Dog Obedience Collars

By Barb Pena

Just like there are many types of dog training, there are many types of dog obedience collars. It is very important when choosing a dog obedience collar that you do your research and find out which type is best for you and the temperament of the dog you are training. Here is a review of several types of collars to help you in making a decision as to which type of dog obedience collar is best for you.

- Choke Collar - This is usually made out of links of chain. It is also sometimes called a slip collar. It is designed so that when the dog tugs on the leash or the handler gives a slight tug on the leash to tighten and cause a choking effect on the dog's neck. This collar is designed to be used with only slight tugs. It is very easy to correct too hard and injure your dog. Long term damage has even been reports. It is imperative that if you use this type of collar that you get proper training.

- Prong Collar - This is a chain collar made out of sharp metal prongs. When tension is put on the leash from either the dog pulling or the owned initiating a correction, the prongs dig into your dogs skin. It has been said that the correction from this collar more imitates the correction a puppy receives from his mother. Similar to the choke collar, it is easy to cause permanent damage to your dog if not used correctly. It is important that you again get proper training when using this collar.

- Head Collar (also called a Gentle Leader or Halti). This collar has straps that go around the dogs muzzle and also around the back of their head. Although it resembles a muzzle, it does not restrain your dog in any way. They can still bark, eat and drink. The head collar is designed to help control your dog's forward motion. When they charge forward, tension on the collar causes the dog to turn his head back towards you. This collar is very good for dogs that pull. This is one of the recommended collars of humane society organizations.

- Harness - This type of collar really isn't a collar as it goes around a dog's chest. While it is good for puppies or a dog you need to be gentle with, you have very little control with this type of device. The leash attachment ring is on your dog's back.

- Easy Walk Harness - This is a different type of harness that gives you very good control. This collar is designed to help with leash pulling. The leash attachment is at the front of the harness on the dog's chest. It has a martingale loop that helps redirect your dog's forward motion. This collar is now recommended by many humane society organizations.

- Electronic Collars (or shock collars) - With this collar, the handler is able to administer a small electric shock to the dog with a remote control. The intensity of the shock can be adjusted. Again, this type of collar requires that the handler consult a professional trainer as this type of collar can cause great trauma to a dog that he may never recover from.

When choosing a dog obedience collar, be sure to do your research. There are many new and innovative collars on the market today that make the task of training your dog much more pleasant for you and your dog and get better results.

Barb Pena loves her 3 dogs and keeping up on the latest training techniques. Do you want to put an end to the stress and annoyance of your dogs problem behavior? Click here to sign up for a free 6 day mini dog training course to get you started. Slash your dog training time in half by using techniques that give you immediate results.