Eros Kopliku

Hey all.

My inquiry is on the use of prong collars. I ran a search, but could not find anything that answered it specifically. At my club, it is emphasized that prong collars are to enhance drive, not kill it. I started using it on my dog last month to start teaching the Bark and Hold, but yesterday, was the first time that I used it outside of the training realm. I pulled a muscle on my lower back somehow and did not want to take a chance of being pulled and slipping on ice during the daily walk. After the walk, I took him with me to Ace's Hardware, where he behaved superbly (in part because of the prong collar).

After reading the "To Correct Or Not" thread, I became even more suspicious on whether I am raising my pup correctly or not. I have done some reading and also seen some videos on raising working puppies and have tried to abide by them as much as possible. However, as a first time working dog owner, I think I am my own worst critic and probably overanalyze everything in relation to my dog.

So is it okay to use a prong to bring the dog under control? Is such use killing drive? Will the dog assume that putting on a prong means that it is time to be calm?

A bit of info on my dog and what I want to do with him: He's a 16 months old, working line GSD. Has been raised with a bit more restrictions than most people raise their working pups (not allowed on furniture, no rough-housing with the kids, no jumping on mama, no chewing on the kitty , etc). I am training him in the Schutzhund discipline, but my ultimate goal is for him to be a family protection dog since I travel a lot. So far, he is advancing well in bite work and shows good civil aggression in the training field.

Thanks.