Session 119: Which Training Collar is Right for You?

The Dog's Way Podcast: Dog Training for Real Life

In this episode I talk about training collars. Are they right for you? And if so, what kind of training collar do you choose for your dog, and just as important... what kind to choose for your dog/owner combination? For those who may be opposed to the idea of a training collar, I still urge you to listen. After training hundreds of dogs I have some ideas to share that might help with your decision on the matter.

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The Minimum Collar for Training

Martingale Collar: basic low level training collar. At a minimum I use a martingale collar like the one at this Amazon link (no plastic clasps, no chain loops) Here’s a link to find out more about this type of collar on Amazon. They also have them in most Pet stores. FYI – if you read the reviews of these collars, you’ll read some from people who left them on their dogs, while they were home alone all day, and they got the collar caught on things and choked themselves. So … don’t do that – problem solved. Note: make the size selection that is appropriate to your dog.

Upgraded Training Collars

Herm Sprenger Chain Collar: Medium level upgrade for more rambunctious dogs (again, more info on this at this link)

Starmark Plastic Training Collar: Medium plus level of collar. (Note – these come with a redundant line slip collar that you use with this collar to guard against the possibility of an improperly fitted link coming apart and separating while you’re training – be sure to use this redundant safety collar when you’re using the Starmark collar.) Click here to view on Amazon.com.

Herm Sprenger Prong Collar: The highest level of leverage and the collar makes it easiest for you to manage your dog in training and on walks. We generally work our way out of this collar as a dog’s proficiency indicates that it’s not necessary anymore.

Here is the metal collar link http://amzn.to/29842kW

And an alternative http://amzn.to/29bLHVb

Note: I often use a redundant slip collar (like the one indicated above as an alternative) when I use a prong collar. Because this training collar has separate movable pieces to it, there’s a possibility (usually human error) that sometimes results in the collar coming apart while training.

The redundant slip collar assures you that you don’t lose your dog if this happens. Also, it’s worth stating that they have decided to name this slip collar a “dominant dog collar”? I’m not really sure why. It functions just as well for nondominant dogs that happen to have a training collar break and want to run across a busy road to play with another dog … guess they figured the name sounded cool? Full disclosure, this page contains affiliate links. We’ll make a few dollars if you purchase through the affiliate links.

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