Mastering Leash Control, The Best Collars for Aggressive and Reactive Dogs

Ever wonder why your aggressive dog isn't responding in the way you'd like to traditional shock or prong collars? Maybe it's because they're not the most effective or humane choice. Join us on the Dog Aggression Answers podcast as we set out on a quest to find the ultimate collar that can provide a constructive and humane solution for your dog's aggressive tendencies.

From shock collars to head halters, we dissect the pros, cons, and hidden truths of each - grading them based on their efficacy and kindness to our canine companions. We also cover the indispensable role of proper collar adjustment and leash control in behavior modification. As we tackle this controversial topic, we debunk the myths surrounding quick fixes and guide you toward a realistic approach to managing your dog's aggression or reactivity.

Unveiling our top picks for the best collar, we lay out compelling reasons that make certain types of collars the most effective and humane option for aggressive and reactive dogs. No gimmicks or magic, just a conscientious choice of tools to aid in your pet's behavior treatment process.

So, tune in for insights that could reshape your dog training philosophy and keep your pet's well-being at the forefront. This episode is a must-listen for any dog owner seeking answers to their pet's aggression issues.

About Scott Sheaffer
Scott Sheaffer, CCBC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA, is a certified dog behavior consultant who has worked with thousands of dog owners and their aggressive dogs. Scott specializes in the assessment and treatment of fear, anxiety, aggression, and phobias in dogs six months and older.

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Disclaimer
If you have a dog who is aggressive and dangerous to humans, it is important that you immediately consult directly with an experienced and certified canine behavior consultant who specializes in dog aggression to humans. Take proper measures to ensure that your dog is never in a position to injure anyone. The information presented in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is neither intended nor implied to replace the need for the direct involvement of an experienced and certified canine behavior consultant who specializes in dog aggression to humans. Scott Sheaffer, the Grumpy Dogs podcast and USA Dog Behavior, LLC, are not liable for any incidents or outcomes resulting from following the advice given in this podcast.

Transcript

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 0:04

Welcome to the Dog Aggression Answers podcast. I'm Scott Sheaffer, your host from USA Dog Behavior. It seems that almost everyone asks me what the best kind of dog collar is for their reactive or aggressive dog, and let me just tell you right up front here. There is no leash or collar combo that's going to fix this, but picking the right tool will help you in the overall treatment. Today's episode we titled Mastering Leash Control the Best Collars for Aggressive and Reactive Dogs. I'm going to rank eight of the most common types of dog collars and, believe me, there are a million, but I'm going to pick the top eight. I'm going to rank them from my least recommended to my favorite, with pros and cons of each. Stay tuned. Before we begin, I want to remind you that you can leave me a voicemail message by simply going to USADogBehaviorcom and clicking on the podcast tab. You'll see a button in the upper right hand corner, as you can click on and it will record your voice and send it to me. It's really pretty great how that works. You can leave comments, questions or ideas for future episodes, which I really love when people do that. I may include your voice recording in a future episode and comment on it, so that would be great.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 1:31

Now on to today's topic. Humane and effective leash control of your dog is the first thing you need to establish before you start behavior modification with your aggressive or reactive dog, and the reason for that is most behavior modification exercises are done on a leash or with a leash. I tell my clients that adequate leash skills with their dog is a prerequisite before we start behavior modification exercises. Picking the right collar for your dog is an important part of this. I love how I just sounded on that. That was very text, and wasn't it? Picking, not picking, but picking. Don't make fun of me. For a number of reasons, just getting a modest amount of leash control of your dog will provide some help with your dog's aggression or reactivity and provide a foundation for behavior modification. Let's think about what I just said Before we even start behavior modification exercises. Just getting humane and good leash control of your dog will provide a little bit of relief from your dog's aggression and reactivity. I'm going to talk more about that in a sec.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 2:43

There's one thing to know about dog behavior there are rarely any super simple fixes for any dog behavior issue. I know, I know what you're thinking. You've seen on the internet about all kinds of quick remedies to all kinds of dog behavior problems, including aggression and reactivity and leash control. The truth is, if there was a quick and good remedy to these things, I wouldn't have a job. I would love that. By the way, I would absolutely love if behaviors were not required and aggression and reactivity was not an issue with dogs, because I really love dogs, because it's always a fear issue. I always feel sorry for the dog. I think so many people misunderstand them. The fact is there are no quick little answers. It just is not realistic. You have noticed that most of these solutions are and I love this in quotes until now, or not known until now or unknown until now kind of solutions. Lucky for you, you are now going to find out what they are for only $49.99, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Again, unfortunately, in the real world, problematic dog behaviors are rarely that simple to address, if ever. Now onto the real world of dog behavior.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 4:09

