When teaching your dog basic commands, it’s important for you to decide which of these dog training collars you believe to be best for your dog. Understanding how to train a dog involves being well-informed about the tools which will help you teach your dog. Different collars are suitable for different types of dogs, so it’s important not to make the wrong decision. Here is a guide to some common dog collars, and how they can help you with proper dog training.
Buckle
A buckle dog collar is the most common type of collar that many people use for their dogs. Buckle collars are usually made of nylon, and are adjustable to fit a dog’s neck. Buckle collars may be able to be used for training, but only on dogs that aren’t “neck insensitive”. A neck insensitive dog will tug and pull at their leash to the point of choking, rasping or struggling for breath.
Break-away
As a safety precaution, many people choose to use break-away collars for their dogs. These collars include a feature that allows the collar to break away if it becomes caught on something (such as a metal chain-link fence). This prevents a dog from choking. However, these collars may still be used for training, since the break-away function won’t enable if the collar is hooked to a leash through two of its attaching loops.
Choke
Choke collars are sometimes called “chain-slip collars”. These collars are designed to tighten around a dog’s neck when pressure is applied, causing the dog to have difficulty breathing. With proper use of a choke collar, a dog can be “corrected” from tugging or pulling at a leash. However, this should only be done in a single short tug on the leash, tightening the collar for a brief amount of time. Any prolonged pressure can have negative effects on a dog.
Metal Prong
These collars may look intimidating but some experts believe they can actually be very effective for using on certain breeds of “neck insensitive dogs”. If you are going to use a metal prong collar always choose one that has a short distance between prongs. This will reduce the chance of the prongs damaging your dog’s skin. In addition to this, it’s best to use metal prong collars on dogs that have thick fur.
NEVER leave the collar on your dog after training sessions are completed. Metal prong collars should never be used on puppies, since some studies have suggested that this may cause behavioral problems later on.
