Prong collar- at what age to start using it - Page 5

Really depends on the dog and the use.  My youngest dog is 7.5 months now and I put a prong on him around 6 months.  I used a smaller prong with more links and used the "dead" ring.  We had a horrid winter here and I got him just before Christmas, plus he was a bit sickly at first so he really hadn't even gone on a leash walk until he was 6 months (he was, however, very well socialized going to training and traveling with me and my other dogs).  He's not a super hard dog but not mushy soft either.  Using the prong on the dead ring let me start taking him for leash walks and get some basic leash training without dealing with a 6 month old puppy zig-zagging and dragging me all over town.  He did fine, I used a longer (10') leash and gave him some freedom to explore, basically went along with him if he wanted to check out some new object or sound.  The rules were just that we keep moving and not pull mom around.  I have not use a prong for correction or -R/escape yet because he is very slow to mature (physically and mentally) unlike his father that could take quite a bit of pressure before he was even a year old.

My advice - Do not use dead ring. It is more humane to use live ring since pressure is spread around all neck and thus pressure  per square inch  is smaller  and thus it is more humane. It is akin fakir laying on bead of spikes. More spikes = less pain . :)

 JMO

 Prager Hans