Prong or e-collar????

[katdog5911]

Things were great. We had gotten to the point of being able to ignore the other dog or meet it if it was a non aggressive dog. I guess it was a combination of things we did but the deciding factor was the prong collar. And of course lots of praise when Stella was appropriate. I am hoping that we can get back to the place we were at.
I am wondering if the prong collar is too tight....I think maybe Stella's neck has grown....How do I know it is fitting correctly? I would ask the trainer but not sure when we will see him.

[harmony]

A dog or person might act for you, when you, or become to weak . Dogs act out to some people that own them.

[katdog5911]

Just because a dog is walking towards you doesn't mean you have to keep walking towards it while you are working thru this issue. Going down a side street. Taking your dog off the sidewalk and into a sit with you between it and the oncoming dog/handler. Crossing to the other side of the road. Not walking your dog in areas where you may meet a dog until you work thru this again.

This is so true. But it reminds me of not too long ago when we were walking, we saw a dog coming towards us so we turned around. Well, guess what, another dog was coming from that direction too! We had nowhere to go except a driveway, where a dog proceeded to bark at us from inside. Dogs dogs everywhere

[JPF]

We have used both for our dog. I just find the prong more effective. it is hard to both carry a leash and the transmitter and do a good job of timing. The key is the dog knowing what it is being corrected for. If for example you command "look at me" and the dog continues to focus on the other dog then a correction works. You don't want the dog to associate the prong or e collar with the presence of other dogs. Practice it when other dogs are not around.

We use the e collar exclusively for off lead work. Most of the time it is for his safety (ie-running after wildlife).

I would think the e collar would be effective for barking in the yard, but don't have that problem so I am just guessing.

[llombardo]

I don't think either of these tools are meant for permanent use. Both are used for training purposes only. If the dog is fine on the prong, when will it be fine without it. Do people actually use a prong for the lifetime of a dog? Is the e collar used forever? Please forgive my questions, I do not use either of these tools How long does one use these tools for training and if its for a long duration of time, is the dog really trained at all? I guess what I'm saying is that if for example(as someone else wrote) the dog is off lead and an e collar is used so that dog doesn't chase wildlife, how long does the collar have to be used before the dog is actually trained not to chase wildlife without the collar?

[JPF]

Originally Posted by llombardo

I don't think either of these tools are meant for permanent use. Both are used for training purposes only. If the dog is fine on the prong, when will it be fine without it. Do people actually use a prong for the lifetime of a dog? Is the e collar used forever? Please forgive my questions, I do not use either of these tools How long does one use these tools for training and if its for a long duration of time, is the dog really trained at all? I guess what I'm saying is that if for example(as someone else wrote) the dog is off lead and an e collar is used so that dog doesn't chase wildlife, how long does the collar have to be used before the dog is actually trained not to chase wildlife without the collar?

These are good questions. The e collar is merely a last defense for our dog now. He doesn't respond differently with it on or off these days. Its more for our own piece of mind.

[KayleeGSD]

If the prong worked for you and your dog I would keep using it. If you decide you want to use a e collar I would check out Lou Castle's site. I think both tools are for training and eventually you ween your dog off of them.

Home

[JakodaCD OA]

I agree with Kaylee, if the prong worked for you, go with it and see if you can rework what's been lost.

Personally, I'd start by going somewhere that she isn't going to run into other dogs, start back at the beginning sort of.

I know you said you kind of slacked off, but the dogs she encountered , were they dogs that were charging her? or ones you just seem to cross paths with??

A reactive dog especially is not going to put up with another dog 'charging' them, that alone, can leave an impression and idea of "i'm going to get you before you get me" amping up the reactivity with ANY dog whether it's charging them or just minding it's own business..

Ok done rambling,,hope you can get back to where you were

[katdog5911]

I hope to not use the prong or e collar forever. We were at a point where I was able to use just a flat collar on her when we were near other dogs in certain places where she was comfortable. (I always had the prong on her in case I saw trouble brewing, but didn't use it) My plan with the e collar was to use it for the barking and off leash work. Not going to start the off leash till I meet with trainer. He suggested the e collar for the reactivity after I told him how she had regressed. I think I will use the prong again for now since it seemed to work well in the past. But how tight is too tight????

[blueoctgal]

FWIW I have an 8 month old male who moved from fur saver to prong and 2 months ago we started with the e collar with a trainer. It has made a tremendous difference in recall and leave it. However once Teddy gets into that aggitated place all bets are off - it only fules his crazies. Leerburg has a training video on the correct way to use the collar as well as a Q&A section on their website.