collars/leads?

[Gizmo's mom]

so i have a question about different collars and leads and such for pyrs. i have noticed some posts on here suggesting prong or choke collars. has anyone used a gentle leader with their pyrs? do they work or not? (dont have a pyr but looking into getting one.) we have a shetland sheepdog that we used a GL on for a while and it was a LIFE SAVER! would one of those be an ok substitute for one of the others? i just dont know if i would want to use a prong or choke for fear of doing serious damage on accident. ive never used one so i dont know if i would simply feel comfortable using one. and with shelties, you dont want to use those because they are very emotionally sensitive and are broken very easily. but like i said, the GL was amazing with Gizmo. also as far as a normal collar for tags and such, with our sheltie we use a rolled leather collar because the flat ones cause major mats, and actually damaged his mane fur. im assuming it would be the same for a pyr? or am i wrong and a flat nylon one would be ok?

[Lou Lou]

I don't have too much experience with GL's because before owning my Pyr I owned sighthounds and tended stay away from head halter type collars because of snap back if they lurched after something, which happened on more than one occasion One plus about walking a Pyr in the bush as opposed to a Wolfhound is I don't lose my Pyr at the sight of a rabbit I guess.

I just wanted to mention that Ralph's "outside collar" is a flat nylon collar. He's fine with wearing it for runs or during the day outside at camp but I'm trying to make a point to keep it off of him while we're inside because it has done a number on his mane.

For a while he pretty well wore it 24/7 and I had to deal with zinc staining (no matter how many times I shellacked his tags) and mats and a big impression in his mane from where the collar sat. The zinc staining was the worst though, it had such an awful feel to it.

He is fine now though that I take it off inside so it really depends on much the collar is worn I guess.

I know a few users here also use no-pull harnesses too. I think the head halters can sometimes also be confused by random passersby as muzzles. Silly, I know but I think it changes the dynamic between people and the dog and socialization is a HUGE thing for these guys to grow up well adjusted.

Hopefully some others who have used GLs here chime in!

[Davey Benson]

Both of my pyrs wear leather... the male has spiks and the female is pink with little fake jewels... (i know cliché right?) But I don't have any trouble with mats... and my dogs have never been leash pullers...

[Espinay]

For general walking I like a martingale (half slip) collars. The Premier brand ones are excellent, very adjustable and generally fit from baby till adult if you get a large size. I also use a slip lead. But really whatever you use, the important thing is not the gear, but how you use it. If you teach a pup right from day one that pulling means you stop, and a loose lead means go, and you are CONSISTENT with this, then they grow up to never learn to pull in the first place. NONE of my Pyrs have EVER pulled.

For 'tag' collars I use thin rolled leather collars which are loose enough to slip on and off over the head, or I use a 'big dog necklace' : http://www.bigdogleads.com.au/photos/?id=4 I find these don't damage the coat.

[Tsunibear]

I have used a Gentle Leader on Missy and she hated it. So much so she would stop and roll instead of walking with it on. She scratched at her face trying to get it off and I had to take her to the vet over it. He told me to quit with it because, it was stressing her out really bad. I have see dogs wear them successfully so I kinda think it is just Missy. As for what she wears now are just collars, fabric collars that I custom order for her. She is a collar with many collars. I only get quick release collars or martingales for Missy and both work fine for her now.

[Jewel]

I use the GL when I walk my two by myself. I started with choke collars, then went to martingale. I put the GL on both of them after I fell and broke my finger one pitch dark morning on our walk.

Bijou was introduced to the GL when she was maybe 5 months old. She had absolutely no impulse control at that age and was jumping on everyone that came within 5 feet of her. With the GL it was a bit easier to stop her from jumping up. I used it on her for a while but then got tired of her doing the "commando roll" to get it off every few blocks.

But after I broke my finger, I knew I just didn't have the strength to securely hold the dogs on our walks while the finger was healing, so I had to opt for a walking tool that would give me the most control. Bijou was fine when I re-introduced the GL. My male was about 6 when I put the GL on him for the first time. He didn't like it but he's learned to put up with it. The finger has since healed, but I find the GL the better option for me when I am by myself. Though mine are not huge dogs, at around 70 lbs each, combined they do outweigh me and if they both bolt for a cat, which they do once in a while, they take me with them if they are wearing martingales. With the GL, I have a better chance of gaining control back quicker.

I have not noticed anyone reacting negatively toward the GL, mistaking it for a muzzle. People continue to come up to us wanting to pet the two.

[naholmes]

Originally Posted by Gizmo's mom

so i have a question about different collars and leads and such for pyrs. i have noticed some posts on here suggesting prong or choke collars. has anyone used a gentle leader with their pyrs? do they work or not? (dont have a pyr but looking into getting one.) we have a shetland sheepdog that we used a GL on for a while and it was a LIFE SAVER! would one of those be an ok substitute for one of the others? i just dont know if i would want to use a prong or choke for fear of doing serious damage on accident. ive never used one so i dont know if i would simply feel comfortable using one. and with shelties, you dont want to use those because they are very emotionally sensitive and are broken very easily. but like i said, the GL was amazing with Gizmo. also as far as a normal collar for tags and such, with our sheltie we use a rolled leather collar because the flat ones cause major mats, and actually damaged his mane fur. im assuming it would be the same for a pyr? or am i wrong and a flat nylon one would be ok?

Duke has never pulled when walking him so I only use a halter. He is so senstive that I think if I used anything else he would resist it. When he sees me coming with the halter, he puts his front legs up on a chair and stands up so that i can put it on him more easliy. I don't know why, he just did that one day. now, he lets me know he wants to go for a walk by getting up on a chair like that.

[Lancelot]

Lance was a puller as a pup. I did use the GL and it worked great but my obedience instructer asked me not to use it. He said it didn't train him not to pull just made him not pull. He put him on a prong, with rubber tips, and I still use it today when we are on walks because he is reactive to other big dogs. In the yard, around the house and doing therapy work, he wears a martingale.

[Dee Dee Ro]

Dee Dee is so ungawdly strong. The leader of aour carting group suggested I use a prong collar on her. I flat out refuse. The only prong I plan on using on her is a snow hook this winter. A snow hook is a tool used by sled dawg drivers to stop the team. If it will work for a 16 dawg team, maybe there's a chance it will work with the big white fluffy. I have a skyline that runs 40 feet from my porch to a spruce tree on the other side of my driveway. Off of that, Dee Dee has a30 foot lead. The other night, I thought I was in the middle of an earthquake, my whole house was like Dorothy in Kansas. A young moose wandered into my yard and Dee Dee took a notion. She pulled out about a four foot chunk of my main porch beam. Her skyline was embedded in the post with a four inch screw eye.. Fortunately, she got caught in my newspaper box post, much to the detriment of the newspaper post; she also just about tore out the screw in the spruce tree, too.

[Dee Dee Ro]

The neighbor kid came and set an eight foot steel post. He buried it 3 1/2 feet down, dumped a couple bags of concrete, then, above ground, filled two tires with rocks and concrete. If she pulls that out, I'll have to call Guiness Book of World Records as the absolute strongest dawggie that ever existed. She stays somewhat manageable when she's on her lead-until a squirrel runs across her path. Her reaction to the moose the other night, while tethered on her skyline, I have no clue...All I know is I love that girl.