Choke chains on dogs. An issue that is disputed upon endlessly. The thing that drives me crazy is the extremism. On both parties of this issue. Both of them are extremists. People – by the way, I’m not talking about anyone in particular – don’t seem to think the way they should. Mutual agreements, come on people, they exist! Okay, I do not need to waste my post in this. There are the people who come to mutual agreements, just the majority doesn’t.
So, we’re just going to dive right into today’s post, the choke chain. What its original use was, some alternative uses to choke chains, their pros and cons, and some more topics. What really is a choke chain? Trust me, not all types are as bad as they sound, provided they’re used correctly. Some types have got metal spikes sticking to the inside. When you pull it, so it tightens, obviously, they dig right into the poor dogs’ neck.
Quickly, let’s pause on the types of chains and discuss one common confusion. A choke collar would typically refer to a simple choke chain, which is with no spikes. A prong collar would refer to the spiky one. Any type of the choke collars can be used with a simple leash or chain. When used with a chain, they’re referred to as choke chains and choke collars otherwise. A half choke or half choke collar is a simple leather(or any other material) collar, where half of it is a retracting chain. In normal conditions, the collar is full and loose, but when you pull it, the chain draws the collar tighter. However, it will never go as tight as any of the other mentioned chains. The confusion is the term choke chain or choke collar can also refer to all of the above-mentioned collars, including the half choke.
The half choke can fairly be the best collar for adult strong, heavy dogs. Our rottweiler adult also wears a half choke. In addition, it can go fairly well with strong, but not big, heavy breeds. Our Basset, Boo, went well in a half choke. For slightly stubborn breeds, it’s a good one for young ones still undergoing training, but it’s best to look at either a harness or a gentler collar for even younger ones.
In addition to the classic, single chain choke collar, they are multi chain and chain half chokes as well as prong half chokes. And that justs names a few. We left out the multi-chain half choke as well. However, regardless of what choke collar you use, TAKE PRECAUTION. NEVER leave it on the dog unattended; the dog can easily get it caught somewhere and can choke on it. Some people leave the chain on because they believe it won’t choke the dog, well, that can more easily kill a dog. Even if the dog just steps on it, it will choke him.
The main, or original purpose of the chain was to better control your dog. However, force isn’t the way to go about controlling your dog. At least, not the best way. Let’s use the following examples.
You’re walking your dog, on a soft half-choke collar. He starts to pull away from you. The collar draws tighter but is limited and then resorts to just plain applying pull-pressure.
You’re walking your dog, on a full choke chain. He starts to pull away from you. The collar keeps on drawing tighter, practically choking him. If he doesn’t return, it can kill him. Which do you think the dog would better respond to? Obviously the latter. So that is the original purpose of the choke chain/collar.
Now, for the alternative uses. Use the chain as a reinforcement. Our rottie is untrained. We never trained him, due to other reasons. For a while, he would never respond to his half choke. I had no other option than to use the chain. Fast forward two weeks, using the chain twice a week for barely ten minutes, I didn’t need to use it. For the first week, I used it only. No collar. Then the second week, I clipped the chain to both the collar and the chain. The result was, it didn’t tighten more than the collar would allow it to. However, since he is used to obeying the chain collar, he obeyed. That teaches them to respect the half choke too. Then, I removed the chain totally. Now, a week after, he is beginning to ignore the collar again. So now, yet another way to reinforce. I clipped a normal leash onto his half choke, and then wore him the chain. It just hangs there, on a loosely dangling chain. If I want him to turn, or go, or stop, I first pull only the leash, which is attached to the collar. If he doesn’t respond, I tug the chain.
So, I’m going to finish this off now. For more animal training, behaviour and other issues, visit my Wattpad book, Training Animals.
Note from future self: Please don’t visit this book. Please also don’t take this advice very seriously - past me was clueless and the dog untrained.