I think they are a pretty outdated piece of equipment to be honest. I haven't used one for many years and never would use one now. If they are used correctly they are generally ok, but unfortunately 99 times out of 100 they are used incorrectly and that is when the problems occur.

I also use a fine choke chain for showing, not the normal linked type but the fancy snake linked ones. It's thin so it sits under the coat and doesn't spoil the dogs neck line. When moving the lead is slack so it doesn't have the "choking" effect. When walking the dogs I use either a semi slip webbing collar, specifically designed for sled dogs or a strong walking harness.

should have said in my last post that I don't like choke chains as a general rule as only a small persentage of people know how to use them properly and when used incorrectly can cause so many serious problems to the dog's neck and throat and I think choke chains cause a lot of lead aggression, the dogs are dragged away from other dogs causing pain and the dog associates the pain with meeting other dogs so it becomes aggressive on the lead. What's worse is people walking dogs on choke chains and flexi leads.

Its a surefire way to risk her becoming child aggressive. It is very possible for her to begin to consider children as the cause of the pain by visual connection.


So why cant the idiot watch the football on his own and leave her at home instead of forcing her to suffer pain and injury, the selfish swine


Apparent knowledge and actual knowledge are two different things. He is injuring his dog already and risking fatal injury also, every time that chain tightens he is risking trauma to her trachea. If her trachea collapses it will be too late for him to realise how stupid he is being with her life - thats no exaggeration, collapsed trachea = dead dog.

They are`nt. People who `always use them` do so often because they have no idea how dependant they become on them with a puller - if its the only thing that `stops them pulling` well it clearly has`nt actually worked then or they would`nt need it anymore, nor that the last thing to teach a dog to walk well is by putting something on a dogs neck which causes them to want to escape the discomfort, pain, and feeling of helplessness these things cause.


If he has injured the dog and considers it acceptable to continue doing so, which is the case from your description, either report him or send him my way, I would happily demonstrate how a choker feels on his neck.
I`d guarantee he would never use another one again because just the sight of one afterward would make him nauseous...

If he can`t handle her on a harness he is either using the wrong type [ I bet its a Lupi... ], or the right type but wrong fit, and expects the harness to do all the work with no positive handler input.

[ If anyone thinks my post is harsh toward the moron, right now I am so raw that reading about the carelessness and what I consider cruelty toward a dog instead of that owner considering his dog to be a precious privelige to be cared for properly is really grating on me ].

I have not read the other posts on this yet so sorry if im saying the same as others,

with ref to the above, many people assume if you, show breed dogs then you can handle and train them, its sadly very untrue, from what i have seen in many breeds more so the larger working breeds, I have found that many can breed good looking dogs but are not able to train these dogs to any more than stare at a piece of liver in the ring, I have no real knowlage on smaller breeds so cant say, but in the working group I would guess-timate that 65% who are winning regularly with there dogs dont really know much on training dogs as a whole, shocking aint it,
wish I had met him I am not against check chains but they have to be used properly, most folk dont even know they have a right way and a wrong way to go on, to me they are a training aid, not an every day item to walk a dog on, I have used them as a short sharp shock on the rotts when needed, then move onto a half check so that the noise of the chain is still there without the throttle,
I have seen folk in the park and thought the poor ruddy dog, the chain being on the wrong way and the dog never getting any relief from the choke, whats that teaching the dog

many will be like oh ye thats gona work but trust me it does, ps its nice to meet like minded folk,

LOLOL been doing it since 1965 & lots of people use luring now using a target stick or their hand like me, I trained a GSD that had been badly treated by a dog breaker & you couldn't train her with a lead on at all & even puttiong a normal collar on was at first traumatic. She eventually did lovely heelwork & never noticed the lead.

the statement for choke chains should say,

The trainers with brains dont need the chains
or have a brain dont use a chain,

My sister and her husband spoke to the bloke again today about the obvisous wounds on tara neck and thankfully have sorted out the problem thus far , as to him going back to the harness and getting rid of the choke chain horray also my bil is going to help with training her to walk on a lead without pulling in thew same way he trained his own large male boxer (clicker training) he can let his dog walk freely about and dosen get distracted by footballers or kids . this was only reluctantly agreed to after my sister told him i was reporting the offence to the local welfare for animals .(an knowing me like he does he knows i mean what i say )here is a pic of my sister well behaved well trained boy buster
Thanx everyone for your great replies

I have to add I do have a chain or two, Kaos has his lovely gold one, guess they are more for the bling thing than really walking, they would prob snap if he pulled, he also has his niffty brass one I often use for the show ring, so to all who show with one, I know where your coming from guilty as charged, but not for the cruel side of it more for the fashion / lookey nice thing,