by Shawna Norton

Created on: August 24, 2008   Last Updated: July 26, 2009

I work at a veterinarian's office as a receptionist. We are a four doctor practice in a large city and subsequently we have a large clientele base. Of the dogs that visit the clinic on a daily basis, I would say three-fourths of their owners use some type of choke or prong collar to attempt to control their dogs. Out of that percentage, I would say only a handful know how to properly use these training devices.

The problem that I see over and over is that by purchasing and using these collars, the owner completely abandons the idea of actually training their dog. The animal, be it a Chihuahua or a pit bull will enter the office, pulling their owner through the door, huffing and wheezing as it chokes it's self, only to have the ignorant owner say "well if you wouldn't pull so hard you could breath".

I watch this on a daily basis. It is extremely frustrating, as the animal tends to be completely out of control, untrained, yet being choked at the same time. I have said things to the worst offenders, only to be told without the device the animal would be behaving even worse. That is not a true statement. If the owner would take the time to attend training classes, they could have a well behaved animal that could breath normally.

The worst case scenario's with this these types of collars is the injuries that they can cause. Damage to the trachea, strangulation, and puncture wounds (with the prong collars) are just a few of the things that I have seen . People will start their dogs at a very young age, and there is absolutely nothing worse than seeing a puppy being asphyxiated as it tries to bounce and squirm around, acting as a normal puppy would. I detest people's complete lack of fore thought and knowledge on these training methods- do I even agree that people should be using them at all? Absolutely not.

If a dog is trained to listen to it's owner, no training tools besides perhaps a firm voice and the occasional dog treat should be needed. I believe the dogs trained for police and protection work are made to wear the collars only because in their line of work, there is no room for error, there is no room for a dog to not listen. If a person were ever to observe a dog at work under the hand of a properly trained dog handler, the chain is rarely ever even tight enough for the dog to be aware of- because it is only under the most strenuous of circumstances when the handler must have complete control, when they must be able to remind the dog with a quick snap that they must be paying attention.

The average dog owner should not be allowed access to these training devices. It puts them in to a false sense of security- giving them the perception that they are controlling their dog. If that were the case then why is it that most of the dogs do not listen even as their tongues are turning slightly purple from lack of oxygen? Or that the prong collar (which is supposed to have the prongs on the back of the neck and not underneath, as most dog owners incorrectly have them placed) is digging in to the dog's neck, only to watch as the owner is still being dragged around.

There is a cloth style choke collar that does not truly have the ability to hurt the dog- if a person is in a situation where they have a dog that can escape a normal collar, or needs to be reminded they are connected to a leash which in turn is connected to a person, than I believe this is an acceptable, safe, and caring alternative to the metal training collars most people use.

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