no mom I don't like my prong collar!

azpit5 · 12-19-2012, 05:22 PM

Hey all I'm a newbie here and I've been lurking for awhile (creepy I know lol). Anyways I have a 1.5 year old male pit/boxer mix. When we first got him he pulled me along for a walk but since then I've gotten him to quit pulling. He occasionally walks in front of me and I have to correct him, which is why I am still using the prong. However, in the last few days he has begun to shy away from the prong. Whenever I get it out he trots away and stares at me. So I wait and when he comes to me he does a sit but when I put it on he lowers his head, sort of like a cower. He even sometimes lays all the way down. He doesn't want anything to do with it. I thought maybe the prong was too tight but when I add another link the collar slides down to the base of his neck. Any suggestions?

**bahamutt99** · 12-19-2012, 05:45 PM

If he's getting good at walks, can you phase out the prong? IMO, moving to a position in front of you shouldn't require a prong to correct. I own prongs, but I have never liked using them long-term. I have mostly used them for correcting serious impulse control issues. Perhaps you could start by walking him with a flat collar and having the prong on as a secondary, only using it if you need to. JMO, if he's avoiding the pring and doing pretty well in his own, it might be time to start working the brain rather than the neck to get him back by your side.

azpit5 · 12-19-2012, 05:53 PM

I was thinking it was time to phase out the prong but I figured that if he didn't feel it on him he would revert back to his old pulling ways. This is the reason I have kept using it. I will try a walk with just his flat collar. I have read that if he gets ahead you can just turn on a dime and walk the opposite way and he should learn to follow the leader. Any experience with this? Thanks for the reply.

**bahamutt99** · 12-19-2012, 06:30 PM

The about-turn thing can work. Does he know the heel command? If he starts to go out in front, you can just stop and make him return to heel position. Honest? When I'm taking a walk, I don't worry about focused heeling with perfect position. I just ask for a loose leash. When I'm working on heel for competitions, I get the dog back by stopping and luring or commanding them back into position at my left.

azpit5 · 12-19-2012, 09:19 PM

He doesn't know heel. We have had him for two months and I have been consumed with training him not to pull. There's always slack on the leash, I just can't stand when his mid-abdomen area goes past my knees because I think that is a sign of dominance or leading the pack. I think I will try leashing him and going in the backyard and do the about turn thing with treats in hand and use some positive reinforcement. Thanks for your post. I had two greyhounds previously and it's definitely different lol but I'm willing to learn because he's an awesome dog!

**performanceknls** · 12-19-2012, 11:29 PM

I have competition Obed dogs and if I'm going to take more than one out or go for a casual walk I still use a prong. It's more of a reminder at this point but that way I can have a nice walk with no fight. And of course he doesn't like the prong! he can't get away with pulling! My advice is to give smaller corrections instead of a large pop. That way its a reminder than a big correction. The other thing you can do is make the prong a positive thing instead of negative. Get some killer treats like hot dogs, lunch meat, string cheese, anything that will drive your dog nuts. Call him to you and get him to sit and give lots of treats and praise. The get the prong out and put it on him and give lots of treats and praise. Make it FUN! Do this several times a day even though you're not going anywhere it will make it fun to get the collar on. I do this with anything that my dogs don't like and it works well.

azpit5 · 12-20-2012, 12:27 AM

I think what I will end up doing is trying to see how he reacts without the prong in the backyard to treats and praise when he walks by my side. If it works out, problem solved but if not I will praise and treat with the prong and baby him that way so he isn't so cautious of it.

HappyPuppy · 12-20-2012, 12:46 AM

My girl started doing avoidance behavior when I was still using the prong. I don't use it anymore mainly because she doesn't pull that much and she's pretty soft tho I did a lot of harsh corrections due to pulling and I regret that now. I let her pull in her harness that we use every other day but not in her flat collar.