# wearing chain collar and nylon at the same time?



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Do you need the chain? They can be dangerous when used as training or anti-pull collars. Sorry that I can't be more helpful with the fur issue more directly, but if you could train without it, that would solve the issue and be safer for Hina.


----------



## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

Max wears a leather collar and sometimes we use a chain/choker type collar. The chain collar tends to ride lower on the neck, so I do not think the leather collar provides much protection for his fur. Here is a photo of him with both collars.


----------



## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Bear wears a comfort chain collar in addition to his standard flat collar as added protection if his flat collar breaks. We had that happen once right outside the E. Vet (on a super busy road) and I darn near had a heart attack. Since he doesn't wear collars in the house, he doesn't have a problem with rubbing the fur. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## sabrinamae12 (Mar 22, 2013)

Kuyani used to wear a chain collar with his nylon collar all the time. Mainly because his license, rabies, identification, and microchip tags are on his nylon collar. I always take his collars off when we're home though. Now we nearly always walk with a braided slip lead and he wears his nylon collar as well. They generally don't interfere with one another and I feel better with the secondary collar, especially to grab for a more secure hold on him in challenging situations

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Hina (May 31, 2013)

Thank you!

TippyKayak - I understand where you're coming from. I like our local training club. We've really come a long way and I hope that we can move to something that works well for the both of us.

Max's Dad - Good point about the chain collar resting lower on the neck. I guess I'll have to try it out. 

Brave - Sounds like a good idea to have a back-up collar and leash just in case.

SabrinaMae - Any suggestions for a braided slip lead? Maybe something like this?
Amazon.com: Warner Braided Nylon Rope British Slip Lead Dog Leash 1/2" X 6 Ft. (Black): Pet Supplies

Here's a pic of our little girl taken a few weeks ago.


----------



## Colie CVT (Sep 15, 2013)

Technically if the chain is hanging down low enough to rest with a properly or slightly loosely fit nylon collar, it's likely too long. The rule of thumb with those was that you wanted it only to close maybe an inch so that the correction could be quick and require little force. It's similar with a prong collar. They're meant to be tighter fitting so that you require less force and they can release as quickly as they're tightened. 

If you don't really need it, I wouldn't use it, no matter what the club told me. But that's me lol. I did use a prong with my boy when he was younger (of the choices, I prefer these as they take vastly less pressure and dogs don't hang themselves on the end of them like chains), however he requires no training collar now. I have a martingale style collar on him that's fully nylon. Think what people have for greyhounds.  It's for that safety factor. He cannot slip out of it if something spooks him. Generally speaking there's a curve to the leash now.

They make just nylon slip leads with little metal rings on them, so like a chain but fully nylon. Fur savers seem to work for people too, though I've never used them. I just really have come to dislike chains over the years. The big issue is that people don't usually get shown how to properly use them and fit them. Especially fit them.


----------



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Colie CVT said:


> If you don't really need it, I wouldn't use it, no matter what the club told me. But that's me lol. I did use a prong with my boy when he was younger (of the choices, I prefer these as they take vastly less pressure and dogs don't hang themselves on the end of them like chains),


I strongly dislike prong collars, but I agree with you that a properly fitted prong is probably much safer than a choke.

Slips do have their place, like the dressy light chains worn by show dogs and the slip leads you use to bring an agility dog into the ring, but in both those cases, the dog is not being corrected with a pull on the choke, nor is it used to discourage the dog from pulling. I think "hang themselves" is a pretty accurate description of what happens when a young dog pulls at the end of a choke.


----------



## sabrinamae12 (Mar 22, 2013)

Hina said:


> SabrinaMae - Any suggestions for a braided slip lead? Maybe something like this?
> Amazon.com: Warner Braided Nylon Rope British Slip Lead Dog Leash 1/2" X 6 Ft. (Black): Pet Supplies
> 
> Here's a pic of our little girl taken a few weeks ago.


Yes, something like that. We have one with an AKC stamp on it and I absolutely adore it. However, I have not been able to find another. Kuyani tends not to pull, so it works well for us

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

tippykayak said:


> Slips do have their place, like the dressy light chains worn by show dogs and the slip leads you use to bring an agility dog into the ring, but in both those cases, the dog is not being corrected with a pull on the choke, nor is it used to discourage the dog from pulling. I think "hang themselves" is a pretty accurate description of what happens when a young dog pulls at the end of a choke.


My big mouth, but those chains worn by show dogs are choke chains. If a dog pulls while on the live ring, it will tighten up around their necks. And corrections are corrections regardless of what the dog is wearing. I generally prefer the bigger chains for obedience because if the chain tightens on a young dog, it's not as sharp a correction. I am using a snake chain for conformation though with Bertie (I keep it on the dead ring when training him because he will still pull, especially when I'm "giving him the reins" so to speak). 

@OP - If the fur is being cut around the neck, you may want to look into using rolled leather collars. I use them for both my boys when we go out hiking and swimming and I love the way they look on the boys and it doesn't harm their coat the way nylon would. 

You can also look into some stores which carry a martingale type collar (works the same way as a choke chain) - whether that's rolled leather or similar to what has been shown here. You have to check out specialty stores though vs Petsmart or Petco.


----------



## rooroch (Nov 7, 2012)

This is what I use on mine. They do not pull and it is always loose. Our walks are all off leash and I use it just to get them out of the garden onto the wood path (4 minutes). I can then put the whole thing in my pocket.


----------



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Megora said:


> My big mouth, but those chains worn by show dogs are choke chains. If a dog pulls while on the live ring, it will tighten up around their necks.


Was that not eminently clear already in what I wrote? I literally referred to them as chokes in the sentence you quoted. My point is that in the ring they are not being used to train the dog through corrections, or at least they should not be. A dog being shown in conformation, like a dog being led into the ring for agility, should not be hauling on the slip/choke collar, and the handler should not be delivering collar corrections with it.

Slip collars (i.e., choke collars) have a place, but they carry a relatively high risk of injury when used to deliver corrections or on an untrained dog who pulls.


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Tippy, I saw that. I just was pointing out the obvious. They are choke chains. And yes, the chains do tighten up around the dogs necks while they are being worn by the dogs. Conformation handlers are not really infinitely better trainers than obedience people as far as their dogs miraculously never pulling on a choke chain despite being as young as 6 months (or younger). In obedience the idea is to have slack in your leash so you don't lose points. In conformation, you see a lot of tight leashes. The corrections themselves - I don't know if they would cause injury, unless you are really hauling on that leash (which I hope I never see anyone do). I believe the injuries that people talk about are caused by the dogs choking themselves at the end of the leash.


----------



## Colie CVT (Sep 15, 2013)

I saw some dogs at a show today wearing more martingale style collars. The placement of the chains for show is usually crazy high, and I swear they leave them long for style or something. I saw 4 or more inches up to the leash with most dogs there. I am reinventing what I use in training myself, but I did like prongs better if only for the fact that dogs don't hang themselves on the end of them if properly fitted (and lordy do some people really have no clue how to do it). 

Any kind of metal will make for rubbing and leave staining on coats I have noticed though. Any time you get into multiple things around a neck (which my own personal necklaces are TERRIBLE at doing this) they will find a way to get tangled and it only causes them to rub/catch hair more.

I really love the collar my boy has on currently. - - 

The color he has is called Pitter Patter lol. But it's all nylon, pretty wide like a martingale you'd see on a greyhound and it isn't doing anything to his fur that I can see.


----------

