Oh for crying out loud (Germany is about to ban the prong)

[Mrs.K]

So not only is the shock collar banned but so called "activists" finally got the prong & co. banned too.

What's next? Schutzhund itself?

[blackshep]

Oh jeeze, where did you hear about that?

I have to give Germany some credit though, their animal protection laws make Canada look prehistoric.

Still, that sounds excessive. I have no idea what that will do to sch. trainers in Germany.

[Packen]

Originally Posted by blackshep

I have no idea what that will do to sch. trainers in Germany.

The train in the "woods" with e and prong collars

[blackshep]

Originally Posted by Packen

The train in the "woods" with e and prong collars

[Mrs.K]

Originally Posted by Packen

The train in the "woods" with e and prong collars

Of course, but how the heck are they going to enforce that anyways. The as law itself is already enough as it is, they just need to enforce it.

There are numerous different sources right now that want the prong being named in the law alongside with the e-collar. There has been a petition going on with 50 000 voices and a suit as far as I know with the judge saying it should be taken into the law. However, some of the politicians say that it's not about the prong being specifically worded but about an enforcement issue so it wouldn't make sense to actually put it into the law because the law itself already says that it is illegal to inflict any pain and damages for training purposes.

It's a mess right now.

There has been one awesome report about Schutzhund on the WDR channel and about the positive methods that are now primarily being used and should be used and that the drives are being controlled and that the dogs can actually live out their desires and the drive through the sport and that the sleeve is nothing but a toy. That is how bad it has gotten that the sleeve has to be a toy because of the publics perception that the dogs are turned into sharp attack dogs. They also talked about the soft stick and why it seems that the helper hits the dog. Sometimes I wonder if all these changes have been made because of the dogs or because of the publics pressure and perception.

If anyone knows German, here is the link.
Schutzdienstausbildung - Tiere suchen ein Zuhause - WDR Fernsehen

[Blanketback]

Originally Posted by Mrs.K

Sometimes I wonder if all these changes have been made because of the dogs or because of the publics pressure and perception.

Exactly - and how many people who are active in schutzhund want to see the prong banned? Will that push the HS collar out of production, or will they still export, I wonder?

[Mrs.K]

No, it won't. The funny thing is, even though the e-collar is banned, it isn't illegal to sell or own it, it's only illegal to use it. So it is still being sold.
The HS collar will not go out of production, not anytime soon, because i'm pretty sure that the prong will still be sold. If they make it illegal they would only make it illegal to wear the spikes inward but not outwards (doesn't make sense, I know).

[Blanketback]

Well that's a relief! Thanks for telling me that. I know that the prong collar has been around forever: it's called "torquatus" under the illustration and "forquatus" in the actual text of my translated edition of v. Stephanitz's book. Or called a 'training collar' also.

[Sunflowers]

Problem will be we will not be able to buy good German made prongs anymore

[Blanketback]

It's ok Sunflowers, Mrs.K. said they would still make them. They're legal to own, so people will still buy them. Yay, we don't have to worry about using crappy imitations, lol.