Best Collars for Training?

Amy Dahl...

Thanks for the compliment, but you're mistaken. I read it way back when
I didn't know anything, possibly back before I got my first Lab, when I
was still trying to research dogs, ownership, training, and such.

So if the book really is coherent, the problem may have been total lack
of experience to provide a frame of reference.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Amy, you've always seemed to me like a *very* bright person.

Perhaps I was wrong? :D

Amy Dahl...

Dunno....it's been a very long time since I read the book. All I
remember is my impression there were no clear instructions.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

You were looking for the why, she was more into the how.

Remember now, back in those days, "things" were done a little
differently than they are today.

Daddy: "Bobby, eat your vegetables!"

Bobby: "Why, daddy?"

Daddy: "Because I freakin' said so!"

Perhaps you are familiar with one of my all-time favorites:
_Charles Morgan on Retrievers_ by Ann Fowler and D. L.
Walters.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Great books.

I was frustrated with that one, when I read it shortly after
acquiring my first Lab. It is not a manual for beginners.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Absolutely not, especially Walters'!

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Make that Walters' "Training Retrievers to Handle."

Amy Dahl...

Actually, that one *is* a step-by-step manual. Much easier for
a novice than the Charles Morgan book. You just need to have got
your dog force-fetched before starting. Of course, I was accused

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Yeah, novices are known for their force-fetching ability! :D

Human_And_Animal_Behavior_Forensic_Sciences_Research_Laboratory...

Yeah. Like their alphalpaha rollin ability, eh tommy?:

From: bob...@aol.com (Bob Maida)
Date: 2000/06/24
Subject: Re: Best behavior book?

The Art of Raising A Puppy by The Monks of
New Skete (and NO, the Monks book does not
have the "alpha roll" in it)

------------------

Human_And_Animal_Behavior_Forensic_Sciences_Research_Laboratory...

INDEEDY:

From: dog...@i1.net (Dogman)
Date: 1999/01/17
Subject: Re: Training book by a bunch of monks

"The Art of Raising A Puppy," by the Monks of New Skete

*Very* good book...but forget the stuff about "alpha rolls."

of being the only person ever to figure out walking baseball from
the book. And there *are* lots of tips of the sort that mean more, the

Handsome Jack Morrison...

See? I knew you were a very bright person.

more you know about dogs.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

You bet.

But I can't even imagine what a novice would get out of that book, and
my imagination usually knows no bounds.

We had to throw away a bunch of books a few years back because
they got moldy. If the B.W. book I had was among them, we may
never know which one it was.

OTOH, if I find it, I'll reread it and let you know.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

So many books. So little time.

Amy DAhl

But Woodhouse's book was.

Now that I have some experience of my own, I consider it
one of the most valuable books I've ever read.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

As they should be. I.e., they're classics.

But wrt the Barbara Wodehouse book, it's speculation what
my problem with it was. I don't remember.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

But I live to speculate! :D

Amy Dahl

Hi there,

I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on the best collars for
training/walking. 12 years ago, when I took my first dog to obedience

Sionnach...

Well - they're two different things, to some extent.

training, the instructor recommended (insisted upon, actually) a chain
choke collar. Now I'm reading that these are old-fashioned and
inhumane. My worry with attaching their leashes directly to their

Amy Dahl...

Any training tool can be used well or used badly. Badly-used chain
training collars have received a lot of attention. That doesn't mean
you have to use it badly.

Marcel Beaudoin...

As others have said, go with what *you* are comfortable with.

No matter the type of collar that you use, they are all, in the end, tools.
They all have their pros and cons. Yes, some of them are more dangerous in
untrained hands (and around untrained necks), but the good (or bad) of them
comes from how they are used.

The old-fashioned and inhumane remarks come from people who are
inexperienced with the proper use of the choke collar and get hung up over
the "choke" part of the name, imagining that the entirety of training with
the choke collar consists of choking the dog when it doesn't do what you
want it to.

buckle collars is that my guys will slip or back out of them and get
loose. What do you folks recommend? Thoughts on Snap-Around Training

Amy Dahl...

The slip chain collar you have used in the past is an excellent
choice for preventing escape while walking. As you recognize,
dogs can slip backwards out of most buckle collars with one
quick move.

Collars or Martingale Collars?

Mirelle...

A Martingale Collar.

Amy Dahl...

Never used one. I have run a boarding kennel for a number of
years, and dealt with many escape artists. The "choke" chain is
by far the most secure collar I have ever used.

Amy Dahl

Sionnach...

Choke collars are a decent tool for *training sessions* where your
attention is on the dog all of the time, but not, IMO, a good choice for
ordinary walking for most people.
If what you're wanting to do is walk the dog(s) for exercise, with training

bethgsd...

Doesn't Pamela Dennison have just a teeny tiny little agenda? (dripping
sarcasm here)
I'm not Marcel but I have a lot of experience using choke chains, snap
around slip collars, martingale collars, buckle collars, prong/pinch
collars and half check collars.. I've also used head halters and
e-collars.
Guess what? Everyone one of those training tools has a place. Depends
on the dog and the handler.

being somewhat incidental, and you have serious concerns about escape from
whatever collar is used, I'd recommend a flat nylon martingale collar, aka
"greyhound collar" or "combo collar". If properly adjusted, they're
escape-proof AND can be used to attach the dog's ID tags etc. to.
I worked for a number of years training and exercising other people's
dogs, and I (and a number of other professional/commercial dogwalkers I
know/knew) required that client's dogs wear martingales to ensure they
couldn't slip collars.