[beverley]

can anyone help me by telling me how to use a martingale collar correctly please?
im considering 1 for branston. he has never pulled just weighs a ton and i cant hold him if he does decide to go in another direction! but we've now found a nice quiet walk where we never come across anyone so thought i would try one.

 

[wvasko]

It won't stop the pulling, only training will help with that, it just is easier on dog because adjusted properly the dog does not choke himself but also can't slip out of the collar.

 

[beverley]

ok thanks. branston has always worn a halti so just wanted to try something different. he is quite difficult with distractions, hence us finding a nice quiet place to walk

 

[Poly]

can anyone help me by telling me how to use a martingale collar correctly please?
.

In this case, a video is worth thousands of words:

The video shows the all-fabric type - sometimes called the greyhound style collar. I have also used the type where the collar portion is fabric but the loop portion is chain-links. This latter type tends to last longer before you need to replace it. Both types are used and fitted in exactly the same way

 

[lil_fuzzy]

Martingales aren't used for corrections or any sort of training tool (except maybe for very small and/or very soft dogs).

If you're still struggling with pulling and the halti isn't working, I would look into a prong collar. You need to get a good trainer to show you how to use it correctly though.

 

[stacey101]

Martingales aren't used for corrections or any sort of training tool (except maybe for very small and/or very soft dogs).

If you're still struggling with pulling and the halti isn't working, I would look into a prong collar. You need to get a good trainer to show you how to use it correctly though.

Please, no prong collars....bahh

Type of dog do you have?
Its all about interupting the dog imo. Once the dog gets ahead of you, turn around in the other direction quickly. Over time, depending on the dog, he will walk by your side. Some people will keep the dog on a leash for a few weeks in the home tied to their waist so no matter what you do, he must pay attention or he just might walk into a wall LOL.


I'll admit, when we had Kayco on a trial/foster weekend he was by far the strongest dog i've ever had to handle and I went against my word and used a halter on him that weekend. Which doesnt help in the long run as it doesnt correct the problem.

Other people reward them with treats by holding a treat to your side, the dog will pay attention to this. However dont reward him when he is looking at the treat, reward him when he is walking by your side looking away from you. (Ill try to find a video)

 

[beverley]

brasnton does not mad pull me up the road. he weighs in excess of 60kg, he's a rottie x mastiff. if he see's something he wants to go to i find it extremely hard to hold him back as he's so heavy. he walks really nicely on his halti and we both have lovely walks, i just wondered if there was another collar i could use that would maybe give me a little control instead of him wearing the halti (which he has never minded wearing) i'd seen the martingales and wondered......
branston does not do distractions...at all. i can put him in a sit wait and go upstairs and he wont move until i come back, he just lays down then sits when he see's me again. this also applies in the garden but as soon as we leave our property all bets are off with distractions!

 

[cookieface]

We have a martingale for Katie because she slipped out of her collar on the way home from the breeders (along a busy highway). <yikes> It does not help with controlling her on walks. She sounds like Branston, but in a much smaller package; she's about 42lbs / 19kg. She's gotten much better at walking nicely, but if we see another critter (bird, squirrel) she runs after it with all her might. We've been using an easy walk, which gives a little more control, but I'm not sure how it compares to a halti.

I have found that if I'm vigilant and can anticipate a distraction, I can keep her focused on me with treats. It's not ideal, and may not work in all situations, but I've seen some improvement. Now, even if I don't see the distraction first, I can get her attention and coax her back to walking. I've tried to get her to associate birds, squirrels, other dogs, deer, etc. with getting a treat from me. That's helped get her to refocus on me when she sees a critter that she want to chase.

I can imagine it's difficult to walk Branston. Even at Katie's weight, she's pulled me over a few times.

 

[beverley]

have you seen the disney film 'Up' ? every time the dog in that see's a squirrel he's off! thats branston ! we could be walking along nicely when a leaf blows our way and its 'leaf oh good i wanna get it'!

 

[kitley2001]

My Ginny came with a martingale...and I switched her due to chocking. She now wears a halter...which actually gives her more power, but no chocking. I always worry about a collapsed trachea. Ginny was a great walker when we got her, but not anymore. She also loves to chase squirrels etc. With dogs, she gets the command of ...leave it...but is too excited with squirrels. I too can barely keep hold of her..unless I see it coming. I keep a good eye on our surroundings.Giny weighs about a third of me. When she is not excited, One finger will hold on to her...but she insists on being in the lead.

 

[Poly]

Martingales aren't used for corrections or any sort of training tool (except maybe for very small and/or very soft dogs).

I can't agree with this statement.

But first let me say that our dogs are far from 'soft' and certainly not very small.

We use our martingale all the time in our obedience training - and we do give what can be called "corrections" with it. More properly, they are more 'reminders' than corrections because the dogs have already been taught what they are supposed to do and have done it - they just forget sometimes as we all do.

For tracking, we bring our dogs up to the line on their martingale before switching the line to the harness. If we brought them up on the harness, they'd be pulling from the parking lot which is not what we want.

There's no reason why you can't use a martingale as an everyday collar (we do) and also for basic obedience training if you want to.

Finally - although this doesn't apply to us drectly - many (most?) sighthound owners consider a martingale collar a NECESSITY at all times and would not even consider using any other type.

So I would say in all those cases, the martingale is being used as a training tool.

 

[GreatDaneMom]

For tracking, we bring our dogs up to the line on their martingale before switching the line to the harness. If we brought them up on the harness, they'd be pulling from the parking lot which is not what we want. Finally - although this doesn't apply to us drectly - many (most?) sighthound owners consider a martingale collar a NECESSITY at all times and would not even consider using any other type.

So I would say in all those cases, the martingale is being used as a training tool.

in response to the bolded part- this is because the harness is a signal for your dog to start working the track. so of course hes going to pull if he has it on and not pull when he doesnt. thats why we use harnesses when tracking, to create that signal to work.

as for the other part, its not a training tool for the sighthounds. its because sighthounds have wide necks and small heads which make wearing regular collars almost impossible, since they will slip them. so its not a training tool.

 

[Poly]

in response to the bolded part- this is because the harness is a signal for your dog to start working the track. so of course hes going to pull if he has it on and not pull when he doesnt. thats why we use harnesses when tracking, to create that signal to work.

Of course . And having the line on the martingale - or on a flat collar - is the 'signal' to NOT start working yet, and to wait. Even when the context is obviously tracking. But those 'signals' don't happen automatically nor do they occur to the dog on his own - they are taught. We use a martingale, so that is what we taught this behavior on. Some people use a flat collar to bring their dogs up to the line, so they teach it on that. Same behavior - different training tool.

as for the other part, its not a training tool for the sighthounds. its because sighthounds have wide necks and small heads which make wearing regular collars almost impossible, since they will slip them. so its not a training tool.

Actually, sighthounds ARE trained on martingales because it is their every-day collar, and in many cases it is the only type that their owners will use with them (except for special situations like coursing or racing). They don't have any other type of collar to use for regular training. So it's their training tool by default.

 

[wvasko]

My Ginny came with a martingale...and I switched her due to chocking. She now wears a halter...which actually gives her more power,

There are some dogs that would choke with a 1.5 inch wide buckle collar on cause that's the nature of that particular beastie. The Martingale is pretty escape proof and I also combo it with a prong collar for training.