pinch collar

Question
I have a St. Bernard that is 1.5 years old.  I switch from a no pull harness to
the largest prong collar.  I adjusted it by removing severa links to ensure
proper fit.  It doesn't sit just under his ears and below jaw (I feel it is too tight
then). He is a really hard puller and actually got better when said collar was
put on.  He now has almost a "rattle" when he pants and sounds hoarse when
he barks.  Supposedly there is no damage to the trachea when these collars
are used. What should I do? What do you make of the situation? Thanks for
your help.

Answer
Every type of collar seems to have its friends and foes with plenty of strong opinions and very few facts.  Number me among those that don't like the looks of the prong collar.  Event the strongest partisans of the prong collars admit proper fit is very important.  I don't know enough about them to say if you had yours fit properly.  If not, you could have injured the dog's neck.  Perhaps the best thing is to get him to the vet.  

I like head collars.  The leading brands are Promise, Haltie, and Gentle Leader. They have a strap going around the dogs nose looking something like a muzzle. They work by pulling the dogs head around. No other way gives you such great control with so little force.  You never want to use the same snap of the leash with one of them as the others.  

One gentle technique I like is to just stop when he pulls. He wants to go. If you move forward when the leash is slack, and stop when he pulls, he should quickly figure out the only way to get to go, is not to pull. This is about teaching him not to pull, not getting somewhere. The man that taught it to me said "If in a half hour you haven't made it out to the front walk, fine, you have taught him a lesson. Pulling the dog backwards is a good technique too.