Person at work is IGNORANT about dogs!
 

I was talking about jogging with my yorkie since she loves to pull and likes to run so much and this lady says to put her in a prong collar and that'll stop her from pulling.... WTF!?!?!?! A yorkie in a flipping prong collar. ARE YOU NUTS!?!?!?

Some people are walking around with more stupidity than I can possibly imagine.

pretty much!

I had trouble with my schnauzer/maltese mix pulling and my trainer had me use a choke collar. (at first I was afraid to use it and she said it would be ok) It worked well with her. I only had to use it maybe a month and then I went back to the body type collar.

good thing you didn't cause that poor dog a collapsed trachea. to all the readers a prong collar is NEVER the answer!!!

I bought the Easy Walk Harness to help with the pulling. I would never use any kind of collar. Shadow tries to keep up with our Viszla, not possible.

Do you think she understood that you wanted your dog to run?

I never said I used a "prong collar" . This is the kind I used
http://www.siberian-husky-dog-breed-...ger-collar.jpg

I wouldn't use a choke collar, either. Too much risk of causing trachea damage when used on a small breed dog.

Easy walk harnesses work great to eliminate pulling and pose no threat to the trachea.

There are a lot of trainers that give great advice on the tools that will help to train a dog, a lot of trainers aren't experts on the in's and out's of the physical and structural limitations of every breed of dog. They may be great when working with a dog's brain, but many aren't aware of the risks of having a lead/leash attached to a collar of a small breed dog.

That being said, mine do wear collars but only for ID tags. When a leash is involved, a harness is used.

That's just as bad. Anything that wraps around their neck can be very harmful. Many people don't know how the slightest choke can cause problems.

Never use a collar on a Yorkie period-especially for walking.
Try a front leading harness-great for all breeds!
When they pull past you immediately turn around and go the other way...seriously though I don't care if my little Yorkie walks in front and pulls he's not too big and unmanagable when asked to return he does ( I don't even use a leash on him really I know I'm bad but he never laves my side and it makes it easier to walk my other dogs) but whatever...works for others just be educated.


Note for other dog breeds:This is only for extreme cases also not a first resort..
A choke collar is more damaging that a prong collar which is actually a Herm Sprenger collar (get the rubber ball covered prong ones and have a vet make sure it is the right size prong) it pinches the skin on the neck as opposed to crushing the dogs neck often making breathing difficult...I have used a Herm Sprenger collar before with my dog who had a serious aggression towards other dogs...he yelped one time and well that was enough for me...although putting it on him inside out afterward worked wonders...i never used it again and really feel they should only be used in serious situations under the advice of a trainer...
Choke collar = crushing the throat causing damage
Herm Sprenger + causes pain by pinching skin...
Neither are needed anywhere as much as they are sold and used-

I don't think they should be used personally, don't care what people or trainers think. I certainly wouldn't like someone choking me with big spikes jamming in my neck and throat if I just happened to walk ahead or veer to the left a little too much.

Well and how much can a YORKIE REALLY pull anyway????? Geez!!! There are many different 'humane' collars for pulling, why a prong collar.......ugh!

I suppose my shock at hearing of the Pronged Collar approach was just as profound as others here, HOW STUPID ! Sadie, please tell that lady how
many here think she's out of her mind ! I liked concretegurl's BOLD statements !

IMO:
I don't choke them,
I don't shock them with anything, buried or around their necks,
I don't jab my fingers into their throats,
I don't use a Collar for anything other than Tag Display,
I don't "set them up" to cause themselves pain, by prongs or other,
I don't train them to respond to "clicks"... MY voice only !
I don't confine them in small spaces, they're Dogs, not a pair of Sox.

AND, I don't think you're totallly wrong, just because we may not agree
on a point or two. (except for that crazy Lady mentioned first)
There are two "basic" methods/approaches to training...
Authoritarian and Nurturing, I happen to prefer the latter.

That's actually worse than a prong collar. At least a prong collar does not choke them. It just gives a pinch.

Some people just need to be educated... it doesn't necessarily mean they are stupid (though I completely disagree with the use of these collars) but you've gotta remember, choke collars were just a normal thing to buy for a dog at one point in time. I remember when my parents got new puppies and to get all the pup necessities, a choke collar was always included. It was all anyone had ever heard of and they didn't even know they were doing damage. Some people just haven't learned otherwise.

I dogsit a Lab and she has never owned a dog before him. Well, he's a TERRIBLE walker and she bought a prong collar for him, but I suggested the Easy Walk harness so she went out and bought it, never heard of anything like it before. I also introduced her to clicker training. The Lab has got amazing focus with food and he learns super fast and didn't need those shock collars or prong collars she had.

When I first got Jackson, I had never heard of putting a dog in a harness. I mean, I guess I had heard of it, but I always pictured running Huskies in them, etc. I just always saw house pets with a regular dog collar on. It wasn't until I joined YT that I knew a harness was a necessity. And I like it so much better!

I'm so happy I've discovered positive reinforcement and clicker training. It makes for such a great relationship with your dog but I realize not everyone has the knowledge or the tools, so I always try to educate when I can.

Thanks for noticing I bolded a few things for good reasoning...and again I don't promote the use of a Herm Sprenger "prong collar" it is a last resort for very specific situations: when everything else has failed and should only be used by someone who knows what they are doing...I don't think choke collars have any function or should be used at all as they are ineffective and dangerous.

I ditched the "prong collar" (again I had one with rubber ball tips) after using it once! I put it on inside out after that and used a soft muzzle to protect other dogs from bites during very forced socialization...we all learn the hard way sometimes, and honestly I still very bad about the whole situation personally.