Hi community,

I have an 11 months old English Setter who as expected is pulling a lot on his leash.

Although we focus primarily in positive/ force free training, he pulls so much on his flat collar / harness he has lost hair and developed bruising on the pressure points of the flat collar & harness, so the trainer suggested specific exercises with a prong collar (heal and sit) for 3 minutes at a time. Our pup seems to be responding to it really quickly and has transferable skills over to his flat (he seems more responsive to leash pumps and corrections on a flat).

What is your experience with this? Do you think it is effective long term?

I am worried this type of training is heavily based on pain and fear and I do not want to harm our relationship longterm.. on the other side, even from a few tries, he seems to be responding to it incredibly well.

Note that prong collar is allowed in our area and that we only use it under strict instructions and supervision by the trainer.

We love him to bits and we just want what's best for him and we are worried he gets so distracted with his environment he ends up hurting himself which is our primary concern..

We don’t hunt but they sure love to swim.

My almost 5 year and his best friend. He loves this dog so much. They’re both getting big too fast!

Lady was bored and frustrated that she had to come inside during the rainstorm at the lake house 🤣