We would like to inform everyone of the uses of training collars, and why they are fully humane, safe and necessary. There are different types of training collars some are:
Choke Collar
Slip collar
Martingale
Prong/pinch collar
There are many different names for these collars. The main same we use is a Training collar. We do not like to refer to the metal training collar as a "choke collar" because it only chokes the dog if used incorrectly. Any type of collar can be harmful if not used properly. When put on the right way and used the correct way it is totally safe and humane. The training collar is made to release in the proper way as to only get the dogs attention, not hurt it. All of these devices are used to get the dogs attention, and it goes by the dogs temperament as to which one should be used on which dog. We also only use the best brands for safety reasons of the dog. Some regular brands can easily break and some of the prongs can be sharp on the ends. A good prong collar will be rounded on the ends not flat. That is why we only use the brands Titan or Herm Sprenger. We fully instruct our clients on the proper use of these collars. As stated before these devices are to get the dogs attention, they are the closest type of feeling that reminds the dog of being disciplined by the mother or another dog. It is important for us to relate to dogs in their natural state, the mother will grab the puppy by it's neck and growl when it does something wrong. Even though sometimes the puppy will squeal she is not hurting the puppy just teaching it a lesson. If we don't train dogs in this way it is not natural, it becomes treating them like humans. This is why we do not use treats, if we used treats we are just bribing the dogs and this does not give us the leadership position. Of course the dog will do what you want if you give it a piece of food, but odds are once you start to take that food away the dog is less likely to respond. When Julie first started training dogs she was a positive reinforcement trainer, it was a nice start but she wasn't able to help a lot of dogs because treats just can't do certain things. Once she learned so much more and the proper way to do things she immediately abandoned using treats to train dogs. Sure you can teach a dog a million tricks with treats, that's fine but when you have a dominant and/or aggressive dog treats just isn't going to cut it. We have just recently heard some stories about trainers that told people there was no help for their dog and they should be put to sleep. This made us very sad, we know better and we know we can help anyone who needs it. These positive reinforcement trainers did not help these people and only made them think there was no hope for their dogs. We aren't trying to necessarily bad mouth other trainers it's just that they aren't helping the dogs. We got into this business because we love dogs more than anything in the world, and we will do our best to train any and every dog we can to make them better. When we hear of other trainers doing things our way we are happy and don't want to compete with them because we know they are doing things the right way and that's how all trainers should do it. There are only very limited circumstances where a dog could not be trained at all, and it is rarely come across. To help ease your minds a little more about these collars, you can ask your veterinarian if it is safe. Any good vet will tell you it is safe under proper instruction, no matter what size your dog is. For those of you that worry about the collapsed trachea that many people like to scare owners about, here is the truth about that. The collapsed trachea is a genetic defect in the dog, it has nothing to do with a collar whatsoever. Whether you put a collar on your dog or not, if it's trachea is going to collapse it will happen no matter what. Julie personally met a woman who lost her chihuahua to collapsed trachea and she asked her if she ever put a collar on her dog in its life and she said never. The dog was young and was never even walked on a leash. Even dogs that have a collapsed trachea can still be trained our way. By using a prong collar. We have personally done it, and the dog did not cough once. A prong collar gives an even amount of pressure around the dogs neck as not to choke it in any way. In some ways the prong is even safer than a regular training collar. Julie has a 14lbs. Havanese/Bichon and he wears a prong. He is one of the happiest little dogs around, there is nothing wrong with any of these devices. The prong was actually made to simulate the teeth of another dog biting the dogs neck letting it know who was the dominant one. If you look at the anatomy of a dogs neck, you will see that it is solid muscle. Every dog is built this way and a training collar can't do damage to the neck. We hope that we answered any concerns people may have been having but again feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. Below are some links to some sites that give some more information about these collars and other trainers that use the same methods.
About Training Collars
This site lists what collapsed trachea is and what they can do for it. You will see there is no mention of a collar, it is a disease.
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