Collars, so many choices!

Collars and Sense

When it comes to collars, one size -- and one kind -- definitely does not fit all. There are so many choices that it can get confusing, but collars should be chosen carefully. Quality, functionality, comfort and safety should drive your decision, not fashion or looks.

Also, plan on getting more than one collar. As your dog grows and matures, you'll want to replace collars.

Types of collars and related restraints:

It's important to understand that any particular collar can be effective, ineffective or harmful, depending on the handler and also on the individual dog. It's vital to learn as much as you can about training and educating your dog, choosing training tools, matching the tool to the individual dog, and using such items properly and humanely. In addition, proper fit is crucial.

* Buckle collars. Every dog should wear a buckle collar, indoors as well as outside. After all, even a canine homebody could feel compelled to dash out a door or run off when feeling insecure or frightened. This collar provides a handy "handle" for catching a loose or overly rambunctious dog, separating animals who don't get along, and for attaching the dog's I.D., dog license and rabies tags. If the tags clatter too much for your liking, you can mute the sound by affixing clear packing around them.

Buckle collars are made of leather, cloth, nylon and other materials. Choose a collar for sturdiness and comfort over looks. The collar should be adjusted tight enough so that it cannot slip off the dog's head; it should be just loose enough to allow you to slip two fingers between the collar and the dog's neck.

Buckle collars feature a ring to which you can clip a leash. Some folks, include many canine professionals, use this kind of collar for walking, while other folks like to use a body harness, head harness or training collar for walks outdoors for added control.

* Training collars. These include metal chain collars, choker collars, braided or rolled nylon slip collars, and cloth slip collars. A key benefit of this type of collar is that it self-adjusts, when used with a leash, around the dog's neck, giving the handler control and preventing the dog from slipping out of the collar.

However, training collars are among the most incorrectly use tools ever invented. So it's worth taking obedience classes to learn how to use them correctly. Hint: if your dog continually pulls when you're walking her with a training collar, you're not using it properly. Don't feel bad; you have plenty of company. Other signs of misuse: the dog is choking, gagging or wheezing during walks.

Common training collar mistakes include:

1. Using too long a collar. When the collar is placed on the dog, the part of the collar extending beyond the loop should be only 3 inches long. That comes to 3 inches longer than the dog's neck measurement.

2. Too tight a collar. You should be able to fit two fingers between the neck and the collar.

3. Putting the collar on wrong or "backwards". If put on the wrong way, the collar will not release naturally after you make a leash/collar correction (which is counterproductive for training, not to mention uncomfortable and unkind to your dog). Have a canine professional show you how to put on a training collar and use it properly. Since the standard walking position for the dog is by your left-hand side, you would take the chain collar, slip one end through the other to form a loop, then when you face the dog, the collar should look like a "P" (instead of a "q") as you slip it over the dog's head.

4. The handler constantly or frequently pulling on the leash. If the dog is pulling, or the handler feels he/she has to pull back, the handler is in need of training, so that he/she can, in turn, properly educate the dog.

5. Leaving a training collar on a dog. Important: training collars should be used only during training exercises and walking. For safety reasons, they should not be left on the dog. For example, the chain collars easily get caught on things, leading to choking and strangulation. Thus, you do not want to attach the dog's tags to training collars.

The training collar should hang loose when you're walking the dog. The only time it should be pulled tight is when a "collar correction" (also called leash correction) is needed, if you're using that type of training instead of a more purely positive reinforcement (or "reward-based") teaching method. Such a correction resembles a quickly yank followed by immediate release. A correction should be given only if a verbal command or hand signal signifying "heel" or "sit" is ignored by the dog. (Of course, you cannot expect the dog to understand a command unless you have carefully taught him the command and how he is expected to respond. Lassie was trained, not born obedient.)

Trainers who use training collars advise handlers to make the leash/collar correction a quick motion that sharply tightens the training collar about the dog's neck. Then the handler should immediately release pressure; if the collar was put on correctly, the links should immediately loosen up in response. Otherwise, if the training collar remains tight, the dog won't be able to distinguish between an intentional correction and the handler simply pulling on the dog's neck for no reason. The dog will quickly get accustomed to being uncomfortable, rendering the training collar useless (and possibly leading to a hurt neck or throat).

* Snap-on collars. These can be fine for gentler, less rambunctious dogs, but the closure can give way with stronger ones. As for stretch collars, we do not advise them for dogs, since a dog could back out of the collar.

* Martingale collars. Also called greyhound collars, these nicely designed devices serve as a gentler, relatively comfortable but still effective alternative to chain, slip, choker and other training/walking collars. The Premier Collar, made by a company by the same name, is just one example of this buckle collar, which typically looks like two loops of material. The leash is attached to the extra, smaller loop. This self-adjusting collar tightens if the dog pulls or tries to slip his head out, evenly around the dog's neck without risk of choking the animal. Martingale-style collars provide control to the handler while preventing injury to the dog. It's a humane and effective choice for many dogs, and is bidirectional -- you can it use it without adjustment no matter which side of body you heel your dog.

* Pinch or prong collar. This one has metal prongs on connected links of the collar. When you pull the leash, the prongs press into the dog's neck, in effect applying pressure to many points around the neck. The prongs should have vinyl coverings on the tips or the handler could injure the dog. Even with coated/covered prongs, many people misuse or overuse this restraint, reducing the potential effectiveness of the device and causing injury to the dog, immediately or over time. And as with training collars, when using pinch and prong collars, they should never be left on a dog.

