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F/U: We got a pinch collar.
I was really hesitant - we both were. But we went and I actually took the pinch collar and put it around my arm and squeezed it - it didn't hurt me and there was no way the prongs could inflict harm because they were very rounded.
After asking the staff to give us their feedback, we decided against the head collar because they said if you use it regularly, it may cause some loss of fur where the strap goes across the dog's snoot. Uh... no thanks. I like my dogs with fur. (She also has had "chafing" issues with other harnesses, so we didn't really want to risk it again - this time on her FACE.) We didn't want to go with a choke collar because they only had much smaller ones than we'd consider and Xena acts a bit dense sometimes, so the chances were that she'd seriously end up choking herself!
We took one short walk when we got home with it on - just around the block. It was INSANE how fast she picked up on "When I pull, they tug back a little and it pinches me!" She never once yipped, and only shot Greg a slightly dirty look the first time he tugged on it. She was like a completely different dog - usually she walks like a pretty good girl after about 2 miles. She walked that way the entire block!
So... so far, so good. Thank you for all your thoughts/suggestions/support.
Re: F/U: We got a pinch collar.
.: Diary of a Recovering Runner :.
Yes, Xena is ungrounded for now, but we're still slowly easing back into walking with the pinch collar by starting out on shorter walks. (This may mean 2 shorter walks instead of 1 longer walk, at least until she's more used to the collar. We leave her regular collar on as well, so at some point, I think we're going to try switching off her pinch collar mid-walk with the option that we can switch back since it's a tool, not the end-all answer.)
Exactly Val, ... once I saw that it was REALLY rounded (the ones I've seen before were just filed down.. which still have edges and could hurt!), I didn't feel so bad. It cost us about $25 for a medium Xena one, and actually I tried out the smaller one to see if we should go with that, but the prongs were still as big but the wire was smaller so it hurt MORE than the medium one.
From what I read yesterday, the prong collar seemed to be the best option - everything else (even the harnesses we'd used in the past) have shown some kind of injuries even if used properly. (I read of a few post-mortem cases where slight fractures were found in the dogs' neck and chest & had healed; they were consistent with the pressure put on the dogs by harnesses or head collars.) Short of looking like a torture device and people misusing it, I didn't find much injury reports as a result of a properly fitted prong collar.
*keeps fingers crossed*
We had to use one on the Sydness, b/c she was so out of control while we were at training classes, she was like me in school, more interested in making friends rather than learning. I put little plastic protectors on hers b/c she doesn't have any fur under her neck at all, it worked for us and we haven't used in 4 years, she walks like a good girl on her leash. That's the only thing we got out of training, she failed the rest of the class. So much so that the instructor used to say, "OK, we'll move on to such and such, Sydney, you keep working on the last thing" - it was embrassing.
My IL's use one on their lab/german shepard mix. I always feel like it is hurting him, but it really doesn't. He also picked up on it quickly.
I am sure it was a hard decision for you, but hey it worked and now you all can benefit.
Every time I kept thinking about it as a possibility yesterday, I'd end up trying to keep from balling and fighting off tears (I'm sitting at my freaking desk FCOL!) And then the woman at the place we bought it at was kind of cold-hearted to it and as we're checking out, one of the other customers (a bit older and looked wiser) saw I was struggling with the decision and said "It's worth it.. it won't hurt her." I nearly started balling again in the store, even after I'd put it on myself. LOL