Numerous types of collars have been made for dogs throughout the years - mainly for training purposes. How do you know which is best for you and your dog? How should they be used properly? What are the dangers with certain variations in collars? All of these questions need to be answered before the purchase of any collar to ensure the safety and health of your dog.
The majority of dog owners use a regular flat buckle collar, especially once their dog learns to walk well on a leash. Other types of collars include: choker collars (choke chains), which many people are familiar with; pinch collars (prong collars), which are newer and becoming more popular; harnesses, which go around the dogs chest; and probably the newest training collar is the head halter or head collar (brand name: Gentle Leader), which goes around the nose and back of the head.
The largest problem among dog owners is they don’t know how to use these collars properly and don’t realize they are not made to be everyday-use collars (with the exception of a buckle collar and sometimes harnesses). They are made for training purposes, meaning that once your dog knows basic commands such as “sit” and “stay”, these collars assist in enforcing these commands until good habits are formed while on a leash.
Yahoo Answers member, “Dee Dawg” says, “The dog still needs to be trained. The tool [training collar] is only used to administer correction, and before corrections can be effectively administered, the dog must know what the handler wants it to do….A correction should only be issued when the dog ignores or refuses a command that it knows. Then the correction is effective.
These collars are not meant to punish your dog by choking/pinching when your dog pulls away from something or for you to hold it back. If they don’t know the basic “leave it” or “stay” they will have no idea what you want from them just because you’re choking them.
“Kip’s Mom”, a member on Yahoo Answers, says, “When used properly, NO collar is cruel. When used improperly, EVERY collar is cruel.”
When used improperly, a choker collar does exactly as its name suggests. It chokes the dog, which in the severest of circumstances can cut off air circulation or even collapse the dog’s trachea, causing permanent damage. Prong collars can also cause damage, but not as severely as a choke collar if used improperly. As a caution, the prongs can also bend or snap over time, which can cause serious injury by gouging or cutting the dogs neck. Even the head halter - which given its name Gentle Leader, sounds a lot more pleasant than the previous collars – can cause injury if used improperly. Although you’re not choking or pinching your dog, the way this collar sits on your dogs head, if pulled harshly or in the wrong direction, it has potential to cause injury to the neck or spine. However, when used correctly, these are probably the most humane and beneficial of all the collars I have listed.
“BMTHESPIAN”, a user on Yahoo Answers, says, “I personally refused to use them [head halters] because when a dog pulls it forces the neck around, putting undue stress on the neck. As I have a breed that is prone to cervical vertebral instability (wobblers) I'm not willing to take that risk.”
The last type of collar is the harness. It rarely causes injury but isn’t very advantageous as it gives the dog the full force of their body to pull on the leash. (Actually, I remember when I was a child my parents bought one for my Golden Retriever. It didn’t help whatsoever.)
BMTHESPIAN says, “Harnesses put the force against the strongest part of the dog and actually encourage pulling and do little to actually train a dog.”
Although I mentioned earlier that most of these collars should only be used for training, I will tell you that I use a Gentle Leader almost every day with my German shepherd mix, Charliey. I would say I have a good reason for doing so, however; because my dog actually only weighs 30 lbs less than I do. Since a Gentle Leader goes around her nose and back of head, she doesn’t have the force to be able to pull me off my feet. If I used a buckle collar every time I took her outside near the lake behind my apartment, I guarantee once she saw a Canada goose I would end up on my butt being dragged through the dirt trying to hold on to her for dear life. Personally, I’d rather keep my clothes clean and not have my skin ripped off from being dragged, so I use her Gentle Leader a great deal of the time. The trick is…I know how to use it properly.
If you're not sure what some of these dog collars look like, check out this website. They even have more types than what all I talked about here.
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