My 5 month old GSD is starting obedience class this week. (Seems right up my alley, the instructor is about positive motivation but also believes that there is a process of correction). Last week at the orientation the instructor went over different collars and showed us the prong, described how it needed to be fitted and gave the general impression that it can work wonders. Prior to that time I was put off by the prong mostly because I couldn't figure it out. So, this weekend I took my boy and got him fitted. The transformation was pretty immediate (as far as pulling and staying by my side). Got home and took it off, then wondered do I keep it on while he has his drag lead on in the kitchen? Couldn't I use it when he gets nippy towards me or my kids? So, I'm confused about the true purpose of the prong. Is it really just for walking to prevent them from pulling or is it a "corrector" as well? Ex. if my boy is nipping at my kids do I give it a tug? And how hard? Will my boy get used to the pinch? He's darn sturdy.
FYI, Tonto is being raised as a house pet. He comes from strong working lines and has high prey drive (meaning he would chase his ball rather than eat a steak). He is also very gentle but I am still working on the nippy stuff. He rarely does it to me anymore at all but still goes after my husband and kid's hands and legs. It's got to stop soon because he's getting pretty big now (around 50 lbs.)
Again, thank you for helping in my quest to have a "good dog".
Hmm, I'm wondering as well when it is ok to try a prong collar. I am hearing different ages and I think some people would say 5 months is too young. My feeling is that a prong would be too strong of a correction, especially for play biting. The other issue is that the prong can increase drive so it could actually force a response of a real bite.
You could check out the prong collar question and answer
And maybe the electric collar dvd. But other people would know better than myself which route you should go, and at what age is ok to start serious corrections. I think Ed says that 8 months is generally the youngest that you can start any serious corrective obedience.
Hi Vanessa, Have you tried redirecting / giving a toy when your dog gets to nipping/biting? That is part of his high prey drive and not necessarily a bad thing, regardless of size. However, instead of trying to "stop" the behavior, I'm wondering if giving him a tug or toy to put that energy toward wouldn't be a good option instead of "correcting" what is coming naturally... I'm interested to see what the more experienced folks say on this. BTW, we did use a prong on Falcon when he was younger to keep him from pulling when on a walk, but eventually went to an ecollar as a training tool.
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