I see a lot on this topic and I've read a handful of them, I think it's time to at least give a prong collar a try. I've been working with a flat collar since I got my pup who is now 7.5 months old, and the last 2 months I've really really been working on no tension on the leash. She has gotten better with changing direction and saying "heel", but eventually what she will do is just dart/pull hard in the opposite direction when I say "heel".
The two things that happened recently to make me rethink I should try a prong is: 1. Talking to a lady with a small dog and Halo is literally flat on all fours pulling toward this dog and she is very strong. 2. I take her to places like lowes/home depot and changing direction works at the beginning but eventually she does the same dart/pull when I change direction. Also, today I took her to a clothing store and no matter how much slack or how tight I had the leash I couldn't get any kind of heel going, the best I could do is get her to down and calm for a minute or two at a time(with treats)... I hate to think how much pressure was on her neck with the flat collar at the store today.
Sorry for the long post, is it time to try the prong? If I do start using a prong, does anyone see an issue going with chrome instead of stainless steel? I also tried the no-pull harness but rarely use is cause it just seems to be masking the pulling problem. She still pulls with it, there's just not as much tension on my end.
The two things that happened recently to make me rethink I should try a prong is: 1. Talking to a lady with a small dog and Halo is literally flat on all fours pulling toward this dog and she is very strong. 2. I take her to places like lowes/home depot and changing direction works at the beginning but eventually she does the same dart/pull when I change direction. Also, today I took her to a clothing store and no matter how much slack or how tight I had the leash I couldn't get any kind of heel going, the best I could do is get her to down and calm for a minute or two at a time(with treats)... I hate to think how much pressure was on her neck with the flat collar at the store today.
Sorry for the long post, is it time to try the prong? If I do start using a prong, does anyone see an issue going with chrome instead of stainless steel? I also tried the no-pull harness but rarely use is cause it just seems to be masking the pulling problem. She still pulls with it, there's just not as much tension on my end.