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I am wanting to use a pinch collar (prong) on my Welsh Terrier. I have used them on a terrier before and know how well they work while being very careful not to abuse the dog. They are actually more humane than choke chains in my opinion. So...please...no lectures on why I shouldn't use one.
Question is....my Welsh is very strong willed. This is normal for the breed...and the fact that he is only 15 weeks old. My leash training (regular collar) is going fairly well with him. He stays to my side much of the time as I walk him and use the term "heal" as well as praising him when he is in the zone. As I stated before, I had a Welsh many years ago and all was well with him until he reached a certain point in his young life where he decided he could just pull and go to the side whenever he wished. I see my current Welsh starting to do the same thing...but not too bad yet. I know all about going in another direction and making sure he isn't controlling me on the leash....but if I need to use a pinch collar (as I did years ago)...at what age is it appropriate to start using it? I can't recall what age my last Welsh needed it (and he was GREAT after I used the collar...never a problem). I don't want to hamper my pups trust in me and understand that he may be a bit young yet. Maybe at 5 months? 6?
An internet search was rather vague in answering this question....so this is why I am asking here.
Your problem is the way you are training the dog, not the type of collar. That you think you know anything about collars and their appropriate uses, when you obviously can't train the dog (since you mentioned this happened to another dog) is laughable.
Take the dog to a professional dog trainer. Do not use the pinch.
I am wanting to use a pinch collar (prong) on my Welsh Terrier. I have used them on a terrier before and know how well they work while being very careful not to abuse the dog. They are actually more humane than choke chains in my opinion. So...please...no lectures on why I shouldn't use one.
Question is....my Welsh is very strong willed. This is normal for the breed...and the fact that he is only 15 weeks old. My leash training (regular collar) is going fairly well with him. He stays to my side much of the time as I walk him and use the term "heal" as well as praising him when he is in the zone. As I stated before, I had a Welsh many years ago and all was well with him until he reached a certain point in his young life where he decided he could just pull and go to the side whenever he wished. I see my current Welsh starting to do the same thing...but not too bad yet. I know all about going in another direction and making sure he isn't controlling me on the leash....but if I need to use a pinch collar (as I did years ago)...at what age is it appropriate to start using it? I can't recall what age my last Welsh needed it (and he was GREAT after I used the collar...never a problem). I don't want to hamper my pups trust in me and understand that he may be a bit young yet. Maybe at 5 months? 6?
An internet search was rather vague in answering this question....so this is why I am asking here.
Thanks.
All I ask of mine when I walk them is not to pull. For me, staying in a heel position is for potentially troublesome situations while on the walk and you want control (e.g., another dog passing) or when doing formal obedience. IMO a walk is a time for them to explore and relax. I would think keeping to a heel position would make it less enjoyable for the dog. I definitely understand teaching heel and not pulling but why does he need to stay by your side during the entire walk?
I use front clip harnesses on my dogs who like to pull. Have you tried those?
I don't think a dog goes out of their way to "control" the walk other than seeing or smelling something interesting and wants to investigate, especially for such a young dog. Just my opinion, that's all.
All I ask of mine when I walk them is not to pull. For me, staying in a heel position is for potentially troublesome situations while on the walk and you want control (e.g., another dog passing) or when doing formal obedience. IMO a walk is a time for them to explore and relax. I would think keeping to a heel position would make it less enjoyable for the dog. I definitely understand teaching heel and not pulling but why does he need to stay by your side during the entire walk?
For the dogs safety in city environments where busses, cars, people, bicycles, scooters, strollers, and biting dogs pass by just outside the "heal" position.
That may be so, but I'd bet it was given in addition to "if used by a professional."
Pinch collars, used the wrong way, can really hurt a dog.
Some pinch collars certainly can. As can choke chains (which are VERY easy to place on a dog wrong...causing injury). The pinch collar I would use has ROUNDED, dull prongs. It would be nearly impossible for a person to pierce the skin with one of these collars. Really...I know a lot about them as far as injury possibility and usefulness for certain temperaments. A simply flat, leather collar can cause injury using the same force to the windpipe.
Anyway...I can see too many people on here have strong opinions and even insults to make. All I did was ask a question.
I love prong collars; but, I use it on a dog who is already performing loose leash walking and is getting familiar with formal obedience heeling. I can then make very light corrections which gives feedback to the dog which allows her to make small adjustments to lagging, forging, crooked sits, etc.
That being said, I understand that terriers can be stubborn; but, aren’t all 5-6 month old dogs stubborn as they go through that bratty teenage phase? My Standard Poodle was. I mean she did stay walking by my side – only she was about 6 feet above me half the time! So, I think 5-6 months is too young. I think I put a prong on my Standard when she was about a year old.
Pinch collars do have their place in training though. I know many people brought their dogs to obedience training precisely because they couldn't control their dogs, a lot of times because of how large the dog was. Even a young lab can drag his owner across the ground with a regular choke collar. For a lot of people, they have to get control or get rid of the dog, so a pinch collar, until the dog learns his basic commands, is a blessing for them. And also for young children trying to train large dogs.
I swore I'd never use one, but then I started taking my dog along with me on the bike, having him trot alongside. I had one hand on the leash and one hand on the bike, and when my dog stopped dead to look at something, I went over the handlebars. So after a proper introduction, I put a pinch collar on him. I never did have to jerk on it, just give a very gentle tug. After a few lessons, I never had to put it on him again. I hated to have to use it, but this was a safety issue for me, and I really wanted my dog to get more exercise than I could give him just walking him on leash.
Plenus, only you can decide if your dog needs a pinch collar now. If you do, I would make a very slow introduction to it and not allow the dog to get in a position where you have to jerk him hard with it. Just a few little tugs will probably get the lesson across. I've seen a few pinch collars used on six month old Dobermans. Because of ear taping, you can't even put a choke collar on them when they're younger and they can get really, really bratty while their ears are healing. And I don't mean bratty because their ears hurt them. But a lot of Dobes are all about as much as they can get away with, and not being able to put a training collar on them when they're young just gives them a head start on that life mission.
Having said all this, I think 15 weeks may be a bit young for a pinch collar myself. I'd give him at least another month or two and in the meantime, just spend time doing the very basics. I may be in the minority in this, but if I had a willful pup, I would wait a bit with the formal training anyway. I think some dogs just get started too soon. If I had to do it over, I would have taught my dog the basics of obedience, but I don't think I would have even started him in any formal obedience training until he was well over 2 years old. He was slow to mature and I think that was mentally as well as physically. But that's something only you can decide, because you know your own dog.
Last edited by rodentraiser; 09-23-2015 at 03:53 PM..
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