Equipment

Walk into any pet supply store, and you’ll be faced with a myriad of choices when it comes to collars, leashes, and other training aids. Venture onto the internet or into a training class and you’ll likely encounter very strong opinions one way or the other about pieces of equipment.

The fact of the matter is that a piece of equipment is as good as the trainer using it. Just about any tool is useful in certain applications, on certain dogs, with certain handlers. At Southeastern Guide Dogs, we have chosen equipment that we believe allows us to raise the best guide dogs possible. There are reasons behind our choices that I’d like to share with you, and hopefully that will help you to use the equipment effectively and understand how equipment can affect your puppies.

One aspect I’d like you to keep in mind when reading this is called “opposition reflex”. That is an instinctive, unconscious response a dog has to pressure. When they feel pressure on a collar or harness, they pull against it rather than backing away from it. We utilize opposition reflex when harness training our dogs; we want them to pull against the chest strap of the guide dog harness hard enough that they can communicate information to the handler.

Approved equipment:
Buckle collar: A buckle collar is a great choice for puppies and some adult dogs. It is adjustable, limited in movement, and if a young puppy gets excited and lunges, there aren’t immediate negative consequences from the collar. This helps to build confidence. It is possible to make a correction with a buckle collar; however most dogs aren’t bothered by this. The buckle collar is also the appropriate collar to use with a tie-down.



Sometimes a Martingale collar can be a good transition from buckle collar to training collar. It is limited slip, so can be good for dogs who try to escape their buckle collars, and it also carries a little more “oomph” than a buckle collar as far as corrections go.



Leash: A 4- to 6-foot leash made of cotton, nylon, or leather can have some variations. I personally like a leash with adjustable length to it. I can keep it at around 4 feet, but unclip one of the rings and get to around 6 feet for more distance during the “stay” and “come” commands. Some raisers also prefer a leash that has an extra loop near the collar, in order to gain control of the dog if needed. Chain leashes can be very painful on the hands; I had my pinky finger get caught in one once and it ended very unpleasantly for me when the dog lunged.

Training collar: At 6 months of age, we ask that you transition your puppy into a chain training collar, sometimes known as a choke chain. There is sometimes controversy over this collar because it is a “continuous slip” collar, meaning it will close until it tightens on the dog’s neck. If used improperly, this collar can cause harm to the trachea. However, so can other collars and proper use should prevent problems. The collar should remain loose the vast majority of the time. When tight, the collar should have about 2 to 3 inches of chain extended. Too much means you won’t get an effective correction; too little, and the collar won’t fit over the dog’s head or will remain tight all the time.


Julie models a well-fitted collar. Please do not have your puppy wear a buckle collar and training collar together; Julie is an Ambassador dog, not a puppy in training.

Some collars are equipped with a “toggle”, which makes it easier to put a properly fitted collar onto a dog with a large head. The collar should form a “P” shape (not a “Q”!) when putting it on over the dog’s head. A properly placed collar will pop and release smoothly; a collar put on backwards will fold over itself and won’t release after being tightened. A correction is given using a pop-and-release motion (easier said that done sometimes!). If the puppy starts yanking and is choking at the end of the lead, they need gradual distraction work. Talk with your AC or contact the Puppy Raising Services field representative for assistance.



Unapproved equipment:
Pinch collars: There are a lot of strong opinions on pinch collars (also known as prong collars), so this part is going to be lengthy!



The prong collar operates on a principle of discomfort; the level of discomfort that the dog feels is very dependent on the individual dog, both in regards to their emotional sensitivity and their physical conformation. The prong collar, like any training tool, can still inflict physical injury. It is a “limited slip collar”, so does not close indefinitely when a correction is applied. However, dogs can and do hit the end of the collar hard if the collar is not properly managed.

More concerning, however, are the less obvious side effects. I have used prong collars successfully on extremely thick-necked, stoic, insensitive dogs. Properly used, these collars allow for a more effective correction with less effort and often can help a dog turn their attention back to the task at hand. My pit bull mix was fantastic on the prong and only wore it for a relatively brief period of time.

