Anyone use these? My wife bought me a book about GSPs from the bookstore and one of the pictures in it featured a dog wearing what looked like a combination nylon collar and choke collar. After some searching it looks like these are called "choke checks". Looks like what Luke needs for walks. 

He went on his first walk in the park yesterday (as opposed to around the block) and all the people and distractions were just too much for him. He was pulling as hard as he could without blacking out lol.

I googled that New Trix collar. Sounds pretty neat and I saw a few boards where people were happy with them. I might have to check that out. He is 11 weeks today so I'm really just looking for something that will teach him how to walk on leash and not allow him to hurt himself from pulling. It's not like he's going to pull me down, but I'd like for him to start learning before the day comes when he could. Thanks for the reply

This is the choke check BTW. They say the nylon limits the amount of pressure on the dog's neck but the chain still gives him the "sound" of a real choke collar.

That is a  Martingale collar.  I am not particularly fond of them.  I use choke chains when I train in obedience class, but the trick is to not keep the choke chain collar tight.  Allot of folks have problems with that.  So, if you have a real puller and want to end it fast without harm to the next or throat, I would recommend a prong collar.  Looks like the Martingale but the cloth part is metal with prongs.  The prongs don't dig into the dog like a chain.  They give an immediate correction if the dog pulls.  The correction is a pinch which is similar to what the mother or siblings would give with their mouth if the dog got a little rambunctious.  Even though they look like something from the Spanish Inquisition, they work very well.  I used one on Ringo (a small and I bought extra lengths to make it fit) when he was about 6 months when we would hike.  He quickly learned the length of the check cord and would go to the end without pulling.  Now I can use any collar and he still remembers the length of the check cord and doesn't pull.  Ringo is now a year old.  I use the quick release prong collar because it is easier to get on and off.  I also buy mine online at J&J Dog Supply because their prong collars are better made than what you get at my local pet store. 

I don't know about others on the forum, but I haven't had good results with any type of "choke" device.  I find my dog just pulls on it to the point of hurting herself.

My obedience trainer introduced us to the Sense-ation harness.  It looks very similar to an Easy-Walk...but I find it actually is quite a bit more effective.  For a young pup, I hook the front loop and their flat collar...it helps keep the front "up" across their chest.

http://www.softouchconcepts.com/products/sense_sation_harness.html

I don't know about others, but I find walking on a loose leash to be one of the hardest things to train for a dog with large prey drive.  We live in a fairly suburban area but still have tons of squirrels, rabbits, and chipmunks running around.  Very distracting.  Gracie is 7 months and it takes us FOREVER to walk around the block (I stop walking when she pulls...continue when she checks back)

Francis - I would agree the loose leash walk is very hard. I have three GSPs that I walk, but I tend to take them where they can be off leash so they can blow off steam. I find that if you let them blow off steam first, then the walk is much better. Other than that, training has to be very consistent and you have to demand they behave. It can take a very long time to get to where you want them to be and even then they see a rabbit and they may give you a tug. Just the nature of the dog. That said, if you use something like the Gentle Leader the dog never learns how he should behave on leash. As soon as you take him off the Gentle Leader he pulls. With a prong they do learn, especially if you leave the collar on they will eventually be wearing. Then the transition is usually just a short period of reinforcement.

So my dogs have a wardrobe of collars. 

Orange hunting collar - hiking and in the field

Choke chain - obedience training

Harness - flyball

Leather hunting style collar - for boarding and day care

Nice leather braid with silver conchos - at home collar

Leather braided show collar - conformation

Pinch/Prong collar - learning not to pull

And they know the difference between them all too.

Bev -- not sure how a Flyball Harness compares to a tracking harness, but if you are considering tracking you'll also need a tracking harness

Dave

Dave - The tracking harnesses are different from the flyball harnesses I have.  So, if I do tracking then I have to add to the dogs wardrobes.

I am glad to know about the hunting collar and agility as I have been using the orange hunting collars when we practice agility.  I guess I have to get another collar for agility work.  Even more collars for the doggie wardrobes.

Can't speak to that Dave as I have no understanding as to their thought processes.

These collars can no more be "tightened without being twisted" than a solid continuous leather or nylon collar so it makes no sense at all to me.

Pull on a straight collar and it applies direct pressure to the area around the larnyx.  Pull on the ring of one of these collars and you see it immediately pull into a yoke type of arrangement relieving the pressure on the larnyx.

When tightened to the same point they are also harder for a dog to pull out of without endangering their lives.  Yet for a dog that's on a leash or staked out you can leave the collar much looser than a straight collar and still have the dog not easily pull out of it, but when they need to for safety sake they can.

Some agility venues require collars, some ban them, for AKC it is simple:  Flat Buckle, Rolled Leather, or no collar.  The benefit of running naked is the dog cannot get caught on a piece of equipment with their collar -- the negative is if the dog must be quickly brought under control (borderline controlled novice dog; serious handler injury; etc), especially by a stranger when something strange is going on, there is no collar to grab -- not that either happen very often. 

Probably the most common excusal is tags on the collar -- I had a friend that had 19 QQ on his sheltie that had a Q in standard and when he reached the third obstacle in his "looking good" MACH run in JWW the whistle blew -- you guessed it -- he was so nervous he left his collar with tags on the dog (he usually detaches the collar and runs naked).

And Wildrose -- I agree with you -- the hunting ring collar shouldn't be a problem, but with the wide variety of collars out there and the desire to keep rules as simple as possible, simple rules are sometimes going to eliminate things that probably are not a problem but fall short of that simple definition.  My advise is to always ask the judge before you take that first obstacle or before your run if you aren't sure about your collar, or just run naked.

Dave