1. 6 ft lead
2. Flat Collar
3. Prong collar 

With these three tools and patience, the sky is the limit in what you can do with your dog. Together, the lead and prong collar communicate feedback to your dog. It gently leads them in the direction you want and provides correction when they do something they know is wrong. The flat collar allows you to easily grab your dog if a leash is not attached without having to grab the prong collar, or to tie your dog out without having to use the prong collar as an anchor point.

The Lead

My personal preference is a 6 ft leather lead. I like leather over nylon because of the feedback it provides. It seems like the leather is more responsive but test out both to find your personal preference. The only downside to using leather is typically you cannot find them with a double snap or floating ring, so in the event I am training with a group and will need to tie my dog out when I go through rotation, I will use a nylon 6 footer with a double snap and floating ring pictured below. I recommend obtaining a lead that has a double snap if you can, or go ahead and buy both a leather and a nylon lead so you can find what works best for you over a variety of training situations.

The Collar

The flat collar is ineffective for training unless you are doing agitation work in a protection dog. It is however very useful when trying to grab the dog, tie out the dog, or conduct agitation training as aforementioned. Everyone has seen the dog wearing a nice flat collar dragging its owner down the street on their “walk.” Give that owner a prong collar and proper instruction on using it and pulling will no longer be a problem. Flat collars let the dog train the handler not allowing the handler to train the dog.

A few quick tidbits about the prong collar. Use the same link every time you put the collar on the dog and remove it, so you only have to replace that one link when it wears out. I mark the one I use with tape to spot it easier. Also, make sure you aren’t using the special links at each end, as they are much more expensive and difficult to replace. Always reach to grab the flat collar instead of the prong collar with your hand. In the event the dog turns quickly your hand/fingers will be pinched or caught between the prongs. Finally, and most important, always clip into both rings. More on that below.

Dead ring vs live ring

There are two rings on the prong collar, the dead one (in the middle of the chain) and the live ring which is attached to the chain with a swivel. For general use or when training, you should snap into both rings.  In a pinch if you don’t have a flat collar you can flip the prong inside out, and snap into the swivel ring to secure a dog.