But because prong collars are intended to cause discomfort, dogs can make some negative associations. If a dog tends to pull and get excited at the sight of another dog, the collar will pinch as soon as the leash tightens even slightly. If they lunge, the collar will tighten further. Every time the dog sees another dog, they feel discomfort or even pain. I don’t believe the collar will generally create dog-aggression where there hasn’t been any before, but if the dog tends to feel at all insecure or overconfident when other dogs are around, that reaction can quickly magnify into leash reactivity or full-on dog aggression. We have seen this many times in training here, and I have seen it in my general obedience classes. Because prong collars are generally used in highly distracting situations, the team runs the risk of aggravating any potential problems. Intact males are generally the ones who would be volunteered for a control/management tool but they are also arguably the ones most prone to dog aggression.

Dogs also can develop a collar aversion that can generalize to other collars. My pit bull mix was elated when he saw the prong collar come out, since it meant we were going out somewhere. My border collies, however, would stiffen up as soon as the collar neared their necks. My younger collie developed a phobia towards getting any collar on and had to be worked through it over time. I only used the prong collar on him on a few occasions but he developed the discomfort almost immediately. He also increased his leash reactivity towards other dogs ten-fold. We tried the plastic “Good Dog Collar” (which operated on the same principle as the prong collar) on several dogs in the puppy raiser homes and some of those dogs later shied away from collars when they came IFT.

Finally, the prong collar can sometimes mask problems and decrease confidence. We want a dog who is eager and excited to walk out in front of their handler and the prong collar tends to decrease that confident response. We also want to address any training issues rather than just manage them through the use of the collar.

We do occasionally use prong collars on the dogs in harness training. Generally they are only used on dogs that show a tendency towards a soft trachea or are recovering from kennel cough. The use of the collars is monitored by our certified trainers and our director of training, Rick Holden. It is still a rare event to have a dog on a prong while they are IFT. In class, however, the use of the prong is more common. This is generally due to a student/dog team who are a mismatch in size and/or strength. Safety of the student becomes the highest priority and that is where a control tool becomes important and beneficial. The situation is still carefully monitored and is only used when necessary. The above photograph is of a graduate’s dog.

Gentle Leader/Halti head collars: These tools are worn over the dog’s muzzle. They are designed to reduce pulling by controlling the front of the dog; the dog starts to pull, the handler applies pressure to the leash, and the dog’s head (and body) turn back towards the handler.

My personal opinion is that head collars are not necessarily the best training aids for general leash walking (although I have used them successfully with aggression cases, and some dogs do take to it well). Many dogs find the head halter uncomfortable. It takes time to get a dog to adjust to the halter and some dogs never fully accept it, thus creating equipment aversion.

In the context of guide dog training, head halters can have the same negative effect as pinch collars: they can lower confidence and result in a dog who won’t pull out. We don’t want the dog in a heel position, but rather a position slightly in front of the handler. The head halters are designed to work best with the dog right next to the handler’s leg. Safety becomes a concern the farther out the dog is from the handler; if they lunge and hit the end of the leash hard, they can hurt their necks from being pulled around suddenly.

Easy Walk/Sporn anti-pull harnesses: I do actually really like the Easy Walk harness and recommend it frequently for pet dogs. However, remember that opposition reflex I mentioned earlier? Using a harness that discourages pulling hurts us in the long run, because we need a dog who pulls against a strap across their chest. Anti-pull harnesses discourage that in various ways, so they should not be used on puppies in our program.

Those are some of the common pieces of equipment that you’re likely to encounter. We do require that the dogs be trained in a training collar, buckle collar, and standard leash. We are happy to work with any training issues you might encounter and understand that while everything can sound great on paper, the reality with dogs is sometimes very different. Guide dog training is very specialized, and we do have reasons for not allowing certain equipment. Hopefully this helps to clear up any questions!