Choking a dog is clearly not the purpose of this collar and is distasteful to anyone truly serious about training dogs for a living. It is clearly not the purpose of a slip collar - designed to tighten so the dog cannot "slip" out of the collar. The name "choke chain" actually belies its purpose, and the collar can be effective for training certain dogs when used properly. I rarely use choke chains for training but do walk well-trained dogs on them if need be.

When I hear a dog choking on the training collar due to pulling, I see a need for the training aid to be upgraded (most often to a prong collar) or the owner requires additional instruction on the proper application. Remember, any signs of choking or gagging would indicate that possible tracheal damage is occurring. It also indicates the training aid is not going to cause the proper response. If choking or gagging is occurring, trainers must ask themselves, "Is this the proper collar to use in this circumstance?”

How to Use the Training Collar

Most obedience commands are taught with your dog walking on your left.  Make the collar into the shape of a "P" and, facing your dog, slip it over his/her head. The proper fit is always a matter of opinion.

Proper Fit -I prefer the choke training collar to be fairly loose but not so loose that it hangs below your dogs jaw line. This can cause your dogs jaw to get hooked in the collar when walking on a slack leash.

These things must be considered before the choke collar should be used:

• Age of Dog
• Experience of Use by Handler
• Why Use A Choke Collar
• Safety

Age of Dog

I never use a choke collar on a puppy younger than 14 weeks. (fear impact stage/8 to 11 weeks) This is a time when learning can, and must take place with patience and firm, but gentle techniques. It is far better to play games, socialize your dog with humans and other pets in the home, and set-up housebreaking routines. You can be teaching your puppy obedience and manners. This is an important behavioral learning phase and consistency is most important. A regular buckle collar and nylon leash will do just fine for introducing your puppy to the pressure of the leash and collar - pulling and resisting to the pressure will take place. But, no prong or choke collar should be used at this time.

Experience of Use by Handler

Obviously, I would prefer owners consult an experienced dog trainer before using a choke collar. (However, be aware that most dog trainers will recommend you fit the collar snug and high on the neck.) The reality is I know a lot of owners cannot, do not, or will not do this. So, my advice is this; please remember that a choke collar is not designed to inflict pain or fear in your dog to garner obedience. Training your dog requires you to become a teacher. Teaching your dog takes time. I urge my clients to always remember this; a child is not born knowing the alphabet. And, once a child learns the alphabet does not mean that he/she can read. This analogy applies to your dog or puppy in that your dog must be taught what "sit", "down", "heel" "stay" and "come" means. It is a process. Consider sit, down and heel as learning the alphabet, and stay and come as learning to read.

The use of the choke collar must only be viewed as a tool to help you teach. What it truly does is aid you in focusing your dog's energy  towards you. Your dog is easily distracted by the world around it. It's natural instinct is to allow "Mother Nature" to dictate it's behavior. Using a training collar reinforces you teaching your dog to become responsive to you rather than it's surroundings. This can only be accomplished when you commit to handling your dog on a slack leash. I cannot emphasize this enough - no taught leashes.  see proper leash selection.

The surest way to becoming a great handler and teacher is to always remember to praise, and reward your dog, every time it responds to you - EVERY TIME. Trust me. Please do not bother using a training collar if you are not willing to employ positive reinforcement in your teaching/training regimen.

Why Use A Training Collar

One participant in a recent forum of professional dog trainers, Chad Mackin, reports discussing the subject of training collars with an engineering friend as to what is happening at the mechanical level.  He reports:

“When a dog is on a static collar and pulls, there will be a gap at the back of the neck between the collar and the dog's flesh.  This means that all of his force is being distributed across the front of the neck.  With a chain training collar there is no such gap.  The force is distributed around the entire circumference of the dog's neck. Pressure is the measure of force over area (pounds per square inch).  Equal force over a smaller area means greater pressure.   Same force over a greater area means less pressure.  The so-called choke collar actually puts LESS pressure on the dog's trachea because the force of the dog pulling is spread out rather than being isolated directly on the front of the neck.”

Chad concludes by saying, “You do not do a dog a kindness by giving leash corrections on a buckle collar.  Instead, you are needlessly endangering them.” 

“If one cannot bear the thought of using a "choke" collar, then one should abandon the idea of leash corrections altogether.  But for the love of the noble and patient dog, don't increase the pressure on their trachea and call it a kindness.   It is not an act of love for the dog.  Perhaps love for an ideal, but not for the dog.  It is a sad thing when dogs are made to suffer because people of otherwise reasonable intelligence can't see beyond their ideals and insist on following a course of action that, as idealistic as it seems, has no relation with reality whatsoever.” 

I see this explanation as a good, fair and logical argument. To truly love the dog is to completely comprehend its motivation. To understand a dog is to thoroughly examine how it thinks and learns. To effectively train a dog is to appreciate how all of these components allow us the opportunity to communicate with our dog. Only then can a deep and meaningful bonding occur. It is at this point when one can become emotional about the truth of the dog/human connection and how it is best established.

Proper Leash Selection

Basically I recommend 2 types of leashes; Nylon and Leather. Both are strong and durable, but leather is obviously softer on your hands. I only recommend you use a 6 ft leash for training and teaching - more leash equals more opportunity for learning.

Nylon Leash - 6 Foot

Leather Leash - 6 Foot