Prong collar: live vs. dead ring

Mandalay · Sep 21, 2009

The other day I was at CGC class with Mandi. At this point we are still using whatever collar we normally use when training...for me, this is generally her prong collar. I use her flat buckle collar sometimes, but we are just working into using it more depending on where we are walking, when and who/what we are going to come across, etc etc. Ok, so at CGC class #2 the other day, we had been walking around in the circle in a heel/attempted heel so I had Mandi on the live ring. She heels fine like this and usually on the dead ring or with the buckle collar, but with all the other dogs/distractions, I used the collar like so.

So we went off to the side to practice an out of sight to see if this is something Mandalay would have to work on and I had not changed her leash at all, it was still on the live ring since we were still in the ring at that time. The instructor assistant that was going to be holding Mandi while I walked away asked if I knew the leash was connected to the live ring and told me I should not be using the live ring. Since there was so much going on I did not think to ask why, so I am asking now...

Why would I use the prong collar without the live ring when I am teaching walking/heeling/etc? What would be the benefit/drawback? I want to understand why she would have pointed that out as I was not the only one using a prong on the live ring and I am working HARD on getting Mandi to where she can walk around other dogs that are jumping and lunging (as the dogs do in class since all but Mandi and one other are rather young and have not gone through much obedience) without the prong and with a regular buckle collar.

Input? Thoughts?

JKlatsky · Sep 21, 2009

The only thing I can think of is that on the live ring if Mandi started to fuss when you were out of sight the instructor didn't want to be giving her much of a correction...but even then I'm not really sure.

onyx'girl · Sep 21, 2009

^^I agree^^
With a CGC test you cannot have the dog on a prong, so maybe she was thinking of the transitioning to a flat, the dog would be better off on the dead ring til you start using the other collar? How many weeks are left of class?

Jason L · Sep 21, 2009

I think it's probably what Jane said. Don't want to get the dogs too collar dependent since you can't use prong during the test.

Mandalay · Sep 21, 2009

Originally Posted By: onyx'girl ^^I agree^^
With a CGC test you cannot have the dog on a prong, so maybe she was thinking of the transitioning to a flat, the dog would be better off on the dead ring til you start using the other collar? How many weeks are left of class?

We dont test until Dec 4th. The class was 10 weeks of actual class and then there were 2 or 3 weeks we were not meeting, we test on Dec 4th.

Liesje · Sep 21, 2009

Some people use the dead ring to give a "directional" correction. Meaning that if she pulls forward and you correct her on a dead ring, she's feeling it at the front of the neck/throat and not all around. If she was a really lag-y dog you could use the dead ring with the prong on backwards so you clip it at the front. I've never trained this way but have heard of people doing it like this. My SchH trainer says correcting on a dead ring on the prong or the fursaver is usually more effective than the live.

gsdlove212 · Sep 25, 2009

Lies that is what I was told as well. That you have to move your arm (or the dog has to pull) a few inches farther to get a correction on the live ring, where as on the dead ring there isn't as much give and the correction is actually felt sooner. I believe Leerburg even explains it on his site...but can't remember.

Prong collar: live vs. dead ring

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