[physalia]

Hi everyone...I have a 7 month old dog that has broken 2 leather collars and 2 nylon collars. He pulls on his lead and breaks them...at the clasp on the nylon collars and he rips right through the leather on the leather collars. Does anyone have any recommendations for a strong collar for my dog? I don't really want to put him on a harness, but I'm running out of other options. Thanks for the help.

[Cúréaltach]

The best thing you could do here is to train your dog not to pull. There are many many books available to help you do this yourself (pick one that uses non violent training methods). If you dont feel up to this yourself you could get a professional to help you (your vet could recommend someone). The problem here isnt the breaking of the collars the problem is the pulling. There are many types of metal collars/chains etc and anti-pull harnesses that are available ( I'll leave it up to someone else to recommend one if thats what you really want). But only resort to these if you and (a few?) trainers find it completely impossible to train your dog and this is quite rare if you get an experienced trainer.
A few tips...
1... Have your dog wait while you leave the house first (very important)
2...When the dog pulls, stop, turn & walk the other way
3...Never let the dog control your movements, when he puts on the pressure stop, never reward pulling by allowing the dog move forward.
These are just the basics, a whole chapter could be written about training not to pull. Good luck!!!

[Lara's mom]

Wow! That is one powerful dog! What breed?

[physalia]

Thanks for the info...the thing is that he's been on his lead by himself when he's broken his collars. He's okay when we're out there, but sometimes I just put him on the lead to go to the bathroom for a few minutes. This last time, my neighbor's dog was outside and he wanted to go see him . He's a mixed breed, supposedly australian cattle dog and hound mix. He's VERY strong...good dog too. Just gets a little excited sometimes.

[german sheep]

hi physalia,

what do you mean by:

the thing is that he's been on his lead by himself when he's broken his collars.

without supervision?
he doesn't seem to notice you when you are outside with him together on the lead.

That should be the first thing you should train (attention to the human)and therefore you have to change some of the circumstances of holding your dog.

LG
gs

[gotambull?]

Unfortunately a harness probably won't help in your case. Harnesses make it easier for a strong dog to pull since it distributes the pull across their chest instead of their neck which makes it easier for them to pull harder and break. You should work on making him comfortable around new things (such as your neighbor's dog) or a squirrel, or whatever else he is breaking his collar at.

[lum_king08]

What kind of dog do you have to be breakin his collars? All i can say is make sure the collar is thick enough.

[mrandrei]

Try a halti collar and lead arrangement. Head Halter by Gentle Leader is also good. But nothing really beats good dog training.