Prong collar or head halter?

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Postby TheRedQueen » September 6th, 2011, 10:56 am

What do you think the general public would be less worried about on a pit bull?

Something that looks scary (prongs) or something that looks like a muzzle (head halter)

Should I care...or just go with what I prefer? 8)
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Postby Tubular Toby » September 6th, 2011, 11:45 am

To me, it's about what works best for the dog. If people are going to think negatively about pit bulls, then it won't matter if you dress them up in a tutu, people will see whatever they want to see.
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Postby mnp13 » September 6th, 2011, 11:48 am

Tubular Toby wrote:To me, it's about what works best for the dog. If people are going to think negatively about pit bulls, then it won't matter if you dress them up in a tutu, people will see whatever they want to see.

I agree.

Personally, I would use a prong before a head collar, just from the public perspective side. Prongs are seen on all breeds, and if it's the correct size and fit, it's less obvious. Head collars are relatively common, but the "muzzle" perception is very common - I'll do just about anything other than make people think my dogs have muzzles on. (plus, muzzles make me cry.)
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Postby homebrwd » September 6th, 2011, 12:08 pm

Fergus gets a prong collar. People have asked me about it and I just explain that when your dogs neck is bigger than his head you need something to make corrections quick and easy and for the most part painless. Explaining to dog and non dog owners that it is a corrective technique that follows the animals natural correction technique (neck nipping) makes most respond quick and properly. When used by a responsible owner, no pain. I would be worried about putting one of the 3in thick studded leather collars on him and having people see that and freak out.
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » September 6th, 2011, 4:14 pm

Are you still lamenting about what to use on Stone? Let HIM tell you.

And like I said on FB - anybody who is too stupid to know that a GL or Halti isn't a muzzle is too stupid to own a pit bull.
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Postby TheRedQueen » September 6th, 2011, 5:05 pm

I've actually decided what to use on Stone...I'll repost the entire thing here. He wore the head halter and the prong just fine...but I had much better control of him with the head halter so that's my choice.

We're walking in downtown Baltimore...so it's not an adoption event...but a public awareness event...which is why I was questioning the equipment. I don't want people that are worried of pit bulls to come away from the event saying..."See I told you they were dangerous...one was wearing a muzzle!"
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Postby hugapitbull » September 6th, 2011, 9:04 pm

They do make a prong collar that looks like a solid link collar, effectively hiding the prongs. Can also be ordered with a nylon cover so it looks like any other collar if you are worried about what the general public thinks.

I use a prong on Duke because that is what he was trained with and he behaves much better when it is on. I had one for Trouble, but didn't really need it once she matured a bit. A harness was all she required after about age 2.
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Postby TheRedQueen » September 6th, 2011, 9:27 pm

hugapitbull wrote:They do make a prong collar that looks like a solid link collar, effectively hiding the prongs. Can also be ordered with a nylon cover so it looks like any other collar if you are worried about what the general public thinks.

I use a prong on Duke because that is what he was trained with and he behaves much better when it is on. I had one for Trouble, but didn't really need it once she matured a bit. A harness was all she required after about age 2.


I'm trying to avoid having to spend money on him...it's for Stone, one of my fosters.

Stone used to work well on buckle collar...but then I went to an Easy Walk or Sens-ation harness because I read that collars can put too much pressure on the eyes (he is almost completely blind due to juvenile cataracts). He's been fine on those...but suddenly he's gotten really reactive...and those don't work for really busy places.
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » September 6th, 2011, 9:43 pm

Is he getting reactive due to his failing eyesight, do you think?
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Postby plebayo » September 6th, 2011, 10:08 pm

Just to answer the question prong vs. head halter vs. public perception -

I think honestly with ANY breed of dog an uneducated person will think cruel/inhumane/muzzle when they see either pieces of equipment. I think to the right people both pieces of equipment would be side by side on the "cruelty" scale. I do think that a prong collar is more outwardly scary looking [if you don't know what it is] than the head-halter only in the fact it is metal vs. nylon.

Like Liz asked, do you think he's becoming more reactive due to failing eye-sight?
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Postby TheRedQueen » September 6th, 2011, 10:18 pm

Yes I think the reactiveness is stemming from the blindness...he is getting really really bad when he hears people and dogs. He LOVES to greet people and dogs...so it's not aggressive, but he's having trouble keeping his emotions to himself...lol
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Postby Malli » September 7th, 2011, 3:26 am

no time to read the whole thread :)

Just wanted to give my experience...

