Some interesting links on prong collars and even regular collars

shibamistress

x-posted from Shiba side:

Saw this on someone testing out a prong collar on themselves. It is one of the continual lines used by "balanced" trainers and others that use aversive methods: supposedly, prong collars don't "hurt" the dog. I've never believe that for a moment, but this is an interesting experiment done by a positive trainer:

http://awesomedogs.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/pinch-me-a-k-a-prong-me/

Then there was this, with Dr. Dodds talking about potential damage to the thyroid and optic nerve from collars. Brief, but thought provoking:
http://drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/41645121585/dog-collars-thyroid

Good reasons to be very cautious about use of collars in walking a dog who pulls--any kind of collar. It doesn't give a lot more information, but it makes sense as something to be cautious of. My vet has told me never to use a collar for walking my Akita (who already has damage to his cervical vertebrae) because of the stress it will put there, and how too much pressure there can effect his vagus nerve. The vagus nerve controls everything! So while we were talking about a dog who has a narrowing in the vertebrae there, it makes sense to be cautious about putting undo pressure there for any animal.

(And on a sidenote, I have some friends that always use a prong collar on their dogs, and now their 10 year old dog is coughing terribly from his collapsing trachea. They told me that "that just happens to older dogs." No it doesn't. It happens to dogs that have too much pressure on their throats for years--in other words, they did it through use of that collar!)

oh, and here is a link to scholarly article showing evidence of damage caused by collars. It is linked in the blog above, but I'll add it here too: http://www.jaaha.org/content/42/3/207.short

Losech

I've tried that on myself (out of curiosity). The flat collar hurt the worst, and I yanked hardest with the prong. I dunno if the prong I used was defective or what, but I think it largely depends on the individual as to how it's going to affect them, just like it does with dogs.
No collar, regardless of the type, should be used like that anyways. If your dog pulls you need to find a different training method, or work with the dog's leash manners more. Not "upgrade" to a different (harsher) set of equipment and hope the dog's actions do all the training for you.
I feel the same way about "no-pull" harnesses and head collars. Learn to use it right or don't use it at all. Any tool can be abused, and unfortunately, I see that frequently here with those things.

Sangmort

This is why in bitework sports, they use 1.5" wide to 3" wide leather collars. The wider the collar, the less centralized the pressure is on the same spot.

We've noticed this first hand. Dragoon would choke like crazy in a standard 3/4" wide nylon collar, and even some nylon harnesses. 1" wide leather tho was perfect, no choking. [ til she got bigger LOL ] Now she needs a 1.5". ~

PoetikDragon

Most people don't use them the right way anyway. I now know the way my parents used them when I grew up was wrong. If a prong collar or any kind of chain/slip can fit over the dog's head, its too big and will sit in the wrong spot (above the collarbone). These types of collars absolutely must be unclipped and re-attached in order to be put on correctly. They need to sit under the jaw behind the ears, not around the neck above the collarbone. (This is why I dislike using "normal" chain collars, because they cannot be unclipped at all and by definition must be large enough to slide over the dog's head an therefor too big.)

There is one owner and their dog who volunteers at our AKIHO events and she has a prong collar on all the time -- not even just during training!! -- and it sits way down on the dog's neck and I'm like

Crispy

and I'm like

Me, with my daycamp clients who use them. None of them know how to use them properly. It hurts to watch. I try to educate them when I can, but they literally... have no idea what the difference is and I feel like my explanations go in one ear and out the other.