Prong collars good or bad?

[ozzy]

My 4 1/2 month old presa is pulling on his leash not nesisarily pulling to go ahead but off to the side and so on as well it is hard to get him to heel sit when we stop etc.should I invest in a prong collar or are they as inhumane as i have heard.

anouther question I have has to do with having him trained by means of shock collars.The other thing is the trainer I have chose is the trainer for our local city police force she requires the dog for a period of 10 days then i come in to learn all the commands.Is there any recommendations you may have or input that may point me in the right direction as I am a rookie at this but I do want a well trained presa to show off this great breed thanks. :rolleyes:

[ButchCappel]

Ozzy, a prong collar is only as inhumane as the human using it, but you should have some experience with one before trying it.

I always try to keep the training tools to a minimum or mild level as long as possible. Once a dog builds a resistance to a collar you have to have something more severe to get his attention. They also get collar wise and you may get nothing from them unless they are wearing the collar that makes them do it. That is also a problem for me, I want my dogs to do what I ask them to do, not what they are forced to do because they are wearing a collar.

The best tool to use in raising a puppy is not pain, it is probably patience.

As to your police trainer, do as you would any one that is a trainer whos services you were going to employ, ask for refernces and watch some dogs she has trained, if you like what you see then do what she says.

[slamm]

I will just add here that just because someone is a "policedog trainer" shouldn't in many cases mean squat. I am using generalizations here, but from what I have seen, heard and eye-witnessed. They don't really know or show anymore experience with handling and training dogs then the next person.

I would be somewhat skeptical about handing over my dog to someone who combines these two words, "Police" and "E-Collar" and doesn't want you around to see the "10-day transformation".

It's not that I don't think they will get results, it's just the side effects could be very unpleasant.

My opinion,

Sam