This is exactly the point, my goal is to have the dog respond to the vibration and sound, I use my voice and body language however when Im teaching a dog to heel the point is made early on to the dog that Im in charge and if I want to walk in a straight line or make a right/left turn then the dog 'will' come with me....if the dog decides otherwise the dog will basically give itself a correction. (which it will do regardless of what type of collar your using so why not use something that will get the dogs attention rather than something you and your dog will constantly be battling with).

The level of correction varies with every dog and the dog breed/size/personality is taken into account and the appropriate length/size of link/weight of the chain will be used. Ive seen people use long thin, small link, lightweight chains on extremely boisterous labs....theres no point....at best your just going to annoy the lab but place a medium/larger link with some weight on it and you should get the labs attention pretty quick without causing it any damage.

And as mentioned, you put it on the wrong way and it doesnt release so basically your dog is getting an ongoing correction even when the dog is doing what you want him to do.

My Jack Russell"spooks" easily - she would choke herself with ANY collar so I use a harness connected to her collar by a Halti-link. My dog trainer likes half-check collars as they can't over-tighten if correctly adjusted; however she stopped using full choke collars years ago as they can cause trachea damage.

Yeah, I would have thought that the knobbly metal links could cause bruising at least. I think I'll stick with the long, boring method of stopping when the lead goes tight. If anybody could get this wrong, it would be me

I agree that full check collars can cause damage on young, inexperienced dogs/owners. I used mine happily on my labs and my dane when they were older. However, Len is still under two and happily walks with a half check collar. I suggest you use a half check first while you and your dog learn how it's done

I think you misunderstood me!

The choke chain will be a collar only, I use a slip lead when out walking her.

I am probably misinterpreting this Rips but you are not intending to leave the chain on her in the same way as one might do with a flat collar are you? Just need reassurance that you do know that it is very dangerous to leave a choke chain on a dog as the chain can so easily get snagged and the dog can be seriously injured or may die if no-one is there to quickly release it

Apologies if I am preaching to the converted

You're right Rips, I did misunderstand you - sorry

No don't worry, the choke chain will be used as a means to identification when out walking, but removed at all other times.

No probs!