Blue booked in for training

Just phoned up the dog school and Blue has his first 1 to 1 lesson this Friday at 10am.
Can't wait. Hopefully if it goes well and we can get him to start to get along with other dogs I can book him in for obedience classes and then other things like agility. But it all depends on him starting to get along with dogs.

Thats great Blue, really hope it helps. The next steps are so positive, fingers crossed for you x

Fingers crossed! Hope it goes well for you.

Cheers girls
Hopefully it would mean he would eventually get to go off lead and go for walks to more places than one fenced off field
But if not then I haven't lost anything and will continue to have fun with him, but at least I will know I give it a go

good luck for Friday

My youngest keeps calling this training im taking Blue to, school.
So in 2 hours Blue has his first day at school.
He looks so cute in his little blazer and cap

hope Blue enjoys his first day at school!!

good luck, let us know what happened

Come on, come on..........we're waiting for an update!

What? NO, I'M NOT AT ALL IMPATIENT!!!!!

Oh good luck. I'm sure Blue will have a great time and hopefully learn something too

So blue how did his first day of school go? Did you cry at the gates lol I know my mum did both in primary and secondary school I think it was the releife that she had got rid of me though not that I was growing up lol.

we are we waiting,

Oh, dear, he's taking his time.

COME ON BLUE!!!!!!!

Sorry all.
It went well. She used a prong collar on him and it became a different dog straight away. Took 2 pulls with it and he just completly ignored the other dogs she brought with her.
Amazing! I bought one and took him out for a walk. 3 dogs come running over and i give it the slighest tug when he started to tense up and he became relaxed and socialised perfectly. Can't believe how well it worked.
The woman brought all different breeds with her to test Blue with and by the end of the hour he was ignoring them all. So I can start obidence classes with him.
He starts a week tomorrow

Thats brill a good start.!!!!!
I got my boy to that level but off lead its fight club and all in so I gave it all up wished I had carried on though

Great news Blue, you must be proper chuffed.

well done

Thanks all.
Yeah great start. So proud of him
Blue would be nice to 1 in a 100 dogs before so if I can get him into the habbit of being socialable everyday, there may be a slim chance he could go to other places and be off lead even if it's just for 5 mins, at the moment it feels like ground hog day as I can only go to 1 field as it's the only one I've found no one else uses and is fenced in.

Step by Step and lets hope Blue catches on!! Dead pleased, I know how it feels being stuck to the same places, I don't drive so cant go to the places I'd like off or on lead. Really hope he gets it!!

Glad it went well, but I got to say I don't like prong collars.

Thank you.
Yeah I know you don't. But it works and Blue doesn't do it again and nor does he cower afterwards. He still stands proud and hairs on his neck are up but he doesn't lunge at them.
In the hour I had to use it twice and in that time he walked past and around six different dogs.
Like them or not for Blue it works

Just be careful, because a prong collar is only supposed to be used in the short term. What will happen when the prong isn't there?

I have been warned about this
The woman did say it is for short term and she said you will have a short time when he stops using it where he will test you. She did say dogs aren't as stupid as they look and know exactly when it's on and when it's not

See, that's my point. He'll know when it isn't there, and he may well revert back to the previous behaviour because he's no longer in discomfort.

Anyway, do what you feel is right & hopefully it'll work for you.

hope it all goes well blue

BlueStaffBlue wrote:Sorry all.
It went well. She used a prong collar on him and it became a different dog straight away. Took 2 pulls with it and he just completly ignored the other dogs she brought with her.

Pleas excuse my ignorance....but what is a prong collar???
I have heard them being spoken about but have no idea what they are and how they work.

okay I am abit thick.. does a prong collar poke in his neck or something when you pull it?? Wouldn't they fight against it?? Does it hurt them ??

haha... we both wrote the same thing at the same time!! Us Aussies have never heard of a prong collar !!

It's a chain collar, similar to a check chain, but with prongs all around it turning in on the dog's neck.

Caryll wrote:It's a chain collar, similar to a check chain, but with prongs all around it turning in on the dog's neck.

It does work with some really difficult dogs, but not all, and not at all if it's used wrongly.

How's it going with Blue today? Is he still improving?

BlueStaffBlue wrote:Thank you.
Yeah I know you don't. But it works and Blue doesn't do it again and nor does he cower afterwards. He still stands proud and hairs on his neck are up but he doesn't lunge at them.
In the hour I had to use it twice and in that time he walked past and around six different dogs.
Like them or not for Blue it works

Doesnt this kind of say to you that he is only not lunging and pulling because it hurts his neck? If the body language is still the same then he isn't submitting to the other dogs he just cant physically behave how he would like to because therer are tons of metal prongs sticking in his neck!!! It works now but as Caryll said the minute you take it away what will happen then? He might not try to lunge at other dogs and bite them but you will have to retrain him with a normal lead and collar all over again once he realises the prongs have gone. and realistically you might as well do it properly the first time however long it takes. Im not one for quick fixes. If you like the results though i guess it'll be interesting to watch your progress as you update.

Heres one, and yes I can imagine it does hurt. This is what it does to the human arm with gentle pressure -


Injury by prong collar -



This link explains my opinion on them - http://www.dogremedies.com/dangers_choke_pinch_shock.html

*Gets down off her soap-box*

Instrument of torture comes to mind...

Awwww, poor poor poor puppies.



Does'nt look like much fun to me.

Sorry all been off busy at work
Them pics above look very bad. Don't know who's been using the prong collar there but they must have been dragging the dog or pulling extremely hard for it to cause that sort of damage, plus the prong collar must have been fit incorrectly.
I'm male so you can probably imagine that I've been left alone in a room with the prong collar longer than 5mins. I have put it around my neck and it never left any marks. I did google it later to see if I was the only numpty who had tested it when I discovered most people test it on their leg

BlueStaffBlue wrote:I'm male so you can probably imagine that I've been left alone in a room with the prong collar longer than 5mins. I have put it around my neck and it never left any marks. I did google it later to see if I was the only numpty who had tested it when I discovered most people test it on their leg

Just don't give your wife ideas!!!

