# This is too glorious not to deserve its own thread!



## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

Leash Dilemma..Yikes

For all those who helped, your amazing. I think this success story can help.
Okay, So we went to petsmart and a trainer there fitted Thor properly for his prong collar. I got a fanny pack and some really great treats, I also signed up for a 6 week OB course with him!

We came home and I donned my pack, snapped the collar on him and out we went...
WOW.
One tiny pop on the leash and he heels like an angel. All his reactive behavior?? Deterred by a small pop, once he looks at me?? Lots of praise and a treat! 
He had a 100% turn around I am SO happy! 
I kept the choke chain on him and hooked the leash to that and the live ring of the prong. 
Thor did so great you guys it made me shed some tears. My neighbor complemented me on how wellbehaved he was. He even did good when the little 1 year old on the corner ran down the yard screaming doggy at him. (the unwatchful parents in the garden sprinted and grabbed him up before he reached the road) 

We also did (its yer choice) training with both dogs today. I posted a thread about it asking for critique on my training...but no one replied lol.
They both are doing really well with that and showing great progress. 
Petsmart trainer says she sees a lot of frustration in Thor that many people automatically percieve as aggression (poor dude, he just want to play)

anyways...sorry for the blab.
THANKS EVERYONE!


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

Also, I tried the methods, gentle lead, turning and walking the other way, and LAT training too. A combination of those things in certain situations works best for Thor. Today is our first day and I already see so much improvement, I cant wait for tommorow.


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## juliejujubean (May 4, 2011)

yeah, nothing better than a well behaved baby!


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

The prong is like power steering and it's self correcting for a lunging dog. I'm so glad you got it properly fitted and it's working for you. You can look on leerburg.com for articles about using it. I still use on with Stosh when we're going someplace new and I want to be sure I have control.


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## Bismarck (Oct 10, 2009)

to be honest, i'm surprised a petsmart person helped you with a prong collar

they are notorious for not wanting those used.


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

They sell them though...


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## Bismarck (Oct 10, 2009)

if you go to training there, they won't let you use it.

some people don't like them, mainly for the looks. they "think" it hurts the dog.
if you've ever seen dogs play, you'd know that it's far from the truth.
they are a very useful tool to have, and when used correctly, they're very helpful.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Excellent, I am surprised as well that they sold you one.

The Leerburg link does have the proper way to fit a prong collar so I would double check just in case the petsmart person was not so smart-I, too, thought their training plan would not allow the prong.

About the main thing you need to watch is not to correct any actual agression directly with the prong but other shenanigans yes. But you mentioned it sounds like you got some good advise. Sometimes Petsmart has folks who know what they are talking about.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Bismarck said:


> to be honest, i'm surprised a petsmart person helped you with a prong collar
> 
> they are notorious for not wanting those used.



This is very true and they usually don't allow them in their training courses Maybe they are different everywhere, but I want to say I thought it was a general rule.


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

Yes, this girl knew what she was talking about I was really impressed. She showed me how to fit and handle the prong just like the leerburg video. She also made sure she saw me take it apart and put it on Thor the right way three times before she would be ok with it. 
She also showed me a few tricks with him on his collar before she signed me up for the courses there. 
She NEVER mentioned not using a prong during the course. However, I only want to use the prong collar for "Walking" not any other training. I hope to learn some good walking skills there and hope they let me use the prong collar because it worked like a charm last night. 
If petsmart sells something, the employees should be knowledgeable about it and help the customer as best they can while leaving their personal opinion out unless asked. 
I asked the trainer her opinion and she never just offered it up unwarranted.
But now that everyone mentions it, the first girl I asked was pretty rude to me. she told me to go wait in the section and shed send someone over, she looked disgusted with me but i just thought it was about how ugly i am. 
thor has to have a smaller collar to get the longer prongs cause of ALL his neck fur. 
I am very pleased with the girl who helped us out.


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## Bismarck (Oct 10, 2009)

we were taught, when walking the dog.
hold the leash in your right, with the dog on your left. 
when the dog is in the correct position, and your arm is down at your side, the leash should hit you in the mid to top of your shin.
when the dog gets in front of you, do a heel and toe about face, and walk the other way. the dog will get a correction, and will turn to follow. 
the dog will soon learn that if it's not paying attention to you, it'll get a correction.


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

thats what i was doing yesterday when he became reactive. if he was pulling me I would just stop and he would get a little correction, turn around and come wait by my side until I let us start walking again. 

UPDATE: I was just reading the back of my paper and in small print it says (no chokes or prongs allowed).....................................................................................WTF? Im so glad no one told me this when I signed up with a dog who was wearing a prong collar!


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## Furricane (Feb 18, 2010)

marinehoney said:


> thats what i was doing yesterday when he became reactive. if he was pulling me I would just stop and he would get a little correction, turn around and come wait by my side until I let us start walking again.
> 
> UPDATE: I was just reading the back of my paper and in small print it says (no chokes or prongs allowed).....................................................................................WTF? Im so glad no one told me this when I signed up with a dog who was wearing a prong collar!


Don't panic just yet. Some Petsmart trainers DO allow you to use a prong in their classes, but they will request you to take it off if any of the dogs are playing. As I think someone mentioned before, every trainer is different. At my local Petsmart one trainer is all for prongs and the other one prefers walking harnesses. So I would simply give your trainer a call and ask them. You may have a trainer who is experienced with prongs and who doesn't mind if they're used.  Best of luck, and I'm glad you found a great solution!


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## Bismarck (Oct 10, 2009)

i would actually go in and talk to him/her face to face.
if they see that you took the time to go in, and voice your concerns they may be more open to accepting it.


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