^ Prong collars are humane? No, @Coloma. No animal lover should think so. Have a look at this link, which states, quite clearly: ”Prong collars are subject to all of the same criticisms as are chokers. Furthermore, they can do incredible damage to the dog’s neck since they can become embedded in the skin”.
There is also this link, which adds, ”The only difference between a dog and a human neck is that under the fur, a dog’s skin layer is only 3–5 cells thick, while the top layer of human skin is denser, 10–15 cells thick.”. Can you imagine fitting a prong collar around a rambunctious child’s neck? A dog will have even less sense of self-preservation than that child.
Alternatively, just let me tell a story.
I train dogs as part of my job. Recently, my dog trainer friend was on a visit with a German Shepherd. She was supposed to teach him an appropriate response to people in motion. When she came, the dog was tied to a tree in the garden. She sat down with his owners, and jumped up a short while later – she had heard choking sounds. The dog had, quietly, worked on tightening the leash around his neck, so much so that he was pressed against the tree. He was wearing a choke collar, which was snug against his neck, choking him. The whole thing. Eyes protruding, gums changing colour…they saved him, but that dog came very close to dying on that day.
Beside serious health risks and, very often, plain ineffectiveness, there is also the very real issue of associating pain with all manner of things other than pulling. I’ve seen dogs get aggressive toward
1. Buses
2. Traffic in general
3. Other dogs
4. Noisy children
5. Strollers
6. People riding skateboards
All because they had received leash jerks or been choked by their collars on seeing these things. I don’t care how much my dog pulls, I’d rather have him drag me along then risk him thinking children are hurting him.
In Germany, you can get a free training session in exchange for giving up your prong collar, and all vets I have heard on the subject have been appalled at those things being for sale. They are not humane. They are evil.
@gorillapaws People say that’s true, but I, for one, have seen many dogs pull no matter where their heads were turned. It may be my very careful use of the nose loop. Jerking a dog’s head around with force can cause neck injuries, so I avoid that. You don’t sound like you’d be likely to use force, though, so you may just have had a rather smart and/or easily influenced dog? :)