Thoughts on prong collars? Need HELP!

As everyone has already said, the prong collar doesn't hurt and is a good training tool that keeps you both safe by reducing pulling. But I have a warning: in my experience prongs can pop open when you are walking a dog. It happened 2-3 times with Zoey (and she wasn't even pulling when it happened if I remember correctly). The first time the people at the pet store told us we had weakened the links because we would use random links to open it so you should always open it from the end link. So we bought a whole new collar and were really careful about opening and closing it, then it still happened. So we stopped using it with Zoey. We haven't used it on Penny because she's just a puppy, but if we do in the future I will use a back-up collar in case it opens.

I finally bought prong collars for my two when I was almost hit by a car while being dragged across a busy street by Bear, charging after another dog. Within one walk, his behavior was perfect. The prong - when properly fitted - simply reminded him to keep his attention on me. It just took the slightest movement of my wrist to get his attention, which I did when he didn't respond to my verbal command. He never mis-behaved again, and learned to respond to the verbal in order to avoid the slight pinch from my wrist action. My dog walker's 8-yr old daughter could walk Bear in complete confidence!

Nakita took a day or so longer but she also learned to respond to the command to avoid the pinch. She sometimes needs a refresher but it's sooooo worth it. They both were able to walk without stress and discomfort because of it.

Good luck and be sure to let us know how it goes.