Do you want to know what the best dog training collars are? Training your dog is serious business and you must use a collar that’s best suited for your dog’s needs. Check out the dog collars to consider.
There’s no better time to train your dog than when it’s a young puppy. Training can be pretty challenging. It’s like disciplining a child, except with dogs, there’s a language barrier you have to overcome. It is important that you pick the right training supplies to help your canine training efforts to be more successful. One of the most important supplies you’ll need is the collar and here are the best dog training collars to look out for:
7 Dog Training Collars for Puppies
1. Head Collar | Dog Training Collars
There’s a bit of a learning curve for your dog when using a head collar or head halter. It is normal for a dog to sniff the ground while walking. But when you’re training your dog, this is a distraction you want to eliminate. As much as possible, you’d want to keep your dog’s attention and the head halter is said to be on the best dog training collars for that.
The advantage of using a head collar is to make your dog focus on you and you alone. A dog’s head collar is designed similar to what horses use actually. Don’t mistake it for a muzzle, it’s not for restricting your dog’s mouth movement. It’s more of telling your dog to always listen to you and pay attention, which helps during leash-training. Since there is a learning curve, I suggest bring dog treats with you when you go walking.
2. Padded Harness | Dog Training Collars
The padded harness is a better option if you want to go down the harness route. The pads help in distributing pressure around your dog’s body more evenly. This can help prevent neck and back strain for your pooch.
Using this harness gives you better control over your dog’s movement and it uses gentle pressure only, so don’t worry. It’s comfortable for dogs and is great for short-necked dogs as well.
3. Front Clip Harness | Dog Training Collars
Padded harnesses are usually pulled from the back. But with front clip harnesses, you will be pulling from the chest area instead. This type of harness is more recommended to use on dogs with minor pulling problems compared to the back clip harness. Dog owners and trainers can steer the dog easier.
Please note that this type of canine training collar works best on loose-leash walking. It is ideally used on puppies without behavior or aggression problems.
4. Choke Chain Collar | Dog Training Collars
There’s always a debate whether a choke chain collar or slip dog collar is actually an effective training tool or not. But, this collar might work well for your and your dog especially if it has developed behavioral problems.
How does it work? When your dog misbehaves, you can simply pop the leash and this will tighten the collar. The collar will only loosen up if you decide to release the pressure.
It is advised to use this type of collar only if you have a professional or qualified dog trainer to guide you. A choke chain collar can injure your dog’s neck if you apply the wrong amount of pressure. Also, if you have a short-nosed dog, never use this type of collar.
5. Martingale Collar | Dog Training Collars
Everyone’s favorite is the martingale collar and it works great for me and my pooch. I know a lot of dog owners who also like the martingale collar, so this is something you really need to consider.
This collar is designed to resist dog pulling as well as getting out of the collar, which dogs can easily do with the basic flat collar. The martingale is designed with one large and one small loop. The dog’s head goes into the larger loop, while the leash goes into the smaller loop. What happens is when your dog pulls, the collar will tighten, thus letting your dog know that pulling isn’t a good move.
The martingale doesn’t look scary or intimidating and it won’t choke your dog if it pulls persistently. But do not use this if you are leaving your dog unsupervised. Moreover, if your dog is very strong and stubborn, you should consider other alternatives.
6. Prong or Pinch Collar | Dog Training Collars
The prong or pinch collar is the most intimidating and scary dog training collar out there. However, the prong collar can be very effective in training dogs that are strong and highly active.
The prong collar acts the same as the martingale and chain collar, wherein the collar tightens when the dog pulls away. But with the prong, only the prong touches the dog’s neck, which can cause discomfort.
Mind you, the prong collar is described as a special training collar, which means that not everyone can handle using it. Most often, professional trainers use this for obedience training for medium to large-sized dog breeds. If you want to try this out for yourself, please seek the advice of a qualified trainer first.
7. Spray Collar | Dog Training Collars
Does your dog have a barking problem? Give the spray collar a try. Whenever your dog barks, the collar will automatically spray citronella. Some say that this is a better option compared to correction-based dog training collars, but I’ll leave that decision to you.
What type of collar do you use during dog training? SecretZakVids shared tips on what collar to use during dog training in this video:
Discipline is a hard thing to teach and learn, especially for pups. Puppies are highly active, playful, and energetic and they’d really hate it if you have to restrict their movements. However, your dog is now part of the household and as a part of the family, he has to be responsible and accountable for his actions too. You need to be firm in training your dog even if tough love is required. A well-disciplined dog is always worth the effort. Hopefully, your search for the right dog training collars will end soon.
What is best dog training collar for you and your dog? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments section below!
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