How to choose a collar and a leash.
Choose collar according to your puppy’s size. Don’t buy collar once
and forever. If the collar is too big or too wide, it may cause
unpleasant feelings for the puppy. Of course, it may be costly to
buy collar every two or three months. If you can’t afford to buy
leather collars very often, you may easily choose collars, made of
other materials. But, when you Great Dane is 8 months, it’s time to
buy long-term collar for him. Please, pay special attention to
leash. It’s recommended to buy leather leash, because you will
handle it and corns on palms may make any walk painful. One of the
“easy-to-use” leashes is braided leather leash. It’s not only
durable, but also won’t slip out of your hands. Leashes, made of
synthetic materials, are very difficult to hold tight and often slip
out of hands.
How to help your puppy get used to
the collar.
It’s recommended to start this process as early as possible. Many
dog breeders say, that you may imperceptibly put the collar near the
puppy, then put it on the puppy’s neck for a minute, then put it for
a long period or time. As a result, the puppy will get used to
unknown lace on his neck. This method is very effective. But, it
should be used in case the puppy tried to get rid of collar, when
you put it on his neck for the first time. If your puppy didn’t
react negatively, you may put the collar on without hesitation.
Types of collars and leashes.
You may use ordinary buckle collar and leather or nylon leash. But,
there are certain situations when it may not be enough. Owners of
very active dogs use pinch or prong collars. These collars consist
of wide chain with prongs, that put pressure on the dog’s neck to
control his temperament. Please, consider, that this type of collar
shouldn’t be used, if you can easily control the puppy by yourself.
If you decided to use pinch collar, try not to pull it without
necessity. Firstly, it may cause pain to the puppy and, secondly,
the dog may get used to the pressure and won’t react to it any more.
To prevent it, you may put on your dog two collars. Pinch collar
normally has special loop and, if necessary, it’s easy to grab it,
so there is no need to attach leash to this collar. Attach the lead
to the buckle collar. As a result, you use buckle collar to walk you
dog, but pinch collar may also be used in case of necessity. Please,
choose long leash for training sessions or if there will be no
chance to walk the dog without leash.
Muzzle.
All big-sized dogs, notwithstanding are they aggressive or vice
versa, should be muzzled. Even if your dog is a small puppy, other
people may see an adult dog in him. That’s why to avoid
misunderstandings and unnecessary problems, when your dog is
approximately 5 months old, start putting a muzzle on his
snout. Muzzles vary a lot. They may be leather, wire or made of
cloth. Of course, it’s not reasonable to buy wire muzzle for a small
puppy. The same applies to leather muzzle, because it’s expensive
and will be small when the puppy will grow a little. The best
variant is muzzle, made of cloth with velcro. If your dog
isn’t aggressive, the muzzle will calm passersby. However, some
people are afraid of muzzled dogs more, because they think: “If the
dog wears muzzle, he is capable to bite”. Even if your dog is very
quiet, you should muzzle him when visiting vet or other public
places, because it’s difficult to predict the reaction of the dog to
the strangers’ actions.
