Prong collar question
Are prong collars and clicker training counterproductive? Can I use a prong collar and still get all of the benefits of positive reinforcement?
Background: I have a 75-pound, 4.5 year old German Shepherd named Darla. She came into my life about a year ago after my dad passed away. My parents had her for about 1.5 years before then and I can't confirm any of her history before that. I suspect that she came from a puppy mill because she is pure bred but short of standard and she has extremely poor socialization skills. Our only major concern is that she goes crazy around other dogs. She barks, lunges, snarls and usually ends up with snot and saliva foam on her face. She acts like Podee from Dr. Yin's site. We have no problem with any other part of the walk. She pulls a little, mostly because she likes to walk in front. She has sinus problems, so she doesn't sniff anything along the way. She will not bark at cats, deer, or squirrels, although she will raise the fur on her back and hop around in excitement.
So far we have tried the following: choke chain, halti, easywalk harness, and a prong collar without knowing what we were doing. We dropped the halti because she has panic attacks with them on. When we first got her, she was severely overweight at 100 pounds which was just too much dog to handle with the harness. Now that she is a healthy weight, I'm not opposed to going back to it, but I definitely have more control with a prong collar. About two weeks ago, we started clicker training. She seems to get it, that clicks mean treats. But she hasn't done anything other than the commands she already knows. We spent a sorry 5 months with leash corrections on the choke chain before giving up. It actually seemed to work in that it got her focused on us, but I didn't like the feel of it at all. And the bad behaviors never really stopped. Last night I tried the harness again. I thought things were going really well, but then all of those behaviors happened. And I couldn't get her out of the situation or get her attention.
I've been reading and researching bit by bit. I finished up "Don't Shoot the Dog" and "Reaching the Animal Mind" by Karen Pryor. I also have read "The Other End of the Leash" too, and I am really starting to see how my behaviors were reinforcing hers! I try not to tense up, tighten the leash, or use any other bad body language. However, Darla is not highly food motivated so there is nothing simple to break her out of the barking cycle. She has ignored clicks around other dogs. I guess I'm looking for advice on whether or not I can keep using her prong collar as a safety net for me. I can pull her away with a prong collar, but so far I haven't been successful with the easywalk harness.
Background: I have a 75-pound, 4.5 year old German Shepherd named Darla. She came into my life about a year ago after my dad passed away. My parents had her for about 1.5 years before then and I can't confirm any of her history before that. I suspect that she came from a puppy mill because she is pure bred but short of standard and she has extremely poor socialization skills. Our only major concern is that she goes crazy around other dogs. She barks, lunges, snarls and usually ends up with snot and saliva foam on her face. She acts like Podee from Dr. Yin's site. We have no problem with any other part of the walk. She pulls a little, mostly because she likes to walk in front. She has sinus problems, so she doesn't sniff anything along the way. She will not bark at cats, deer, or squirrels, although she will raise the fur on her back and hop around in excitement.
So far we have tried the following: choke chain, halti, easywalk harness, and a prong collar without knowing what we were doing. We dropped the halti because she has panic attacks with them on. When we first got her, she was severely overweight at 100 pounds which was just too much dog to handle with the harness. Now that she is a healthy weight, I'm not opposed to going back to it, but I definitely have more control with a prong collar. About two weeks ago, we started clicker training. She seems to get it, that clicks mean treats. But she hasn't done anything other than the commands she already knows. We spent a sorry 5 months with leash corrections on the choke chain before giving up. It actually seemed to work in that it got her focused on us, but I didn't like the feel of it at all. And the bad behaviors never really stopped. Last night I tried the harness again. I thought things were going really well, but then all of those behaviors happened. And I couldn't get her out of the situation or get her attention.
I've been reading and researching bit by bit. I finished up "Don't Shoot the Dog" and "Reaching the Animal Mind" by Karen Pryor. I also have read "The Other End of the Leash" too, and I am really starting to see how my behaviors were reinforcing hers! I try not to tense up, tighten the leash, or use any other bad body language. However, Darla is not highly food motivated so there is nothing simple to break her out of the barking cycle. She has ignored clicks around other dogs. I guess I'm looking for advice on whether or not I can keep using her prong collar as a safety net for me. I can pull her away with a prong collar, but so far I haven't been successful with the easywalk harness.