How to Fit a Prong Collar - Dog Training in Milton

 
I will start off by saying that a prong collar is an excellent training tool if used and fitted correctly. Any tool, no matter what the type, can be harmful to your dog if not utilized correctly. If you are unsure how to use a training tool, please seek the advice of a professional before "experimenting" on your dog.

Prong collars are an often misunderstood training tool, but are one of the best out there to help gain control back on your dog, especially on walks. Over all, they are a safer and more effective alternative to choke chains, head halters and no-pull harnesses when used correctly. Prong collars are training collars ONLY and are NEVER to be left on a dog unattended.

Prong collars DO NOT slip over your dogs head like a martingale collar. Slipping a prong over your dogs head can severly damage an eye if the dog decides to buck while you manuver the collar. Slipping a prong collar over your dogs head also means the collar is not fitted correctly.

A prong collar should not be worn like a necklace. In other words, the prong collar should not be hanging around your dogs shoulder while in use. This is liable to cause damage to your dog wearing it this way and it will not work the way it is meant to. The prong should fit snuggly at the top of the neck, just below the jaw of your dog. You will find that some dogs aren't quite built to have the collar riding right up under the jaw, and my recommendation is, if you have to struggle to put the collar on and you feel it's too tight, add an extra prong. This may be the case in dogs with a lot of extra skin or a lot of extra fur. Just ensure that it isn't too loose and flopping around or riding down on the neck. It should stay in place when fit correctly, even if you have to add an extra prong for an inbetween size dog.

Prong collars have removeable pieces (prongs). In order to put on and remove the collar, the prongs are squeezed at the top (the bend in the prongs) and compressed so that they slip out from the loops in the prong to which they are attached. Once appart, you simply place the collar around the dogs neck, and reattached the prongs together (once again, squeeze where the bend is, and insert the prong into the other on the collar). Adding and removing links is done in the same way.

Don't get a collar that is too large for your dog. Prongs come in small, medium and large with removeable links. It's always better to err on the side of small for your dog, rather than going with one that is too big and cumbersome. You can always buy extra links if the length is not the correct size.

The below article from the Leerburg Website www.leerburg.com, is an excellent illustrative piece on how to fit and properly use the prong collar.

http://leerburg.com/fit-prong.htm

If you have any questions about this, or any other tool, please feel free to contact us and we would be happy to speak to you about training tools for your dog - dogtraining101@hotmail.com.

www.smartdogsk9.com