collar for puppy for obedience training

Question
I will be receiving a 5 month old catahoula puppy from a rescue in GA soon. I would like to have a collar for the dog before I get him. What type, brand should I shop for? Is there a different collar for traing vs. walking or ar they the same? Any other input as well. Thank you, Ray in Tallahassee, FL.

Answer
If your dog is at least 4 - 5 months old, start with a good 6' leather
leash and a sturdy slip collar, the metal chain ones with the rings on each
end. You want the shortest one that will go on and off easily. If you walk
with the dog on the left, pull the chain through one loop forming a "P".
Facing it, slip it over its head. The free end should come over the neck to the leash, and the other end should drop slack when there is no pull on the leash.  Before 4 months use a conventional flat collar to protect the tender young neck.

Thank you for taking the rescue.  

Easier dogs will give up their pulling with a few good snaps of the leash combined with a stern "Bad dog!".  But you don't want to use any more force than you need.  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.

Still, you may want to switch to a head collar.  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.  The prong collar is now a
dangerous relic of value only for its macho looks.  Do not consider using one
without hands on instruction from somebody with plenty of experience with them.


All but the most recalcitrant young puppies can be controlled before they are 4 months old with the flat collar and patience.  If you must have something more with a younger puppy, use a fabric restricted slip collar.  These are sort of a cross between the conventional flat collar and the slip collar.  Some of them are adjustable, Good for a growing puppy.  They have a fabric loop at one end with a metal ring holding the other end in the loop, allowing it to slid back a forth.  find one, or adjust one to where it will go on over the puppies head, but will not tighten up past a snug fit around the neck.  Put it on the same way as the metal slip collar.  The service dog school my Pepper belongs to uses them on all their dogs, puppies and working dogs, except where they must use a head collar.

Ordinarily you use one of the training collars when you are walking a dog, except for the younger puppies.  Always remove any training collar with the leash.  I keep flat collars on my dogs to hold their tags.  For serious training, you want to take the flat collar off.