Nosipho wrote:

Doesnt this kind of say to you that he is only not lunging and pulling because it hurts his neck? If the body language is still the same then he isn't submitting to the other dogs he just cant physically behave how he would like to because therer are tons of metal prongs sticking in his neck!!!

It works now but as Caryll said the minute you take it away what will happen then? He might not try to lunge at other dogs and bite them but you will have to retrain him with a normal lead and collar all over again once he realises the prongs have gone. and realistically you might as well do it properly the first time however long it takes. Im not one for quick fixes. If you like the results though i guess it'll be interesting to watch your progress as you update.

Sorry didn't explain right. Since he has worn it the lead has been loose. Im taking it that you at least believe that it doesn't hurt when it's loose. I mean he not in too much pain to walk or play fetch with it on.

Don't know where your getting the idea this is a quick fix.
I have tried several collars, forms of correction and techniques all of which have been useless. Blue would lunge so much before that he would be choking himself in a flat collar but still carry on lunging, should I let him do this for another 9 months to see if he starts to correct himself as he grows into an even stronger dog?
At the moment Blue doesn't even pull a bit, now if you feel thats due to pain or not, it's stopped him. He isn't pulling.....therefore he isn't getting pinched. Now when that collar is removed, im hoping I would have been given the opportunity to show Blue the behavious I expect from him and that a short correction with a flat collar will be enough to remind him what I expect. Before on issues like dog aggression I wasn't even noticed during the commotion for him to even realise I wasn't happy.

Plus just so you know the pic of the pinch collar on the dog in the pic you posted is fitted incorrectly. It's across the dogs windpipe.

Don't know where your getting the idea this is a quick fix.
I have tried several collars, forms of correction and techniques all of which have been useless. Blue would lunge so much before that he would be choking himself in a flat collar but still carry on lunging, should I let him do this for another 9 months to see if he starts to correct himself as he grows into an even stronger dog?

What i meant is if you take that collar off hes not going to be cured is he? Hes only behaving because the collar is on and he knows he has too not out of free will! And of course hes not going to correct himself, thats your job!

I feel it is a quick fix because it is only working whilst it is on. It is not curing the behaviour just preventing Blue from acting out...

But if your happy with it and its working for now then as I say its your dog, you do what you believe is best!

If I leave the collar on he isn't going to be cured. He may never be cured as you put it, but if he does become cured then it will be through time. This collar is just giving me the chance to show what behaviour I am after, something which I am unable to do with other collars and using other techniques.
Each dog is different and the prong collar certainly isn't for everyone. I have started off at the so called more friendly ways and got no where. Blue is far to dominant and stubborn to of had any effect when corrected using other techniques and aids.
Some dogs you only have to look at and say no and they sulk for hours afterwards....others on the other hand are like me and a pain in the backside

BlueStaffBlue wrote:If I leave the collar on he isn't going to be cured. He may never be cured as you put it, but if he does become cured then it will be through time. This collar is just giving me the chance to show what behaviour I am after, something which I am unable to do with other collars and using other techniques.
Each dog is different and the prong collar certainly isn't for everyone. I have started off at the so called more friendly ways and got no where. Blue is far to dominant and stubborn to of had any effect when corrected using other techniques and aids.
Some dogs you only have to look at and say no and they sulk for hours afterwards....others on the other hand are like me and a pain in the backside

My Duke is as good as gold and very obedient but just too clever and the little sod knows if theres a chance of a scrap then hes in there. Always said that they have to be managed and for you if thats the prong then so be it as you say there are some that will sulk and there are some that wont !!!!!good luck and keep us posted

Well, Blue, you've opened up another can of worms - we should start selling them for fishing bait!

As long as you know that a prong collar cannot be used indefinitely and you keep trying other methods, then good luck & I hope it works for you. Unfortunately I'm a little sceptical about the long term effectiveness of the prong. I'm also a bit surprised that the trainer's first sugestion was a prong.

Well forums are for a debate
Weren't the first suggestion by the trainer to be fair to her. I had to take all my collars and leads with me and she also brought collars. We tried flat collar, rope choke, half check, halti, choke and prong. Only one I think we didn't try was the extendable lead. Something to do with being the worst invention. Obviously she hasn't heard of the self assesment form from the tax office.

Never used the prong collar myself Caryll so I am also intrested in if we are able to set the foundations for him to grow from.
Start obidence classes this weekend and if that doesn't work he will just have to go back in his electrical straight jacket

BlueStaffBlue wrote:. Obviously she hasn't heard of the self assesment form from the tax office.

Plus just so you know the pic of the pinch collar on the dog in the pic you posted is fitted incorrectly. It's across the dogs windpipe

I wouldnt know never used one

Well Im going to close the can of worms and we can save them for another time Ive got nothing else to say about it really, though I did once work with a dog who was how you describe Blue and he would try and drag me across the road to get to another dog (rott x dobie). He was murder and we could never trust him with strange dogs though once you introduced him to * he was fine! We tried every approach possible and I am ashamed to say he was so big and strong that I even ended up using a halti on him! Never cured his DA but after a while we could have him sitting down or laying down and not throwing himself screaming at every other dog he saw. I guess a prong collar might have worked in the respect that I would have been able to better control him. But I just dont see it as a way to get to the root of the problem which is that Blue (as did Beau) feels uncomfortable around other dogs and that is why hes reacting with aggresssion.

Anyway enough from me!

the * is meant to say girl dogs!