Hello everyone,
I was wondering what your opinions are on choke collars and the pros and cons of them.

More injury is caused from choke collars then pinch collars. I don't use either one but given the choice it would definitely be the pinch.
The pinch collar spreads the pressure/correction all around the necks and uses much less "force" from the handler. Think power steering for dogs.
The choke puts most of the pressure opposite the leash. That's often times right on the dog's throat. That can be very important with small breeds that are prone to breathing/throat problems.
Then there is marker training. Light years ahead of correction training although a correct combination of both can be excellent.

I often have my son's young Boxer/Dane cross, and because his partner is sure all he needs is a long check chain, he pulls like a steam train, and messes about like a fish on a pole, when he comes to me, he has a prong on, (with my son's knowledge and permission) and he walks like a dream, I couple him to my big boy, and I walk him and my 4 on my own with no issues at all.

The first time I put it on him at home, just for a few minutes to start with, he didn't even notice it, and once I had built up his time wearing it, and then used it on a walk, he went into his usual MO of wanting to leap around and pull, got to the end of the lead, the prong squeezed in the proper position, and yes, he did initially resist it, but for the few minutes it was on before we reached the field, he 'corrected' himself and walked in sync with the rest of the pack.

It is frustrating for my son that his partner is pro check, but her other dog is a whippet and is light enough for her to hang onto, the young Louis however, is already a big and powerful lad, who when on the occasions she DOES walk them with the pushchair, is in my son's opinion, a liability.

I use a chain on my TRAINED dog. He was initially taught to walk on a loose leash with the aid of a plastic prong collar. I went to a slip lead or martingale after that but he seems more comfortable with the chain so I use it now. If for some reason he decided to forget his leash manners he would go back on the prong.

I will not walk a dog on a flat collar. I've seen how fast those can come off a dog.

If you're afraid of how the prong looks on your dog i would take a look at the Starmark collar. I prefer the small version and have gotten them for as little as 5 bucks each on Amazon. I just buy multiple collars to fit larger dogs. I would steer clear of the similar looking "command collar" put out by don sullivan. The links are too big and make the action sloppy IMO.

I'm absolutely sold on the value of using a prong (pinch) collar. The one we use with our Mal, Bailey, has the smaller prongs and is very effective. After all the troubling things I've read about using a choke chain or collar, we've discontinued their use completely. If I were to use any other kind of collar on a less demanding dog, I would probably just go to a martingale rather than a plain old flat collar.

Prong collars are the best, or a martingale on a soft dog. I used to use a light link chain on my well trained mix, just because it looked good on her...but not for training. A choke chain can actually bruise the neck.

The only choke collar I use on my Dutchie is a nylon one (dominant dog collar) and I never jerk it, just pull up on it. There's LB article on how to fit and use one properly.