Opinions please

[Monica And Cooper]

I have a 5.5 month old golden doodle. We've been through 6 private training sessions. He has done pretty well with commands ie: place, automatic sit, sit, down etc. he is still however having many issues which I know goes with puppy territory. On walks when he sees people/animals he Goes crazy pulling and jumping. In the house he jumps on the kids a lot, and is still very mouthy. Just yesterday he jumped up on my 4 year old daughter and ripped her earring out making her ear bleed.

So I'm writing because my trainer wants me to get him a prong collar and I can't bring myself to do it.literally stood in the aisle at petco for 20 minutes contemplating it and then walked out. My trainer says we will see a different dog and his behaviors will be more controlled. I really need some input here and welcome your thoughts or similar experiences.
By the way...... He gets walks often and plays fetch with us in the yard for at least an hour a day so he is getting opportunities for burning some energy .

[VScott & Lloyd]

We use the Easy Walk harness for longer walks and just a regular collar if it's a quick potty break. Lloyd definitely is so much easier with the Easy Walk and I'm glad we got it. One day I forgot he was still wearing it and he chewed it up, so be sure to take it off when you get home. We got the S/M size for only about $15 on Ebay. I think they're about $30 for that size at Petco. Great inexpensive solution/tool to help with pulling.

Puppyhood is hard and we're still going through it. Lloyd was a handful the first few months, to a point where I literally didn't think he was cute anymore and questioned if we would be able to keep him. The nipping was so out of hand. Lots of torn clothes and scratched and bitten arms. I was at my wits end and felt I tried everything - redirect, give toy instead, squeal, ignore, time-out... I didn't want to do it but finally got the Pet Corrector when he was about 4 months. I was afraid I would scare and traumatize him with the air canister but it didn't. It just got him out of the "zone." He quickly "wakes up" and stops what he's doing. The day we started using it, he stopped nipping.  Now I wish I got it sooner.

Lloyd is still young and working on his manners but he is now such a great part of the family. Last night my husband forgot to crate him for bed. He slept nicely downstairs, not a peep and nothing destroyed or peed/pooped on. In the morning he came upstairs and woke me up (licking attack) at 6:29. My alarm is always set for 6:30. Amazing little guy!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I think a prong has a bad rep but truly is no big deal.  We had the same reservations as you and delayed using one on our Springer Spaniel, who although trained, constantly gave little jerks making walking 3 dogs no fun.  We used the gentle leader for years and he HATED it.  The prong really helped remind him to curb his 'enthusiasm' on our walks.  We use a flat collar on one dog, always use a slip collar (martingale or corrective collar) on one, and the prong on the third.  I say use what works and be individual about what the dog needs.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Your Cooper sounds like my Roo.   I have used prong collars for years and have no objection to them when they are used correctly.  However I use a gentle leader (goes around nose) on Roo and he responds much better to it.  If you decide to go that way watch the video several times carefully.  The gentle leader works completely without you tugging or quickly jerking.  It takes practice to get the length of the lead just right for every situation as you want Cooper to "run into the nose loop" himself when he is trying to jump or lunge forward.

That said as many said, the collar or whatever is only a tool.  If you like and respect the trainer, give the prong collar a try. 

If the trainer is willing to give  the gentle leader a try, that is a good sign.

Here are some things that helped Roo through this rather long stage:  Work several times every day in different situations on sit and down and watch (meaning eyes on me).  When you talk Cooper for a walk  put lots of tiny high value treats in your pockets.  Then be alert for things that make him crazy,  Try to catch them before he does and move him up a driveway, sidewalk, lawn, whatever and put him in a sit.  As the dog, person,bike, skateboard goes by feed him treats.  You may have to begin this strategy by facing Cooper so you are between he and the "Crazy" thing.  As Cooper becomes   truly quiet and relaxed over time, maybe a couple of days, maybe several weeks, gradually move your position to his side and wait longer times between treats.  Next move closer to the path of the "Crazy", then as relaxation is always the response start passing the "crazy" feeding a constant stream of treats, with "watch' the command.

The idea is to deflect Cooper's attention with a command he knows well and reward and distract him with treats.

Jumping up on kids and people is a harder habit to squelch.  Roo has to go to his crate when people come.  This seems to calm him a lot and he is much better after just 10 or 15 minutes of down time in his crate.  I also taught him very early to go get his rubber bone when people come to keep him from mouthing and hurting people by accident.  You will almost certainly have to be an integral part of his playtime with any child that isn't old enough to command his attention with "sit'or "down"

This is going to take awhile, but be patient, consistent and it will happen. 

 

[Melissa & Harley]

His behavior sounds exactly right for 5.5 months! We had several issues with Harley and are still working on a few, even though he is still alomst 1.5 yrs old. For walking, I can't say enough good things about the Easy Walk Harness. It was recommended in the 3rd puppy class session we had by the trainer and we used it from then on! It was almost instant relief from his walking/pulling issues and we use it every time we are going somewhere with Harley (the park, a walk around the neighborhood, even a trip to the vet). As for the jumping I've got two other words - Doggy Dan! :-) Harley still has issues with our 6 year old daughter and sometimes even with our 10 year old son, but he has improved so much. He still occassionally gets the zoomies and they get knocked down (he even got me over the weekend), but he needs to know that he isn't higher than your kids in the pecking order of the pack (family). Harley continues to test us with our daughter, but she isn't good at following directions either (lol). Her excitability is too much for him to resist, but we very calmly step between him & her and assert that he isn't allowed to do that and it is getting better. She feeds him at least every other day, which is a power thing as well and he does respond to her appropriately. And when she can't control herself, unfortunately Harley goes back to his crate. I just am not willing to put him in a situation where HE'S gong to get in trouble for her (relatively) normal 6 year old behavior.

Harley still gets very excited by visitors, but we put the leash on him, have him sit with either me or my husband, talking calmly to him and praising him for remaining in sit (or down) and staying calm. As long as the visitor has really low energy, so does Harley. It's amazing to watch. I never realized how much they feed off the energy of the people around them.

If you feel comfortable with the collar, go ahead. I think your hesitation may tell you otherwise and I was determined not to use one with Harley, even though I knew it wasn't gong to actually hurt him. That's just not my style, but I'll tell you it takes more work with an excitable doodle, lots of high reward treats!...but I truly think it's going to be worth it with our dood in the end. And I really can't say enough good things about what I got out of the Doggy Dan videos. It seems like I should've known all of that already, but just watching and listening to someone else put it into action has made a huge difference with me. All of his "rules" I've relayed to the whole family and everyone practices them. I can't get over how fast they've worked and how much more relaxed and happier Harley is now that he knows he's NOT in charge in our house!

Good luck & let us know how it goes!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I really agree on the benefit of the Doggy Dan videos, especially with a high energy 5.5 month Doodle.  I'm assuming he's not yet neutered....I found that helped a little with the "crazy puppy behavior".

[Adina P]

I'll give my thumbs up to the prong collar too.  It just looks scary but there's a reason the prongs go ALL around.  So it doesn't hurt or impale your dog.  It makes pulling or jerking on it uncomfortable but it's not going to injure a dog at all.  There are situations/dogs/training issues for which a prong is super helpful.  And situations/dogs/training issues for which it is not.