CHOKE CHAIN COLLARS (your views )

Hi everyone just as a matter of interest i wondered what everyone opion is on choke chain collars .
A bloke i know who used to proffesionally show and breed boxers (now retired )has a three yr old boxer bitch called tara she is very boisterous when children are around , he has recently put her on a choke chain collar instead of the harness . now he walks tara at the busy time of the evening (he walks her around the local park and footy field) when theyre is loads of kids about . Now i noticed the other evening when out and about that tara neck is red raw from where the chain collar is rubbing and cutting in , when i mentioned this to him he replied yes i know but its the only way to stop her from pulling towards the kids .
To whuich i replied then surely it would be better to walk her when there is no football matches on and very few children around , that way you could put her back on the harness and be able to treat her raw neck .
To which he stated i like watching the football and itll teach her not to pull towards kids and just walked off.
Maybe im wrong here but surely someone with his apparent knowledge from showing owning and breeding boxers he would himself realisde he is causing pain to his dog everytime he wears the choke collar on her and takes her to areas where there is a lot of activity . i personally dnt use them so wouldn know how good they are for training a dog not to pull .
But from viewing the sore injury to tara neck and given she is a big set bitch surely they are not a good idea JMO.
So just wondered what everyone else thinks about this my sis and her oh have also spoken to him about it to no avail should i seek further help on this matter (is it an act of cruelty or just a very strict way to train) . your opions would be gratefully appreciated . thanks

Hmmm difficult one DK. I guess it is similar in a way to many things, if used correctly then there is unlikely to be a problem, but as with everything you do get people who abuse them.

Personally I would not use them but that is just my personal preference. My dad used one on our old family dog and he never needed to really use it. He just had it there as a 'precaution' but the majority of the time it was just loose around his neck. As a young dog he used it but when Rocky pulled, he literally gave a very quick pull and release. I have to say he was as good as gold on his lead throughout his life.

However as I said you do get people who abuse them and are constantly tugging on their dogs neck and pulling their heads off, and this really does upset me. When I see people walking their dogs and pulling them so hard that the dog is pulled backwards and their front feet off the floor, then I see a huge problem. The dog is going to be terrified and obviously it is going to cause pain to the neck.

I do not believe in training dogs to do something through fear, which I suppose is effectively what the choke chain does if used incorrectly. Personally I prefer to use headcollars or harnesses to aid with walking.

I am in 2 minds about it really.

I have used check chains on my dogs and used correctly they do work at the moment i am using the canny collar on leoti , anyway is the boxers neck been treated if not then a quick call to the RSPCA may help wether they come out is another thing , but it may be worth a try because under the new act he should be providing treatment for the sore neck

They don't work and do rub. A half check collar would not cause rubbing, but a headcollar - gentle leader or dogmatic is the most effective especially in young, excitable dogs.

Our pup used to pull still on a half check and his tongue and gums would go red so a harness or head collar does stop them choking themselves. Harnesses aren't effective on big pullers though.

I believe in training a dog not to pull.
I know its not always easy/possible but I really dont like the idea of strangling a dog by its lead.
I guess if used properly by a professionals then its not so bad but I still think that we can train a dog not to pull without being so brutal.

The only real way to stop a large dog from pulling when it see something it wants to go after is by distraction and to use a strong leather & chain half check collar clipped to a 16-inch lead.

When my 3 Dobes were all being trained they were put on very short leads and I always went out with a pocket full of treats and a plastic bottle with a few stones in it.

Then as soon as they started to pull I would hold them back and at the same time I would rattle the bottle a couple of times, which would distract them from whatever they had seen and as soon as we had past that distraction and they had not attempted to pull again I would give them a treat.

The whole excise only took about a week to get it into their heads that if they pull they don’t get a treat, and as we all know a dog brain is controlled by it’s stomach.

Once you have got your dog to stop pulling and starts to look to you for his treat, start to replace the treat with a good boy pat and just give him a treat when you get home. Mine all get a pig ear each.

Now I have got my dogs to the point that I don’t normally have to put them on a lead at all when I go out, (with the exception of when I take them into the centre of town). They all understand what wait, sit and down mean and if on the odd occasion I have to tell one of my dogs twice to do something then he just doesn’t get his pig ear when we get home.

I hope that helps.

Colin

Not owned a choker for over 40 years, well I do still have a gold one that I was given when my Beardie was made up but it has never been used. I learnt many many years ago to train dogs off lead which means when you put them on a lead they don't pull because they have never learnt to.

In the hands of most owners they are IMHO almost cruel & in some people's hands definitely cruel. There are one or two breeds that spring to mind that are best with a long link choker because there are no collars that really fit them, but they are not breeds I would have.

It's the basic training that is at fault, most people don't start heelwork until the puppy is old enough to go on the ground away from home, I start from day one with titbits & toys luring the puppy off lead(but with a collar on)into a reasonably close heel position & then when I do put a lead on I have a dog that walks by my side because it wants to & doesn't pull because it has never worn a collar & lead to learn to pull into

I hate them, can't add any more than that without ranting.

the trouble which check chains are theres only a right way to use them,i dont think you should use them on a boxer full stop,there very strong muscluar dogs which will prob do more damage than enough,dk tell him to try a halti,it worked for us and you know harvey was a bleeder,to pull and now even wee shannon can walk him,when i went to get the halti,the woman said not for a boxer but it worked sis aswell you know, if he wont listen tell him im going to come over and kick his ass

I'm with you Ramble!
Becky