I've had both on Oscar.
GL/Halter (can't recall which) when he was younger - overheard at least one passer by remark on his "muzzle"

never had anyone comment on the prong, we have a small size, not the smallest but much smallER, you can barely actually see the prongs when he wears, so this may be why the response has been more positive, or maybe I just haven't overheard anyone :lol3:
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Postby TheRedQueen » September 11th, 2011, 6:26 pm

To answer the burning question:

I went on the Pit Bulls on Parade walk today, and I used two different head halters. I started with the Infin8, but quickly realized that there was no real easy way to clip the leash to the collar as a back-up (I would know this in the future, and would have a "go-between clip". So I went to the Halti instead, because it comes with a back-up for the collar. He likes the Infin8 *better*, and wears it better, but I didn't want equipment failure to mess up our day.

I was pleased with my choice, because it really did help me steer him through the crowds and unknown terrain...something the prong would NOT have been able to do. He fared quite well except for falling face first out of the van when we got there, and when we came home...and for the few times that we went up and down a step and I forgot to warn him and he stumbled. (walking a blind dog is hard!)
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Postby SLS61185 » September 12th, 2011, 3:06 am

Just my opinion, but I don't really care weather someone thinks that Patch has a 'muzzle' or prong on. He's my dog and he's my concern, not anyone elses. Besides, there's a boxer across the street that wears a head halter... plus there's a golden around here that wears one too.

So, on that note, we use both. Harnesses do not work for him (except his car harness), so we use the head halter/GL w/e the hell it's called sometimes and other times we use his prong. He can't do anything on his regular collar to save his life so we don't use it to walk. It really depends on what we feel like using at the time.
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Postby TheRedQueen » September 12th, 2011, 8:27 am

SLS61185 wrote:Just my opinion, but I don't really care weather someone thinks that Patch has a 'muzzle' or prong on. He's my dog and he's my concern, not anyone elses. Besides, there's a boxer across the street that wears a head halter... plus there's a golden around here that wears one too.


Just to clarify, I don't personally care what people think about my dogs either.

BUT...as I've mentioned, this is a foster dog that I hope to adopt out (someday, someday)...and raise money for his surgery. This was also at a Pit Bull awareness/advocacy event in downtown Baltimore. I was asking for opinions based on these things. If it were my personal dogs, I'd slap whatever equpiment on them and parade though the entire state of MD without a second thought.

I was getting opinions on whether people thought the crowd would be muttering about pit bulls having to wear muzzles while in public, or needing metal torture devices to control them. :dance: Because up until two weeks ago, he was walking just fine in a Sens-astion harness, so I hadn't had to worry about how it looked. I am aware that he's a big-headed pit bull, and because he can't see well, he tends to blunder around like an idiot...I didn't want him to give the breed a bad name because of A. His behavior or B. his equipment.
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Postby SLS61185 » September 12th, 2011, 3:57 pm

TheRedQueen wrote:
SLS61185 wrote:Just my opinion, but I don't really care weather someone thinks that Patch has a 'muzzle' or prong on. He's my dog and he's my concern, not anyone elses. Besides, there's a boxer across the street that wears a head halter... plus there's a golden around here that wears one too.


Just to clarify, I don't personally care what people think about my dogs either.

BUT...as I've mentioned, this is a foster dog that I hope to adopt out (someday, someday)...and raise money for his surgery. This was also at a Pit Bull awareness/advocacy event in downtown Baltimore. I was asking for opinions based on these things. If it were my personal dogs, I'd slap whatever equpiment on them and parade though the entire state of MD without a second thought.

I was getting opinions on whether people thought the crowd would be muttering about pit bulls having to wear muzzles while in public, or needing metal torture devices to control them. :dance: Because up until two weeks ago, he was walking just fine in a Sens-astion harness, so I hadn't had to worry about how it looked. I am aware that he's a big-headed pit bull, and because he can't see well, he tends to blunder around like an idiot...I didn't want him to give the breed a bad name because of A. His behavior or B. his equipment.


If you think it was directed at you in particular, it wasn't. :doh: So, please, don't feel you have to explain yourself to me because you don't. :nono: I'm just saying, I personally don't care what people think about it.

Now, on that note -

A friend of mine asked the other day if I cared what people thought about Patch and his collar and stuff... Isaid the same thing and she looked at me like I was crazy. However, I'm also not trying to get him adopted out (besides, whoever took him would bring him right back to me) so it's a little different than you. :wink:

Like I said before, harnesses don't work for him or me... He pulls way too much and I get tired of trying to make him walk like he's supposed to. He can't walk in his regular collar for the same reason. Nothing really 'fits just right' on him because of how big he is. He's got a lot of extra head fat and because of it his prong flips a lot when using it, and I get tired of constantly fixing it and making sure it's pulling the right way. With the head fat, his head collar doesn't always fit right either because when he pulls the collar shifts sometimes. :|
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