I'm going to review and grade the eight most common types of dog collars and comment on how effective and Humane they are in my opinion, and I'll provide the pros and cons of each. I'll start with the least effective, number eight and work toward an end with the most effective. It's going to be a countdown. One of the key variables in my review is how humane these collars are. Punishing types of collars lose points fast With scott. Let me just tell you that please remember, there are an infinite number of dog collar types. I'm going to review the most common types of colors common eight times. All right, let's start with number eight and you could probably guess what this one is. Shot collar yeah, you can only imagine how much I love those. That's why it's ranked number eight. Shot collars are also referred to and I love this as e collars. Doesn't that sound so much more benign? Yeah, electronic collars in order to hide the fact that they shock and hurt dogs. E collar just sounds less brutal, doesn't it? This kind of collar has so many problems that I could quite literally write a book about them.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 5:26

Here are some of the big issues. Here are some key points. They frequently cause new and more serious behavior issues in the long run, such as aggression or increased aggression. We cover this in quite a lot of detail in other episodes. Next, they are dependent on the dog owner to have perfect timing when shocking the dog, which is almost impossible for the average dog owner. Next thing dogs almost always desensitize to them, so stronger and stronger levels of shock are required, which only makes things worse, as you can guess, and they only treat the symptom, that being aggression or reactivity, and almost always make the core issue Worse. And the core issue, as we know if you've been listening to this podcast series, is fear. Finally, and this is the biggest one just sums it all up, they are inhumane. My grade, they get a big F, big Fox, don't love them.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 6:25

Number seven, which is only Slightly better than a shock collar, and really just for one reason I'll tell you that in a second and that's the prong collar. These are collars that have prongs on the inside that essentially stab, or they do stab, the dog's neck when the dog pools about. The only thing prong collars have over shot collars is they don't have any Timing component in their use from the dog owner or the handler. The problems with this type of collar are almost exactly the same as with shot collars we talked about earlier. Here the main takeaways they can cause new and more serious behavior issues. Dogs acclimate to them also, so stronger and stronger levels of prong penetration or jerking the leash is required. In other words, they hurt the dog just like shot collar, in different way and they too are of course, inhumane. I give them an F plus. I give it an F plus only because it very slightly is better than a Shot collar because that timing component, but not much.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 7:31

Number six, coming in at number six, is the choke collar. These collars are normally made out of chain We've all seen these and constrict when the dog pools. There's no electricity, there's no prongs, just a chain that tightens Unlimited, in an unlimited way, so they can really choke a dog out. They essentially choke the dog with no limits, is what I'm trying to say. While not as bad as shocker prong collars, for sure, they are still painful and can be damaging to the dogs trachea. The issues with this type of collar are here are the core features. They also cause new and more serious behavior issues because it's punishment based and, just like with shock and prong collars, dogs almost always Desensitized to them. So stronger and stronger levels of choking are required, possibly harming a dog and again specifically the trachea. They are inhumane, but not as much as shock and prong collars are, that's for sure. I give them a D a dog.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 8:32

Number five is a tie, and that's between two types of body harnesses A top-attached body harness, where the leash is attached to the top of the dog, and then a front attach, where the leash is attached in the dog's fore chest, which is just underneath the dog's head in the front. These are harnesses that wrap around the dog's body at multiple points in the chest and front of the dog, similar to harnesses and this is a good way to explain them. It's similar to harnesses used in dog sledding. The leash is either attached to the front of the harness, as we mentioned, at the dog's fore chest that's the front attach type or on the top of the dog the top attach type. Some do both.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 9:14

These are especially ineffective for large dogs. Boy, that is the truth, and the way I like to tell this to clients is you don't ever see a body harness on a horse. Okay, you just have to have some head control. There's just no way you control a horse with a body harness kind of arrangement. It's always got to have some head control, and the larger the dog is, the more necessary. Some type of head control is the front attached body harness type. Always and I mean always, like a hundred percent of the time gets pulled to this side of the dog, which cancels the advertised method of action. So the thought on these front attached harnesses is well, I'm going to attach the leash to the dog's fore chest that's the area right underneath the dog's neck and when he pulls it'll pull the dog around either right or left, and that will be annoying, and so the dog won't pull anymore. Well, that sounds great in theory, but what happens in 100% of the cases is this body harness shifts to the right or to the left, so you have almost zero left and right pulling to the dog when the dog pulls. So it just doesn't work and what ends up happening is the whole body harness is just a big mess. It's all shifted to the right of the dog or to the left. It's all bunched up. It's just a big mess.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 10:42

