# Prong collar



## R-a-m-b-o (Feb 17, 2012)

i saw this picture and it really got me thinking...








i have never seen something like that...
i'm using prong on my boy but this picture just makes no sense how could it possibly be so deep inside the skin..
to cause this kind of damage in the dog's skin the person needed to lift and hang the dog for a long time or pull on the leash like a Psychopathic MANIAC.


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## MyHans-someBoy (Feb 23, 2013)

I use a prong collar for training with my white GSD and I have never seen any indication on his neck that he's even had one on, let alone puncture wounds.

I have heard of people sharpening the ends of the prongs so that they are super sharp. Obviously, I do not agree with doing that. 

That photo makes me think of propaganda being put out there to make prong collars seem evil, when they are actually a good training tool when used properly.

The next thing will be a pic of a dog with his head nearly burned off and still smoking (ugh) with a pic of an e-collar next to it.
Or one with a dog 's eyes bulging out of his head, with a choke chain next to it.

Anything can be used safely and correctly or abused terribly.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the posted pic was that it looked like someone took a hammer and nailed it into his neck. 


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## Mwelsh03 (Jul 10, 2013)

Keep in mind that when searching google EVERYTHING, good or bad, will show up (most will be bad stuff as people are more likely to document their negative experiences rather than their positive ones). If a well fitted/good quality prong collar is used the RIGHT WAY stuff like that will never happen. That picture is most likely the result of a very poorly made prong collar (spiked prongs instead of flat ones) and the the owner not knowing the correct way to use a prong. 

If you watch the numerous YouTube videos out there on how to use a prong the correct way your dog will never look like that. 


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## LuvMyDog_Worldwide (Jul 23, 2011)

ok, STOP!!!!!!


Before anyone casts an opinion or speculates on anything, what you're looking at is a classic case of pure 100% unadulterated BULL****!


This picture shows a dog that's had an embedded prong collar. The collar was too small, the dog has outgrown it, and the dog has been tethered for an extraordinary length of time. The dog has, in effect, continued to grow past the collars size to the point where the collar has burried itself into the neck. That has NOTHING to do with the use or application of a prong collar. The equivalent pictures of embedded flat collars are by far more graphic and horrific.

However, despite the obvious, this picture is being used repeatedly by the pro PosR/force free to sell a complete lie about training methods and the use of prong collars by convincing the weak minded and emotively driven this is a standard common daily occuring injury that could happen to your dog if you used the same equipment.

Look at the picture of the prong collar, the prongs are at the bottom. Look at the holes in the neck, the holes are at the top. The only way the holes can be at the top is if the martingale was at the bottom and the prongs were at the top, the collar would have to be 'upside down...... and the only way that can happen is if the collar was attached to a fixed tether which would automatically pull the martingale round to the bottom.

It's that simple. There is no training involved. There are no sharpened spikes. This is nothing more than a dog tied up and wearing a collar for too long, and by too long we're talking months and months and months on end.

Don't be fooled, don't even waste your time thinking about it, don't even acknowledge this pitiful lie with discussion. It could and does happen with any type of collar you care to mention, except sly and deceptive people with an alterior motive repeatedly use this one to further their cause because they know it will rarely be questioned.


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## LuvMyDog_Worldwide (Jul 23, 2011)

MyHans-someBoy said:


> .
> 
> I have heard of people sharpening the ends of the prongs so that they are super sharp.


 
Have you ever worked with metal? Do you have any idea how difficult it would be to sharpen a prong? The links are an awkward shape and can't be put into a vice properly, you can't access all 360 degrees of the tip, it wouldn't be possible to get a grinding wheel to go all the way round, and filing them by hand would likely take around an hour or more per prong. There are 10 prongs in an average collar.

What would the gain be? First correction would severely injure the dog and cause massive blood loss. It'd be easier to just beat the dog with a metal bar and have done with it.

I'm sure many people have "heard" this, or more likely read about it on forums, but strangely no-one ever seems to have seen it. Again, more propoganda and lies with the intent to confuse and villify the prong collar. It's not a plausible situation.


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## katro (Feb 26, 2013)

I was gonna say, why are the prong marks on the back of that dog's neck? I use a prong for training, and the prongs are on the under side of my dog's throat. They are also blunt and wouldn't puncture like that. If someone is sharpening the prongs that is WRONG WRONG WRONG. That defeats the purpose of the prong as a training tool and turns it into a torture device.


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

Poor dog! I wonder if that's also due to an allergic reaction to inferior metals that could be used? I know nickel is supposed to be bad - I've had blisters on my ears from wearing some very pretty (and very crappy!) earrings before.


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## MadLab (Jan 7, 2013)

The first picture in this thread is an abuse case where a prong collar was left on for years and the dogs neck grew into the collar and so pierced the dogs skin.

If a prong is fitted and used correctly then this is not possible. 

Here is a good video clip by Tyler Muto explaining the right way to use a prong and why it is safe if used correctly.


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## MyHans-someBoy (Feb 23, 2013)

Quote by LuvMyDogs_Worldwide
"Have you ever worked with metal?"

Actually, our business has an entire large room devoted to tools & machines designed to sharpen metal. 

Incidentally, if one were to take only the time to sharpen one prong on each side by hand and the collar had a cover (as some do), the gain you question would be in the ability to give the dog a far more cruel correction in public versus walking down the street beating him with a metal bar. 

While there is nothing wrong with trying to use logic ( in either of our posts) sometimes the length to which certain humans are willing to go in order to do unspeakably cruel things to animals, absolutely DEFIES LOGIC!

Please keep in mind that we are actually on the same side here.
Used properly & safely ( & unaltered in any way from their intended form) they are great training tools. 



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## KathrynApril (Oct 3, 2013)

It definitely looks like it was a case where the dog probably had it on as a puppy and the dog grew into the prongs. When I was volunteer at an animal shelter we had a young yellow lab come in like that with his collar. It had to be surgically removed.


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## newlie (Feb 12, 2013)

My boy is a rescue, young and very strong. My trainer put him in a prong collar and I do not hesitate to say that I am not sure we would have made it without the collar. The points are dull on mine and I take the collar off most every night so he has never shown any hint of a sore. A prong collar is a tool like everything else-It can always be abused if someone has that mindset.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Ridiculous.

I could post a pic of a dog with a horribly raw neck would and a flat collar next to it. 

Sheesh.


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## huntergreen (Jun 28, 2012)

LuvMyDog_Worldwide said:


> ok, STOP!!!!!!
> 
> 
> Before anyone casts an opinion or speculates on anything, what you're looking at is a classic case of pure 100% unadulterated BULL****!
> ...


great post, and as everyone knows, a prong collar is not to be left on the dog after the training session.


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

It's also too bad that some people don't recognize that there's a huge difference in quality between a Herm Sprenger prong and a 'hunk of junk' prong. I've felt some of the tips on the crap versions, and they're very sharp. Mine is soft as silk - thanks HS!


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

I use prong collars on all my dogs for training and I have NEVER had any marks left on their bodies from it. When used properly, a prong will not cause any injury to the dog. That picture is from a prong being left on a growing dog/puppy and it eventually just embedded into the skin... which needed to be removed surgically. 

This can happen with any material left on an animal for large amounts of time without adjustment. Flat collars, twine/rope, chains, prongs, harnesses, shock & bark collars, etc. You can find cases with ALL sorts of things involved. Halters can do the same on horses if they are put in that situation as well.

I really dislike that this picture is used to paint an ill picture of prong collars as a training tool. Instead, it should be used to fight against cruel, neglectful owners that just leave their dogs to rot.


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