Al,

I don't know about the 2 seconds part, but years ago I had a neighbor with a Rottweiler. They would tie her to a big block of concrete in the yard and leave her there all day. No matter what they tied her with, and I watched them go to progressively thicker and stronger ropes and other materials, she could chew her way through it. When it was hot out she could drag that block into the shade.

They moved away years ago, thank God. What a crappy way to treat a dog.

Thanks for all the great replies to my original post. I like the topic Mr. Rambeau brought up about letting passing motorists know you have what would appear to be a PPD. In some cases, I would say no. For me, I have no garage and can only park in my front yard in a driveway that ends at the front of my house. If I'm not home, it's obvious as I only have one car. For me, I am only letting people know that my house and backyard (1 dog stays outside in the backyard when I am gone and 2 stay in the house) are occupied when I am not home, and very occupied when I am home. I have three working dogs and I rotate them on and off the front porch. If anyone were to "case" my home they would realize I have three dogs, hopefully enough to ward off the casual burglar.

I do hope that it was very clear that prong collars are not for a tie-out. Ever.

Hi Thomas,
Im new to the whole forum and have been reading and learning a lot from a lot of knowlegable people on this forum. I have a GSD bitch just 15 months old and have never used a prong collar on her (they actually are not legal in Finland, so I've been told).I can see the benefits of using one in training (have read all Ed Frawley has on the net)when you have a concern with your dogs behaviour, but I just cant quite understand why you would keep your dog on the porch with prong collar on tether line. She had done 3 mile run you had praised her for being a good sport and then promptly shackle her BACK in the prong collar??? Im sorry, I just cant get around that. Maybe a sturdy collar would have been kinder, as she was on duty at home. Hope you are over the need of extreme measures by now and she is doing ok.
My bitch Logan still has some issues, when things or people catch her on the hop, so to speak but she has improved 70% as I have learned to correct my mistakes. Good luck, Riitta

I didn't put her on the tie out as any sort of punishment. We went for a run during which she wore the prong, then I unclipped her 5' running leash and clipped her prong to the tie out, which is ten feet long. It was late in the day and the porch was shaded. She immediately sat down on her bed after getting a drink of water, which is next to the bed. She does not whine or pace when she is on the porch, wether she has been run or not. She appears very calm and seems to enjoy lying on the bed, but with her head up, watching as cars go by. She has never attempted to follow me inside but instead seems quite happy to stand guard on the porch. The only mistake I made was made out of laziness. I should have swapped her prong collar out for her agitation collar, but I didn't. I went inside and started making dinner. I made my original post because I've been very bothered by seeing the prong collar open on the porch and my dog gone. If asked at the time if I thought a prong could pop open, I would have said no way. I had a very hard time taking the collar on and off the prongs were so stiff. I'm still amazed the thing popped open. I'll never use a prong collar again unless the leash is going straight to my hand. Succinctly, I learned the hard way not to use a prong collar on a tie out. And I want to make sure it is understood, this tie out is a ten foot line on my front porch which gives my dog(s) easy access to a bed and water. They are never put on the porch in direct sunlight, and typically only spend 2 hours there a night, and there's never been a problem with their behavior (whining, chewing on the tie out, anxiety barking) while on the porch. I've seen dogs put on tie outs that appeared to be in desperate need of rescue. Many of these dogs appear to live 24/7 on the tie out, which is why the words "tie out" make many dog lovers raise an eye brow. For the jaded souls who use short tie outs as some sort of 24/7 fence or containment system for their dog, I have nothing but disdain. Anyway, I made a mistake with the prong collar. Obviously, I know it was a mistake as I started the thread as a warning to others. If my stupid mistake keeps a dog from going missing or being hurt in traffic or gaining access to an unprotected decoy, then I'm glad I started the thread. Lesson learned, and the mistake shall not be repeated: I won't be using a prong collar again unless I'm present with a leash in my hand.

Setting aside the very important fact that a prong collar can come apart, and your tied out dog is now loose, there is another very important point, Thomas.

You put your dog on a tie-out, in prong collar. That means if it jumps or lunges at an intruder, or a fluttering leaf, it gets a harsh correction.
Not very fair to the dog, nor does it set them up for success in their job of being a deterrant.

You're right. It was an unwise thing to do, and I haven't done it since. It's no fun to make a mistake at my dog(s) expense, and then have to feel guilty about it myself.

An easy preventative measure would be to keep a flat collar on the dog when you walk it on it's prong. That way, when you return, you don't have to fumble around swapping out collars before you put the dog out to lounge on the tie-out.

A back-up is always a good idea any time you use a prong anyway. A dominant dog collar is the most common method, but I wouldn't advocate tieing a dog out on that, either, because a DD Collar doesn't loosen on it's own.

I got one of these and use it in conjunction with my dog's nylon collar, when I use the prong.
Her nylon collar sits quite a bit lower than the prong, so this works great to link the two together. It's 6" long...

http://leerburg.com/pulltab.htm

Mother:
Here's some subjects on the prong collar in English and then another in Finnish:
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/prong.html
http://www.kumikana.org/koulutus/piikkari.htm
And yes I found out that they are not legal on Finland....