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Article Overview
Should Dog Training Collars Be Used At All?
Many people question why dog training collars must be used at all, suggesting that behavioral training and positive reinforcement can work just as well as training collars do. The problem with using only positive reinforcement training is that dogs, just like people, forget. A dog can be taught to walk well on a leash, to stop barking at the gardeners outside the house and to stop still when they get to the front door of their home.
Training Collars Can Supplement A Positive Training Experience
However, even with this knowledge there are moments when a dog’s innate instinct takes over instead. Faced with a squirrel on the front porch and knowledge that they must stop at the front door out of their master’s desire, the dog cannot always resist the instinct to track and kill that pesky squirrel.
Using training collars does not have to be a negative experience. In fact, when using the appropriate collar choice for your dog appropriately, training collars can supplement a positive training experience.
Types Of Dog Training Collars
There are some rather controversial arguments against using some of the below listed training collars. However, each type of collar has its own uses and when used properly with your individual dog in mind they can all be effective.
Make sure you learn how to use these collars correctly because if used wrong, they could injure your dog.
Pinch | Choke | Martingale | Anti-Bark | Invisible Fence | Remote Dog Training | Gentle Leader & Easy Walk Harness
The Pinch Collar
The first collar that may be suggested or recommended to you when training your dog is the pinch collar, also known as the prong collar. The pinch collar can be used for a wide variety of reasons including teaching your dog to heel, not to pull, not to heed distractions while you are walking and not to pick up “dirty” items from the ground while you are walking together.
Read Our Article On The Pinch Collar For Details
The Choke Collar
Choke collars are used in many of the same training situations as pinch collars, for the most part in maintaining composure outside the home and with aggressive dogs. Choke collars can be helpful with larger dogs or dogs with aggressive tendencies, but they should not be used on small or fragile necked breeds.
Read Our Article On The Choke Collar For Details
The Martingale Collar
Martingale collars work much the same way as a choke collar without metal against the dog’s skin and with the soft fabric or nylon creating the pull rather than a metal chain. Dogs are less likely to choke when wearing a martingale collar rather than a choke collar.
Read Our Article On The Martingale Collar For Details
The Anti-Bark Collar
As its name suggests an anti-bark collar is intended to stop your dog’s nuisance barking. There are 3 different types of anti-barking dog collars (citronella, shock and sonic), some of which receive more criticism than others.
Read Our Article On The Anti-Bark Collar For Details
The Invisible Fence Collar
The invisible fence collar is used for the purpose of notifying your dog when they are approaching the invisible boundary around your home set up by your invisible fence collar. This can help when you don’t want to put up a physical fence around your property, or when your dog likes to climb fences (like Kimberly’s dog Sally).
Read Our Article On The Invisible Fence Collar For Details
The Remote Dog Training Collar
Remote dog training collars involve a handheld transmitter and a wireless collar receiver. You then set the transmitter to send a radio signal to your dog’s receiver and they can receive a tone, vibration or static shock to reward or correct behaviors.
Read Our Article On Remote Dog Training Collars For Details
Gentle Leader & Easy Walk Harness
PetSafe has created 2 unique training items, The Easy Walk Harness and Gentle Leader Head Collar, they both have their own features. The Easy Walk Harness is more for dogs who need to learn not to pull on a leash, while the Gentle Leader Head Collar is meant to prevent excessive barking, lunging and jumping.
Read Our Article On The Easy Walk Harness & Gentle Leader For Details
Remember To Be Consistent & Patient
With such a wide variety of dog training collars to select from to address behavioral problems and set rules for your dog, training has been made increasingly easier. While these collars can assist you in training your dog, you should always keep in mind that training your dog requires work and patience on your part as well.
Even while using corrective measures you are responsible for judging the safety of your dog and other dogs when you are out with your dog and using dog training collars. Training your dog with an appropriate collar can be effective without the use of treats.
What collar do you think is best for training your dog?
The information contained in this article and website is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional safety advice; it is provided for educational purposes only.
These fighting puppies were miserable in their separate play yards and we were miserable with puppies who were turning into dogs from hell and barking to be with us. We couldn’t afford a trainer and we didn’t know what to do. We even considered rehoming one of them.
When I read up on various options, I didn’t want to consider a shock collar until I heard my cousin used one to keep her farm dog from chasing passing cars. She had great luck with the one she used and within days, her dog stopped.
I decided to try them myself and got a pair of remote controlled shock collars off Amazon. I tried one on myself first and determined that out of an intensity range of 1-100, a level 3 was probably a good low starting point.
I didn’t have to wait long to try them out. Once they locked eyes and one went at the other, I activated the collar on the aggressor and he about did a back flip. I reduced the power to a 1. I have only had the collars on a day and they are able to be in the same room again. Peace has been restored and they are now playing with toys, sleeping next to one another, and have been much less aggressive when they have started to wrestle. I can stop this behavior now by shaking a can of pennies. I am hoping to be able to use the can method going forward, but they will wear the shock collars until they are neutered, just in case.
They are scheduled to be neutered in 2 weeks and I hope we won’t need the collars at all after that happens.