# Prong question



## marshab1 (Aug 28, 2006)

Tink was about 3 months when we had her fitted.


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## norabrown (Jul 20, 2007)

I hope one of the trainers pops in to answer this for you. I have no idea. I started Samson on a Gentle Leader about that age due to his being strong enough to pull me if he chose to. They are so strong, aren't they?


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## tannernoodle (Mar 19, 2008)

Tanner was about a year when we started obedience. The prong saved my life! He was a bad puller.


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## Bailey & Bentley (Feb 25, 2007)

How old is your Allie. I started using the prong around 7 months old, only because we were at a loss and nothing else worked. I would ask you trainer what he/she thinks and they will show what you should do.

I know how you feel, I have too beasts that just love to jump and get very excited when they see others. The prong has been our best bet so far.


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## vrocco1 (Feb 25, 2006)

Make sure the collar is properly fitted and someone shows you how to use it. It is a fantastic training aid.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

I start our puppies on it around 14 to 16 weeks of age. This is about the time puppies get their first indepent phase.


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## GoldenKat (Dec 4, 2007)

Norabrown, they are so strong for being only a few months old!! She's currently 5 months old and those random intense pulls are insanely strong. The trainer said she can fit Allie for one and show me how to use it. I'm just wondering, in a few months will I have to refit her for one or will her neck remain the same size from 5 months to 8 months?


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## marshab1 (Aug 28, 2006)

You can add links if you need to.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

GoldenKat said:


> Norabrown, they are so strong for being only a few months old!! She's currently 5 months old and those random intense pulls are insanely strong. The trainer said she can fit Allie for one and show me how to use it. I'm just wondering, in a few months will I have to refit her for one or will her neck remain the same size from 5 months to 8 months?


You just add additional links to the collar as the pup grows. A five month old is old enough to start with the prong collar.


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## Lexie's Mom (Dec 14, 2005)

my trainer said not for the first 6 months. 3 months seems little for a prong imo.


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

I started mine at 3 months.I had a trainer properly fit them.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Have you considered an easy walk harness instead. It works beautifully with all of my dogs. I used a prong on Jasmine for a long time because she has a bull neck and I was afraid that she would slip the collar, along with the fact that she was a horrible puller. She stayed a horrible puller until I switched her to the easy walk harness and I will not go back to a prong!


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

I think you try different ones and then find what works best with your dog...every dog is different.....The prong was the only thing that worked with mine


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

I have trained a lot of dogs from 10 pound JRT's to 150 pound GSD's and I have never had a dog that did not respond to the prong collar. "When" to start using a prong collar depends upon the individual pup, not a magic date on the calendar. There are numerous puppies who are ready for a prong collar at 3 to 4 months of age. 

You are much further ahead in the game if you maintain control of the pup throughout the learning phases of development. It is a whole lot more work if you allow a pup to establish undesireable behaviors and have to correct them later.


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## GoldenKat (Dec 4, 2007)

I haven't tried the easy walk harness since I have seen many that praised the prong in other threads. I have a neighbor that has a Golden and she told me how well her dog responds to the prong so I thought I'd give it a shot. I'll talk to the trainer this weekend about it and see how that goes.

Thanks all for the advice!


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## tintallie (May 31, 2006)

I really think it depends on the personality of your dog. We didn't put a prong collar on Wiggles until he was 11 months old and I wish we had done it sooner. (My arms got a LOT bigger in the process of fighting a puller on our daily 5km of walking)

I initially bought into the clicker training and using the Easy Walk Harness made by Gentle Leader but it didn't suit my dog. He has a VERY high prey drive and I couldn't deliver a correction for him misbehaving for chasing a car, grabbing something that moved and held in his mouth and wouldn't let go. I was being put into harm's way because this dog would chase traffic, dogs, rabbits, garbage bags etc. At the time he was a very strong 60 something lbs at 7 months. The harness did very little to discourage him as he is a hard dog and can take a solid correction on a choke or prong collar. In fact, I sold it to a neighbour and it worked for her dog.

When the prong collar was fitted high behind the ears, the amount of force needed to initiate a correction was minimal, but still effective. My dog doesn't view the collar in a bad light as it means he gets to go for his walk. We used the prong collar in junction with obedience training with a private trainer and the difference in this dog was night and day that the neighbours noticed. I now get people telling me that he's so well behaved on walks (little do they know...)

We do take him on walks without the prong collar and use a snap around nylon slip collar (Volhard collar), since we do want to phase him out of the prong collar. It is difficult to phase him though because he needs it only in cases of major distractions so I carry it in my pocket just in case I need to slip it on.

If you have a trainer that is willing to work with you using a prong collar and fitting it properly for your puppy, that is fantastic. Keep in mind if your dog gets lrger, you just add a few more links into the prong. But if you buy a harness that fits your puppy now, you may have to buy a completely different size later on...I don't know if cost is an issue or not...

Swampcollie is right that if you can maintain control of your pup now while training, it is much easier. We had to break our dog of some habits....


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

fostermom said:


> Have you considered an easy walk harness instead. It works beautifully with all of my dogs. I used a prong on Jasmine for a long time because she has a bull neck and I was afraid that she would slip the collar, along with the fact that she was a horrible puller. She stayed a horrible puller until I switched her to the easy walk harness and I will not go back to a prong!


I use the easy walk harness on Jack and Rusty and they do great on it. However sometimes, especially when other dogs come around I'm afraid that they slip out of it.


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## Jakerville (Jan 13, 2008)

I started Jake on a prong collar at 4 months. Jake was a moose of a puppy and strong as an ox and to any observer I'm sure our walks looked totally manic! I knew one of us (probably me!) was going to end up injured if I didn't get this under control. As they say, it's like "power steering" for a Golden. I still use it, and Jake doesn't mind it at all. He knows it time to go for a walk as soon as he sees it and sits for me to put it on him. Believe me - huge difference.


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## Ardeagold (Feb 26, 2007)

I'm glad I read this thread.......I need links for Cole's collar. LOL Gotta make a note of that. I keep forgetting when I'm out!

Listen to Swampcollie....he IS a Retriever trainer, you know!


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## 3SweetGoldens (Feb 28, 2007)

When I started taking Klondike to Puppy classes at 4 months, we first started him ot on a flat buckle collar. he did keep pulling, so half way through the 8 week course, we switched to a "power steering collar" as the trainer calls it. (prong) He is now 5 1/2 months, and doing much better with using it and not pulling. He will start his beginning obedience classes the firs week of May, and I will continue to use it. Swamp Collie is right...better to use it now, then having to work so hard to correct his pulling. This just stemmed from excitement at the other pups, but he is strong already!​


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## GoldenKat (Dec 4, 2007)

Well after this morning's walk, I'm definitely going to have the obedience trainer show me how to use it. During the walk, I made Allie sit/stay when I saw an older lady coming down the street . Allie was good at first but once the lady said good morning to me, Allie bolted and tried to knock the poor lady down. Talk about embarassing . I felt even worse when I heard her muttering 'I'm sorry I said good morning" as she walked away.


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