Tool Habituation: Why I Put a Prong Collar on Alice Before I Ever Plan to Use One

This one’s about a topic that tends to make people twitchy: prong collars, tools, and aversives.

Here’s the thing. “Aversives as a last resort” sounds responsible, but it’s actually unfair to the dog. If you’re ever going to use a tool — and if that tool has any aversive quality to it — the dog deserves to know how it works and how to avoid or escape it before it’s ever actually used on them. Not in the moment you need it. Before.

This is a piece of Michael Ellis’s philosophy (I’m reviewing and enjoying a lot of his content as a member of his online platform) that I didn’t know or think to apply with any of my previous dogs, and it applies to way more than prong and e-collars. Crates, flat collars, leashes — any equipment at all.

Tool habituation just means: put it on the puppy, let them wear it, go about your life. Nothing attached, nothing turned on. It’s just another collar for now. The goal is for it to just be “background noise” by the time you want to start using it.

I didn’t do this with Dude or Savi and they turned out fine. But there’s no good reason not to do it this way, so that’s what I’m doing with Alice.

What’s Next: Head Halters and a Muzzle

Eventually I’ll do the same thing with a head halter and a muzzle. The muzzle is the one I’m most careful about — I may never actually need one with Alice, but if I ever do, I don’t want her first experience with it to be layered on top of an already stressful moment.

The head halter, on the other hand, I’ll almost certainly use — it’s my go-to with Dude, Savi, and Vida at competitions since it’s allowed across all the agility organizations.

The Prong Collar’s Bad Rap

Personally, I think a prong collar is the “nicer” option of the two for the dog — nothing’s on the dog’s face. But between the way it looks and how misunderstood its use is, I think it gets a bad rap and isn’t allowed on site at agility (or most) competitions.

There’s so much content already in the Alice in Wonderland — Puppy Development Blog that it’s way more than I could put in emails. Members have full access, and if you’re not a member, grab the free 3-week preview here:

Alice is growing fast! Check out what’s in the puppy blog so far, there’s a TON, and I’m adding new stuff every day! And, feel free to pass along this email if somebody you know has a puppy and could benefit from watching!

Yours,
Daisy
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