Chris, prong collars can and do pop off. I have not had it happen to me but know of people who've had prong collars come off at inopportune times. They were the higher quality prongs and the low quality ones. The prong coming off was usually due to a few factors, including sudden inexpected forceful movement from the dog and the links came apart. Not broken, just apart.

I'm not sure the location of the collar has much to do with whether or not it can pop off, but I use a tandem coupler to a flat collar when I use a prong as a safety measure.

Regarding the location and effectiveness. A prong collar is more effective higher on the neck, the same as any collar. Dogs have more muscle at the base of the neck and more leverage to pull from the base or mid of the neck versus the top of the neck. At the top of the neck the dog cannot pull as effectively (this is speaking in terms of all collars, I don't use prongs as a pull prevention, I train dogs to walk versus force them not to pull) as they cannot put their head down if there is tension on the lead etc. I have noticed dogs feel lower levels of correction better when the collar is higher up on the neck than lower on the neck.

Especially dogs with longer coats, having the collar up on the neck closer to the back of the head is optimal. I fit a prong so that it is snug without causing correction simply by being on the dog - it shouldn't slip down more than about half an inch, or at all depending on the anatomy of your dog and the shape of the neck etc.

Well Jennifer,

I agree with what you say as far as anotomy of the dog is concerned. But I totally disagree with the fact that the prong collar NEEDS to be at the base of the skull.

The prong collars action is designed to pinch. So on that simple basis of fact, the prong collar does not pinch muscle it pinches skin. Now granted if you were to do a comparison of muscle vs. skin and you had the collar very tight and up at the base of the skull you will get some good pinch on the skin action. But still the whole theory of 'there are more nerves at the base of the skull and that the base of skull is the only place to put a prong collar' is way off base. No pun intended.

The prong collar will pinch skin as it was meant to do, low on the neck just as well as it will high on the neck. It is not meant to pinch muscle tissue. It is meant to be uncomfortable on the neck and pinch the skin when a correction is administered. Uncomfortable when pulling is what I meant and very uncomfortable when a correction is administered. For dogs that take super hard corrections, then the proper place for ultimate correction is high up on the neck. For 80% of dogs, any place on the neck is sufficient if the collar is fitted properly.

Chris, I have a medium prong collar that I fit high and snug around my dog's neck. I don't agree with you that it's not meant to pinch muscle.
When I fit the collar around my own leg and tried it, it compresses both skin and muscle.
I think this is why the recommendation here is to fit high and snug. On the rare occasions when I have placed the collar lower on my dog's neck, she is able to pull more without discomfort.(she is a bully breed and has very strong neck muscles)
It takes a correction on my part to get her to stop pulling.
When the collar is fit high and snug, she self corrects 99% of the time.

As far as I see it, yes, you can give a correction to a dog with a prong collar lower on the neck. But it takes a stronger correction to get the same results as when the collar is higher on the neck.

Additionally, for pulling....like Jenn said, a dog just can not pull as effectively when a collar (any collar) is low on the neck. When it's high on the neck a pull brings the head back. When the collar is lower on the neck, they can keep their head stretched forward and can pull much more effectively.

Unless you have multiple collars on, I just don't see the point of having a collar on lower when having it higher is more effective.

 Quote: Amber Morgan

Additionally, for pulling....like Jenn said, a dog just can not pull as effectively when a collar (any collar) is low on the neck.

I mistyped and too late to edit: I meant a dog can not pull as effectively when a collar is HIGH on the neck, not low.

 Quote: Chris McMahon

But still the whole theory of 'there are more nerves at the base of the skull and that the base of skull is the only place to put a prong collar' is way off base. No pun intended.

Chris, if you re read my post you will notice I make no mention of nerves. My post was about leverage and muscle mass.

One example to take is placing a prong collar on the leg right behind the knee and test its feel. Then place it about 6-8 inches further up your thigh and again test its feel. Or do the same to your wrist and then your bicep. Less muscle mass means greater sensitivity.

Chris,

May I suggest you read Ed's articles on prong collars, and also watch the demo clip about fitment. This clearly shows that an improperly fitted prong can pop off - which is why it's always recommended to use a secondary collar too.

There is also a greater density of nerves higher up in the neck area, along with 'pressure points'. Using the collar higher means you can use less force/strength to obtain the correction you desire.

You probably CAN still correct with the prong lower - but it increases the chance of it coming off and requires more effort -so why bother?

HTH
Rob

I hear good things about the "Mirror Pinch Collar" that Knut Fuchs came up with. It takes stress off the dogs voicebox and the prongs to the side of the neck are mirrored so the prong stays put and doesn't rotate:

http://international.sporthund.de/products/newproducts/index.html

Anybody else have experience with these?

No experience with it but I like the idea. No matter how snugly I fit the prong on the neck, it always rotates.

So all in all, there should be some minor, constant pressure from the prongs on the neck of the dog.