I hate that I'm even asking this...

[Jen and Annie]

I never thought in a million years that I would consider using a prong collar, but Annie is so incredibly strong. I have tried 'stop-and-go' on our walks for her on-leash pulling, and it seems to be slowly working. If she pulls, we stop walking. She is pulling much less often, but it still happens, and we still stop when she does it. I have tried positive reinforcement when she is walking by my side. I feel like I have tried everything, and I need to get her leash walking and jumping greetings under control. I have always thought I would never use an aversive method with her, but I think I am at a loss, especially with her human greetings.
Over the past few weeks I have been researching prong collars, and I have always been against them - but mostly because they look so barbaric. From what I've read, the dog is actually the one in control of the correction for the most part, and that it is more of a 'slight pinch' than it is a stabbing into their neck. I am writing to poll the DK members on your experiences with prong collars.
I am fully committed to the time it takes for training, but no matter how much I run Annie, or try to drain her energy - she is always able to muster up enough energy to exhuberantly jump on people. She is very very stong by now, at over 70 lbs. She almost knocked over a small child at the dog park a few weeks ago, which is what prompted my research on new methods. It's like she sees the person who is LEAST capable of defending themselves against her jumping, and jumps on them. :-{
She just LOVES people. I can prevent her from jumping, just by keeping her on a short leash, but she flails and freaks out trying to get to the person to say hi, in her Annie way. She basically goes deaf and can't hear any of the "SIT! No, ANNIE! LEAVE IT!" when she wants to see someone. Once I'm able to calm her down (usually takes 2-3 minutes, and I have to physically hold my hand on her back to prevent her from continuing to flail around) she will sit and whimper for the person she wants to jump on, and I can hold her back to keep her from jumping on them, but sometimes will just give a HUGE tug and rip my arm almost out of socket to try and greet the person.
I have read that the prong collars really can be a useful tool, but I just feel so bad to put one on her...please tell me of your experiences or suggestions on the pulling on leash and jumping up on people. I know she is such a sweet girl, and I worry that using a prong collar will change her personality. She really is a doll, she just has a hard time hiding her excitement for people. Will a prong collar work to help me correct the pulling/jumping up, without changing her sweet personality ?

I really want what's best for her, but would also like to 'save' the poor people that she meets.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I agree.  No flat collars on necks unless you do not have a puller.  I can't use them STILL. Spud really has a reaction in his throat.  Even as a pup, my vet warned me to watch out for poodle breeds and throat issues with flat collars. 

[Jen and Annie]

HAHAHA WHat's funny about all this is that I have been using a "no pull harness" on her - What a laughing stock that thing is! Sure it keeps her tethered to the leash, but "no pull"? Come on...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The Easy Walk harness really did stop the pulling for me. Is that the one you've been using? Where the leash hooks to a martingale attachment at the front of the chest? 

[Jen and Annie]

No, it was just a harness from Petsmart that said "no pull harness" - LOL to the max. totally does not help pulling

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with what the others have said. A prong collar is very humane. It absolutely does not stab the dog at all, the correction is a pinching, and the dog totally controls that. I also agree with Joanne that it is very important to learn to use the collar correctly.

What I also think needs to be addressed is the way you are looking at Annie's jumping on people. Jumping on other beings, whether on other dogs or on people, is a dominance behavior, and really hasn't got much to do with loving people, being excited to see people, greet people, etc. A dog can be out of their mind with excitement to see another dog, or a person, and keep their feet on the ground. If it was only about greeting and seeing, they can walk (or run) right up, see the person with their eyes, smell the person with their nose, kiss the person if they are really feeling affectionate, wag their tails and their whole bodies, even give little cries and whimpers of joy & excitement, all without putting their paws on the person's body. The latter action is a dominance behavior, a way of "claiming" someone's person, a way of being "bigger than" and "higher than". It's also a way of demanding attention. Watch the way dogs place their front paws on other dogs' backs and shoulders, as if they are trying to be above the other dog. They are, even when it's playing.

 Annie is certainly a sweet dog, but she is really not being sweet when she jumps up on people, and it's important for you to see this and not think that by preventing the jumping you are somehow going to change her "sweet" nature. When you prevent her from jumping on people, you are doing more than saving the people, you are also correcting a dominant behavior and teaching Annie that she is not in charge of anyone she meets, and that she cannot get attention by demanding it. That's an important lesson for all teenagers, lol. 

[Star and Goldie]

Karen, what you said was very interesting about jumping being about dominance. I've noticed Goldie will jump on some people and we are working on that in puppy classes but she will absolutely not jump on me. She will look me dead in the face with this "I know not to jump on you" look but then go right over to the trainer and jump on her. If its about dominance do you think she doesn't jump on me because she understands that I'm dominant over her? Very interesting.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm not sure it's a conscious thing, and I also don't mean to imply that a dog who jumps on people is a dominant dog. It can just be a dog using a dominance behavior to try to get someone to play with her, or pay attention to her, because she hasn't yet been taught the right way to do that. I think she has learned that jumping on you is not going to get her what she wants, in fact it will have the opposite effect, lol, so she's making another choice. Now she just has to learn to make that choice with everyone. 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Interesting concept. LIKE!

[Rachel and Ollie]

This is helpful. This distinguishment between "dominant dog" and a dog using a "dominance behavior" to get attention because they haven't learned an alternative makes a lot of sense to me.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

:)

[Jen and Annie]

I don't know whether I agree that jumping up on people is necessarily a dominance behavior, I'd have to do more research on it... I really do feel like it's just extreme excitement in her.  I'm not an animal behaviorist, but almost every dog I've encountered in my life (my own dogs, friends dogs, strangers dogs) has had a problem with jumping up, at least at a young age, and at least until it is corrected in them, in some way.  My fault for letting her jump up when she was small - I'm paying the price now.. She rarely jumps on me or my husband anymore...  Although we did have to work with her extensively to cut down the jumping on us.

Annie has never jumped on other (stranger) dogs, in fact - the only dog I've seen her jump on is Lucy, our other dog - when they are playing... and even then, Lucy jumps on her the same, but they could be doing a dominance contest I suppose.  Any other dog, she just sniffs and licks their faces, or presents her belly, which I always thought was a characteristic of a more submissive dog... I guess what I'm saying is - I would think if it was a dominance behavior, it would be presented with other dogs as well as humans. 

At any rate, I will probably give the prong collar a try.  If she get's pinched it will be her own doing. We will do some initial exercises with it before officially introducing it, to help her learn that she controls whether it pinches her or not.  

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

You need to use one with Obedience commands.  Have you gone past puppy training?  Have you taken Obedience and Advanced Obedience?

Here is the thing, it is not the pinch~ it is the signal.  It is the command or corrections you want. Not just a pinch.