If you use a prong collar, here's a tip. Sometimes, the link can disengage, allowing the dog to get off-leash. You can use an extra-long chain training (choke) collar as a back-up. To do so, connect the leash to the non-sliding ring of the chain training collar. Provided the chain collar is long enough, it doesn't interfere with the operation of the prong collar.

Like many other training tools, this kind of collar can be effective, ineffective or harmful, depending on the handler and also on the individual dog. It's vital to learn how to choose and use collars correctly to avoid subjecting your dog to confusion, discomfort and injury ... and to avoid self-sabotaging your plans to obedience-train your dog. It's always worth consulting with a certified, positive methods-oriented trainer or canine behavior specialist when starting to train and educate your dog.

* Body/shoulder harnesses. There is quite a variety of harnesses. Some are described below. Some advantages of harnesses over more traditional neck collars: comfort; allows the dog some greater range of motion; no pressure on the neck and throat (important for sensitive dogs); nice for outdoor activities such as hiking; good for some canine competitive events such as tracking. Disadvantages: some harnesses can chafe under the arms, and for those, slip-on pads and sheepskin covers can help; some handlers report less control with some harnesses (though that depends on the dog and the type of harness); since the head has more freedom of movement, the dog can more easily graze on walks and get in other dogs' faces; some Houdini hounds can slip out of some harnesses.

Some body harness choices include:

Front control harness: When the dog pulls, this harness guides the dog to turn back toward you. A drawback is that some dogs can slip out of this and some other kinds of harnesses. But through careful fit and managing your dog, you can avoid that.

Harnesses designed to reduce pulling: When the dog pulls, this variety of harness pulls the front legs back, nearly stopping the dog in her tracks. When she stops pulling and looks at you, praise her, give her a treat, and then move forward. The No-Pull and similar harnesses fit loop around the front legs and over the shoulders. Fit the harness so that it is snug but not tight or you'll impede blood circulation. Remember that this kind of harness provides no control of the head; also, it is not recommended for dogs with back problems.


Sporn harness: This well-designed restraint has straps that go around each leg and hook to the back of the collar. It works very well to discourage pulling, and many users find that it gives them better control than does a training or prong collar.

* Head harnesses. These clever, humane training devices include Gentle Leader (also known as the Promise collar) and Halti. As one trainer says, they're like power steering for dogs, and when used correctly, make many dogs feel more calm and safe. Recommended by the veterinary experts at Tufts University School of Medicine, the head collar/head harness is based on the principle that wherever the head goes, the body follows. Like horse halters, dog head collars hold the jaw and cheek, with one strap encircling the dog's nose and another running behind the back of the head. You hook a leash to a ring to the snout strap under the chin.

Used properly, head harnesses enable you to keep and redirect your dog's attention to you, helping give you the edge over distractions such as squirrels, rabbits, bicyclists, skaters, smelly roadside "attractions" and other approaching dogs and humans. Then when your dog is looking at you, reward her for paying attention to you and ignoring everything else.

Gentle Leader (www.gentleleader.com), Halti and similar collars pull the dog's head downward when the dog pulls, thus hampering forward motion. For many dogs, if the device is used correctly, the device coattails on natural physical responses and helps the dog soon figure out the correct response (ie, walking with instead of ahead of the handler, not lunging or pulling).

For an idea of how head halters compare to other types of collars for walking, Sarah Wilson of "Good Owners, Great Pets" (greatpets.com) suggests pros and cons. Advantages: excellent control over the dog's nose, particularly helpful for scavengers and aggressive animals; allows for smooth direction of dog with no jerking motion; allows smaller and less powerful people to more easily manage larger/more powerful dogs; because action is smoother, corrections are more acceptable to many. Disadvantages: some people don't like the "muzzle" appearance; head halters must be fitted properly to be safe and effective; second "back up" collar recommended for safety (particularly with strong dogs); some dogs take a while to get used to these collars; some dogs appear depressed or stressed on the head halter; can be dangerous if misused (do not jerk the leash, and never use head halters with a long-line or retractable lead); may not stay on some short-nosed dog; especially for bulgy-eyed dogs, eye scratches can result if the dog fights the head halter.

Expect the dog to struggle to remove the head collar when you start to use it. Practice inside, in very brief sessions, using tasty tidbits or even bits of peanut butter to distract and calm the dog. In most cases, the dog will acclimate to the head collar and eventually become very comfortable with it. The key is proper acclimation and use of the device. And never jerk this kind of collar.

Since it is possible for some dogs to slip out of a head harness, some trainers recommend placing another collar on the dog (and attached to the leash) as a back-up. Chain training collars are a good choice for this because they're loose enough to let the head collar do its job without interfering. Attach the leash to both collars just in case the head collar comes off. On a related note, Gentle Leaders are sold in buckle and snap-closure styles; opt for the buckle style for security. Some people use head collars long-term for their dogs; others use them during training periods and then phase out the head collars after the dog passes behavioral/training goals.

Be sure to read up on head collars/harnesses before using one. An in-person demo by a canine professional can be helpful as well. As with everything else "dog", starting off on the right foot, and paw, really pays.






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