This is interesting because last night was also my first night of obedience training (no dogs the first week), so I guess we'll be going through this together! My main concern was when I found out it was required for them to have either a choke collar or a prong collar! Now, maybe that's fine for a Lab puppy who weighs 60 lbs. but my Brandi is 10 times smaller and she wears a harness only. I had to talk to the teacher after class and I explained that she is a Yorkie, and her neck is only this big, and she said to me "Well, I've seen them on Chihuahuas - I know they make them that small" and I told her I knew that too, but that isn't the issue. She said they can't be trained with a harness, and unless there was a medical reason, she needs this collar - so I told her the medical reason is she is prone to collapsed trachea and pinched nerves (as with the whole yorkie breed) so she finally said "Fine" ... I just can't see pulling a yorkie around with a metal prong collar! As for hitting your dog - that only teaches them to fear you - and who wants that? Looking forward to next week's class - we will be doing the sit, heel, and stay commands. |