Find the appropriate correction for your dog with training equipment. There’s a difference between correcting your dog and punishing him. Corrections aide him in the learning process, punishment does NOT. For this reason, professional dog trainers have developed various types of dog training equipment to help owners give their dog a gentle yet effective correction when he makes a mistake. It’s important to find the appropriate correction for your dog’s age, personality, and sensitivity to physical touch. Keep in mind that his mother already taught him that her corrections to him would get more intense until he complied with her wishes. But mother would NOT over-correct him. Overcorrecting your dog is mean!
Dogs are as varied in characteristics as humans are. While a large dog can have a hard character and need more of a correction, many large dogs can be sensitive to physical touch and have gentle personalities. While little dogs look cute and sweet, many can be insensitive to touch and have very strong-willed personalities. And there are dogs of every degree in between. Therefore, some dogs require nothing more than a warning tone in your voice or a sharp “no”, while other dogs require a strong physical correction, like his mother taught him.
How do you know what dog training equipment is appropriate correction for YOUR dog? In general, a young puppy or a gentle affectionate personality should start out with an everyday dog collar that merely carries his ID and rabies tag. Once you are sure he knows what a command means it’s fair to correct him with gentle verbal to let him know he is making a mistake. But if you find your dog isn’t making any progress or you find yourself having to tug too hard, you know it’s time to try the next step in leverage, an Easy-Walk Harness. (See the AKC article on dog training at https://www.akc.org/products-services/training-programs/)
When you do quick tugs on the Easy Walk harness, the loop in the front causes a hugging motion at his shoulders while taking away his ability to pull forward. If he is a young pup or a physically sensitive dog, this is all the correction he should need. He’ll realize that the annoying tugging stops when he complies with the command.
If you aren’t making any progress with the Easy Walk harness, it’s time to up the correction with the leverage of the martingale collar. When a martingale collar is fitted properly, it delivers two nips on the neck where the chain brings a little bit of the dog’s skin through the rings. This reminds your dog of the way his mother corrected him when he was a young pup in the litter. If this is effective for your dog, then that’s all the correction you need. However, if you find yourself having to tug on the leash too hard, or your dog is not making any progress, then you will want to try a prong collar.
With proper dog training equipment you can mean what you say without being mean
HE PRONG COLLAR SIMULATES THE MOTHER DOG’S FULL SET OF TEETH
The prong collar is not as menacing as it looks. It’s constructed that way so that only the tiny ends of the prongs touch the dogs neck. This simulates the full set of teeth the mother dog or an alpha dog will use on a subordinate when an unwanted behavior must stop. The good news about a prong collar is, less pressure is required to get a dog to understand that he is making a mistake. Your dog may simply need to feel the prong collar, and because he backs off on his own, no tugs will even be needed. The leverage of the prong collar is nicknamed “power steering” for that reason. You can be very gentle with a prong collar; or you can use more pressure for the insensitive, stubborn adolescent or adult dog. Remember, always use the least amount of pressure to get your dog to stop an unwanted behavior. DON’T make him fearful of you or feel defensive toward you. As a loving dog owner, it’s your responsibility to find the dog training equipment with the right amount of correction to help your dog learn.
Be sure your dog understands what you want before you use corrections
If you are interested in purchasing training equipment to find the appropriate correction for your dog, here are our recommendations.(https://pawsiloveyou.com/recommended-products/)