolled leather "fur saver").

I just use a Martingale all the time now and only use a prong/fur saver/e-collar when training. For the most part, during regular everyday crap my dog never wears a collar now.

http://leerburg.com/mendota.htm#884

Tracy,
THANK YOU...THANK YOU! for noticing! Yes we are both beating ourselves up for different reasons. Meanwhile Puppy is dreaming blissfully at my feet about chasing cats and the welcome breeze from the AC on his less furry bit.

You see I agree with what you think about prong collars BUT having researched the forums on this site I came up with a different answer.

I took him out this morning and he was a bit feisty, didnt help that as we left the front door there was his arch enemy the ginger cat laughing at him from the driveway! I am keen to settle him down again on the leash and I reduced his food this morning to accomodate a few extra treats on this afternoons training session.

Have you/anyone any opinions on a harness as a temporary and interchangeable alternative before I head straight for the prong. He is a speed learner and I would like to at least give him the balance of this week to settle back into our routine...and to start marker training.

ALL comments are SO gratefully received...Thanks Leerburg for hosting these forums.