# Best training collar



## SeanOf30306 (Nov 28, 2006)

Recently, I had to put my 17 year old Aussie mix down. Today, I am picking up the 7 month-old Yellow Lab mix I'm adopting. I very much want to do better by her than I did by Dog. One area of great concern to me is her training collar.

Dog was the greatest, but, he wasn't as obedient as he could have been. Years ago, a friend recommended a trainer, and I decided to give him a try. The trainer said his method involved some "mild" physical correction. I had NEVER used anything more than a slight shake of his scruff while scolding him, and was very hesitant about doing so, but the trianer convinced me to give him a one-lesson trial. If I was uncomfortable after that, he would not charge me. I agreed.

Now, I had a chain choke collar for dog. The trainer said the problem with that collar was that it rode too low on his neck, where all the muscles were, so it had no real effect on him, and it was too thick. He took it off and put on a thin, nylon choke collar that rode much higher on Dog's neck, right at the top. The trainer also swapped out the 6' leash I'd been using for a 15' leash.

He explained his method as he did it, saying he would not be correcting Dog, the dog's behavior would. He began walking Dog. When Dog veered off, the trainer didn't say anything, he just went in another direction, letting the leash pay out as he did so. When the leash was at it's limit, it snapped Dog's head around, and he yelped. The trainer repeated it once more. After that, Dog was perfect on the leash, both with the trainer and myself. 

Over the next few weeks, however, I noticed a big change in him. Previously, he literally jumped for joy when i asked him if he wanted to go for a walk. It was one of the best parts of my day, as I'm sure it was for him. Now, he'd still jump for joy when asked if he wanted to go for a walk, but, as soon as he saw that collar, he'd turn over and pee and try to get away from me when I put the collar on him.

I decided a more obedient dog wasn't worth turning his favorite thing in the world (next to food and girls) into something that he feared, and quit using that collar. It was too late, though. Over the last two years or so of his life, he developed balance problems, walking unsteadily and frequently falling. Towards the end, he'd never stand unless he had a wall, chair, or leg to lean against and steady himself. After going through numerous vets and diagnoses (brain tumor, brain disorder, severe lumbar arthritis, etc.), I finally found a vet who thought to x-ray his neck. The problem was a displaced Atlas Axis, which was putting pressure on his spinal column. Despite meds and three-times-a-week chiropractic adjustments, nothing could be done. He finally got so bad he couldn't walk more than a few steps without falling, and I did what I had to do for him.

The only neck trauma that dog ever had was that session with the trainer. It's clear to me that my backing off on my principles was the cause of his spending the last two + years of his life in misery, and I am determined to do better by Lily.

I've been watching Cesar Milan's tv show, and have ordered his book. He strongly advocates using a training collar high on the neck, but his method is much gentler, centering around heeping the dog on a short leash and making gentle leash corrections. I'm comfortable with his method, but don't know what kind of collar to get. Does anyone have any advice?


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## Curbside Prophet (Apr 28, 2006)

Well, you may want to look into Cesar's Ilusion collar. I have no personal experience with it, but it serves the purpose you described (riding high on the neck).


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## LoveLilly (Oct 25, 2006)

My parents owned a large dog and I own a tiny dog. Neither of us use collars b/c of the risk of injury. We use harnesses. Neither of us have ever used the pull of a leash or collar in training methods. Grant you, my experience is very very little and Lilly is only 5 months old, but I have seen my training work with treats and verbal praise finally phasing out treats to only verbal praise for the most part...with a few tricky areas that need work.


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## blackrose (Oct 7, 2006)

Not all training meathods work for one dog. You need to find what works well with your Lab pup. I'll give you an example with my three dogs:

*Blackie:*
Blackie was my hyper, out of control Lab puppy. We got him at six months of age off of the streets and he had had NO training, whatsoever. My parents just let him run wild, but once I was old enough, I decided to take matters into my own hands and started training him. 
I train with treats and, if it suits the dog, a choke chain. Blackie got the choke chain. When I first taught him a command, I would lure him into posistion with a treat while saying the command. Then I'd say the command and lure him with no treat. I'd gradually stop my hand motion and change it to a different hand motion. For instance: saying, "Sit" and pointing to the ground is a sit command. 
Once he had the command down pat, if he refused to do it, he'd get a quick correction with the choke chain. When he complied, he got lots of praise, belly rubs, and treats. When he completed his heel for the first time perfectly, you'd have thought he had won the lottery. He can now complete any of his obedience moves off leash and I only have to correct him when we are around other dogs, as he is dog aggressive. And even now he will stop looking at them when I say, "Leave it". 

*Rose:*
Rose is a very timid Lab mix. I have never used a Choke Chain on her because she shuts down when it is in use. If you correct her, she refuses to do anything because to her, training isn't fun that way. I use lots of treats and praise while training her. I never force her to do anything, I show her. A job well done earns her an offleash romp or a yummy tidbit of table scraps. 

*Sadie:*
Sadie is a typical Lab pup. She doesn't care how many times you correct her with a choke chain, she is unfazed. So with her, I use toys, treats, and praise to motivate her. No corrections. She thinks that training is the best game in the world and will almost rather obey commands than play fetch. And when the two are together...heaven. When she pulled on a leash, I'd stop. When there wasn't tension, I'd start. After doing this for a couple of minutes, I then preceeded to when she pulled, say, "Nope", stop, and make her come sit by my left side. After a couple minutes of that she was walking calmy by my left side and_ looking _at me of all things. Her reward was a short running session with her moving as fast as she wanted. After an, "Ok, Sadie, walk nicely." she was backin heel posistion, doing her best because she wanted to go run again.

Don't go by a set "training way" because God knows what kind of dog you'll get? My rule of thumb: if your dog's tail is wagging and he is having a blast while you train as well as learn, stick with it. If he fears training, you are doing something horribly wrong. If your Aussie was was litterly peeing himself in fright when he saw his training collar, that was NOT the way to train that dog. He may have behaved better, but it was because of fear. Would you rather have your dog working for you because he wants to and he respects you or because he fears you?

Not all dogs need training collars. I've trained two of my three dogs without one just fine and I only used it on Blackie because of his dog aggression issues. With some dogs a training collar will hamper the progress, not speed it up. 

I'd also reccomend the book, "Good dogs, Great owners" by Brian Kilcommons(sp?). He uses the Choke Chain, but he shows you how to use it the right way, the importance of rewards, the importance of making training fun, different collar options for different dog personalities and body types, and how to come across clearly to your dog.


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