Choke Collars- Are They Cruel?

You've probably seen a choke collar: a dog collar with two large rings attached to a length of chain. Some people think that these are cruel.

I have had a choke collar for a while and it works great! Actually, I agree with the people who say that they ought to be called "training" collars instead of "choke" collars.

You DON'T drag the dog around with it! You just give a quick tug and then let the the ring drop again. I don't pull hard enough to choke Spock!

Spock is much easier to manage on walks, and he pulls far less. When I need to jerk the leash, I pull just hard enough to get him to stop pulling. He doesn't EVER yelp when I do this!

Very tiny dogs, like chihuahuas and yorkies should never wear one of these! There are easy to control anyway. Also, do not use these on a very young puppy, or it can hurt them. Also, if the dog is outside in the yard (running free or on a chain) don't use a training collar. Don't leave the collar on the dog when he's in the kennel or when you can't supervise him.

I had read that you should start using a training collar at four months, but Spock still seemed pretty young. I didn't see the need to wait until he was six months old, like another book said, so we got him one at five months.

Getting a training collar has made walking Spock easier, and he doesn't have ANY injuries at all from it.