Choke collar vs. regular collar

[gebower]

Hello Everyone,
I've had Chows for 20 years now and have tried every collar. Some people prefer the harness, I know. But, this is about collars on Chows. I've had regular flat braided collars and had my Chow wriggle out of it when on a leash. That's because his neck is as big as his head. I chased him for 20 minutes because now he can go and "explore" the neighborhood. I had a female Chow snap a STEEL choke collar like that. Like it was a string. Chased her thru the rest area and almost lost her when she headed for the expressway. Luckily, she turned around when called.
Down here in Tucson, the sun can be so hot that steel choke collars heat up and are uncomfortable. I don't leave them outside. They can come in any time. In fact tie-outs are illegal in Tucson with good reason.
I've settled on a nyon braided round choke collar for them and they don't seem to mind it all and are comfortable with it . And, it won't heat up in the sun. And, they can't wriggle out it when they're on a leash. I just replace them once a year to make sure they're in good condition.

Gene

[TyChowgirl]

Gene I have something like that only it's a martingale. He can't back out of it and it's like a normal collar. I have one made by Earth dog, in hemp (green with white stars) and a black nylon one from petsmart.

[Tippsy'smom]

I've used chain and nylon choke collars and had dogs break them AND just plain slip out of them. I've had dogs slip out of regular collars. And I've seen martingales break and I've also seen dogs get out of easy-walk harnesses. I flat out don't trust collars. I use them to hold the dogs' tags but never to attach a leash to. I've trained Dixie and Jasper to prong collars (they do not hurt; I've put them on my own neck and yanked on it, it's just a reminder to them when we're out in public). I use those when we're gonna be in situations where there's gonna be a lot of other people. I use regular harnesses around home and in our neighborhood.

I just plain don't trust anything else.

[Michael's Maggie May]

I have also tried them all. The choke collars break the hair around her neck. I tried the martingale from someones advice on this forum and wound up chasing her down the street with the collar and leash in my hand. Then realized it has to be adjusted to get it on, readjusted after it's on and then adjusted to get it off. Are you kidding me? I finally found an English style lead which is the leash itself makes a loop around the neck similar to a choke but made of a braided material.There is a leather slide that snugs up so it doesnt come off.Easy to put on, secure and easy to remove.

[chowchowdaddy]

We use choke collars when walking them, but they never wear a collar around the house. Ming's leash has a nylon tether that goes around his head and connects to the chock collar and we've never had any problems with it. Tempest, on the other hand, wears only the choke collar with her leash on walks, as the nylon tether working in conjunction with the choke collar somehow enables her to just back out of it, but with just the choke collar, no problems. Yet...