Head and neck control are essential concepts when controlling a dog and these types of harnesses just don't provide it. They aren't all bad, but there's a lot not to like about them. Let me give you some key points. They do little to help to control the dog, especially larger dogs, as we mentioned. Despite what you may hear, dogs can and do escape from these really important point. In many cases they increase pulling for a number of reasons. Think about it. There's a reason that dog sleds use harnesses. They work great for pulling and finally, they are this is important at least humane. They are at least humane. I'm giving them a C. Charlie, gonna give them a C.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 11:31

Number three head halter. If you've never used one before, you've probably seen them out in public. People walk in their dogs. Many people think they're muzzles, but they aren't. They act very much like a horse's halter, but don't confuse that with a horse's bit bridle, a halter. They work by attaching the leash around the dog's muzzle gently. They pull the dogs head sideways when the dog pulls and this is very annoying to the dog and, as a result, can be an effective tool to gain control. So it's kind of hard to visualize if you've never seen one, but it's a strap essentially that goes around the dog's muzzle, loosely fitted, and the leash attaches to the bottom right underneath their bottom jaw, and so when the dog pulls it pulls their head around or pulls their jaw around, and that's annoying to the dog and so they stop pulling. These do not slip off. They're pretty good about staying in position and all that stuff. As opposed to the body harness. A popular brand of these is the Gentle Leader, although I highly prefer the Coastal Walk and Train version Coastal Walk and Train. I do not own stock in that company or anything like that. I've just used a thousand of these things and that's the one I think works the best for a number of reasons.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 12:51

Here are some of the attributes of this kind of collar. So here we have some important aspects here. Dogs almost immediately stop pulling when using these. They're very effective and right away. There is an acclimation period, however, for the dog and owner. Many dogs don't care for these too much, but most do pretty well. They acclimate fairly quickly, but there is a period. They can and do come off the dog not real commonly, especially with the better ones, but they can come off, so keep that in mind.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 13:21

They are humane, especially the one that I recommend. Not 100% of dogs will tolerate them, but most do. Proper adjustment can be tricky, that is so true. There's a collar adjustment on them and then there's an adjustment for the muzzle and they both gotta be pretty good, done pretty well, especially the one around the muzzle. And here's an important point While they stop pooling when they are discontinued, and in other words, when you go back to a regular collar, dogs almost always start pooling again. It's a great tool as long as you have the tool on, but it's not really a training tool. I've really seen this over and over and over again. They give the dog under a lot of control, but only when the dog is using the head halter or head collar. There are some tools out there. One is called the Clipper Leash that will help transition off the head halter onto a regular neck collar. I'm giving these a B plus, a Bravo plus. I recommend these all the time to clients, especially for older clients or those clients with physical limitations. This is a real game changer for that population. You have a larger dog who has some migration and reactivity issues. We've gotta get some leash control. These really work great for that. That's one of my key targets for these kind of collars.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 14:52

Number two coming in at number two, the Martin Gale collar. This is actually a combination or hybrid collar. It's a standard old school flat collar but also includes some humane components of a choke collar. So it's a flat collar and a choke collar combined. They're essentially just a standard collar that has a limited amount of tightening when the dog pulls. So what's touching the dog's neck is just a standard collar cotton or nylon or leather. So that's all that's touching the dog's neck. The front of the neck, the back, has a secondary loop that cinches it up a little bit, up to a point and exaggerates the tension. And let's talk about some of the features of this Martin Gale collar here. The primary advantages the limited and gentle tightening can act as a reminder to the dog not to pull. It exaggerates the pressure on the dog's neck, as we just mentioned.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 15:51

Next point they are humane if properly adjusted. That's the thing. They're really very humane, but they're really always humane in my opinion. But they're more humane if they're adjusted properly. That's really key.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 16:04

Dogs that have small heads relative to their neck size light greyhounds can sometimes back out of collars. Now there's if they become panicky or reactive, they may move backwards away from the owner or the handler and the collar comes over the dog's head. This is not good, especially if you have a human, aggressive dog. This helps prevent that from happening. It's very effective and a lot of people think and I guess it's true is that is the genesis of these collars is for dogs like this. If I'm working with a significantly human aggressive dog. I frequently use or even mandate these just to ensure the dog can't get out of their collar. And lastly, as we've been mentioning on some of the other leashes, this one is no different in that proper adjustment can be tricky. I find that most of these collars are improperly adjusted by owners and just almost 100% of them are improperly adjusted. Either they're way too loose and have limited effect, or they're too tight and choke the dog too much. I'm going to give these an A minus, an Apple minus. I recommend these all the time to clients. Now we're coming into the home stretch. Thanks for hanging in here.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 17:19

