Your Dog’s Training Collar

If you have just gotten a new puppy or dog, one of the things you’ll need to invest in right away is a training collar.  A training collar differs from the collar your puppy or dog will wear every day, and there are specific things to look for depending on how you plan on training your dog and what breed it is.

First you need to decide if your dog is a short-coated breed.  This would be anything with very short hair and thinner skin like a greyhound, chihuahua or weimareiner.  These dogs will do best with a martingale-type training collar.

A martingale collar is a type of training collar that works on the basis that the more your dog pulls or resists you, the tighter the collar becomes.  If your dog is relaxed in a heel at your side, the collar is loose and comfortable.  If he or she pulls ahead, the collar tightens.  These collars are generally made of nylon webbing.  For greyhounds and other sighthounds that wear these collars as their everyday collar, they can get quite fancy!

A typical chain choke training collar is used for stronger, larger breeds such as laborador retreivers, poodles and other outdoor breeds.  These breeds have a thicker skin and coat that has evolved through years of working out in the weather,and so you need a slightly stronger type of training collar.  The choke collar is simply a loop of chain and one end slips through a ring on the other.  The leash is attached to the ring so that when they dog pulls, the leash tightens.  It is essentially the same concept as a martingale collar, but less gentle.

The strongest and most severe of the training collars is a prong collar.  Prong collars are generally used to train very thick-coated breeds such as Saint Bernards.  They’re also utilized in the training of very strong dogs such as pit bull terriers and the cane corso.  While some people think the use of prong collars is cruel, they definitely do have their proper place as a training aid.

I hope this short guide has given you some food for thought when looking at what type of training collar to purchase for your puppy or dog!  If all else fails, contact your local Humane Society for additional guidance.