Why Prong Collars are NOT actually bad.

 When you think of a prong collar, without knowing better, you imagine pointy spikes getting forced into your dog's throat any time pressure is put on the leash. Many people believe the point of a prong collar is to cause pain when they pull to thus stop the behavior altogether. This is simply false. prong collars actually very rarely cause any pain to your dog. When they do, it's because of poor placement and misuse. 

The prong collar was invented by an animal behaviorist and a vet who wanted to keep dogs safe. you may be asking, how does a prong collar keep my dog safe? Here's how.

 These collars are designed to evenly distribute pressure around the dog's neck. A traditional flat collar puts pressure directly against the dog's trachea and can actually collapse it. This can be fatal. It's actually unsafe for an extreme puller to wear a flat collar for this reason. Many will say, why not just use a no pull harness instead? No pull harnesses are linked to causing joint and muscle damage. They can be equally as dangerous. A prong collar is the safest option in cases of extreme pullers because it only causes injuries when used in a way it wasn't intended for. With the pressure evenly distributed around the neck the dog's trachea and throat are both protected from being collapsed. It also removes the potential for pain, instead, making them slightly uncomfortable unlike a flat collar.

Prong collars, contrary to popular belief, don't hurt your dog at all when properly placed. I placed one around my own neck and pulled as hard as I could. I didn't even have a red mark from it. The placement of the martingale chain, paired with the angle of the prongs, prevents the "points" from moving close enough together to actually pinch. When pressure is put in this collar the prongs move closer together not straight in. The collar itself does not pinch the dog either. It is commonly called a "pinch collar" because you must pinch the prongs together to open the collar.


DISCLAIMER: CHEAPLY MADE PRONG COLLARS DO CAUSE PAIN AND INJURY. I ONLY RECOMMEND A H.S. AS THEY ARE THE ONLY COLLARS TESTED AND PROVEN TO HAVE THE PROPER MECHANICS.

Now you may say, I saw a picture going around Facebook of holes in a dog's neck from a prong. If they are safe how did this happen? In one of those stories that went around social media, the prong was miss used. The dogs were tied out to a tree in a prong for over a year without the collar being removed or re-adjusted at a young age. The dogs then grew into the prong collar causing it to embed into their neck. A force more powerful than that of which a human can muster would need to be used to force a prong into a dog's neck like that. In the other story, it wasn't actually a prong at all. PETA circulated that photo with the missinformation that it was. It was actually a spiked collar turned backward and left on the dog for several months.

In conclusion, contrary to what you may believe a prong collar is a safe and effective tool to use. Every training tool in the world has and can cause injury to a dog. Flat collars can collapse their trachea, head halters cause permanent nerve damage and whiplash, no pull harnesses cause muscular and joint damage. All of this can be caused regardless of how you use it. A prong collar on the other hand has never been linked to injury unless it was misused. When a prong is used properly, it is the safest tool on the market. 

DISCLAIMER: Always ensure you reach out to a trainer to ensure you are educated in the proper use of any training tool before you use it. 

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