Number one, the winner standard flat collar, just the old school flat collar. Just wraps around the dog's neck, it's wide and it clasps in the back. It's my favorite type of collar. It's funny I've worked with a lot of dogs over many years and it's funny that I keep coming back to this type of collar and so many clients come in with all kinds of. You can't even imagine All kinds of collars looking for that quick fix, of which there is none. And we've talked about it before and they want to believe there's some magic collar after. But there's not and they're almost disappointed, as you probably are right now, want to say, hey, the standard flat collar is the way to go. But once I show them the proper technique with the flat collar and all the behavioral benefits in other words, it doesn't make the dog more fearful they become believers. In just about 100% of my clients this is simply just an old school flat collar that I'm talking about, made out of nylon, cotton or leather, essentially the same type of collar that we've been using on dogs for hundreds of years.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 18:37

I recommend a flat collar with a belt buckle type of class like would be on, like on a man's belt buckle, with the little pin that goes through the holes, because they are easily adjustable, super easily adjustable, and they don't ever slip Really a key point there. You are probably asking so what makes this kind of collar so great? It's not the collar. Well, it kind of is the collar done, hurt the dog, but it's the handler, the person managing the leash, that makes the difference. Proper technique and training are the key, and really, when I say proper technique and training are the key, I mean for the dog and the owner.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 19:16

The best parts about this type of collar are that they can provide both permanent solutions there's no issue with. When we stop using it, the dog starts pulling again. If we train to this collar, it's humane and it's permanent what you've trained, nothing's going to stop happening. And also, as I just mentioned, they are humane. They are 100% humane. I love them for that reason. The other collars we've been talking about they can't claim this. They can't claim those two things.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 19:50

You may also ask why more people don't recommend flat collars for pulling problems. Well, for one there's nothing to sell right, and the other is patience is the problem? Not patience from the dog, of course, but from the dog owner. And here's why I prefer this kind of collar. Here are the main benefits. Hang in there with me. They are absolutely humane. You know that's a big thing with me. They provide good control when proper technique is used consistently by the handler. More on that in a bit.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 20:18

I'm going to give you some help on that in just a second. Easy to put on and take off it's a big thing. It's so nice, easy on, easy off, grooming that kind of thing, so nice. They can remain on the dog all the time. They can remain on the dog all the time with the dog's tags. There's no acclimation period for dog or the dog owner. With this kind of collar, even puppies can tolerate this pretty quickly the first time they even have one put on their neck, and it can provide a permanent solution to pooling when proper and humane dog training methods are used, and they are super easy to adjust as well as take on and on. I'm giving these a grade of A plus, apple plus. I highly recommend these declines.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 21:02

There is no magic dog collar that will give you a humane, instant and automatic control over your aggressive or reactive dog. Believe me when I say this. I've worked with a lot of dogs and dog owners over the years and I've seen all the leashes and collars that are on this planet. I think there's no magic here. I wish there was, but there's not. It just takes some work to get good control of your dog on the leash. I want to encourage you to work on this with your aggressive or reactive dog. To that end, I've included a link in the show notes in the description for the podcast episode that will take you to a free video on proper leash technique with all sizes of dogs. There are a number of tips and techniques that will help you get your dog under control on the leash using one of the humane collars we've talked about in this episode. This video is not very long and it goes over exactly what I teach my clients Now in person. I'm doing more detail, of course, than customizing it, but it's essentially what I'm teaching my clients prior to when they start working on behavior modification exercises for their dog.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA: 22:23

Thanks for tuning into Dog Aggression Answers Podcast For more tips and insights, like the collars we've talked about today. Head over to USADogBehaviorcom, who is sponsoring this podcast, where we have a lot of training content for you. Most of it's free too, by the way. And don't forget to subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss any future episodes on handling dog aggression and reactivity. If you like this information that's been helpful, please leave me a review. That always helps get more people listening to these and get more eyes on the podcast. And just to remind you again, because I love to hear from you, you can leave me a voicemail message by going to USADogBehaviorcom and clicking on the podcast tab. You'll see a button up there in the right hand side that'll let you do that. Leave your comments, questions or ideas for future episodes. Until next time, work on those lease skills with your dog. Stay tuned.