There are countless equipment options for today’s dog owner, and here is a run-down of the basics.

Necessary and Appropriate Equipment:
Every dog needs a collar of some kind (or a harness) and a leash.

For a dog that does not pull, a flat buckle collar or regular harness will suffice. For a dog that is a moderate puller, or a sight hound (with a narrow head), a Martingale collar, which snugs up just slightly under pressure, is a very good option. For a dedicated puller, a Gentle Leader head harness, which prevents a dog from pulling by turning its head when it exerts pressure forward, will help greatly in training a dog not to pull, but acceptance of the Gentle Leader must be trained with positive reinforcement. If the dog won’t acclimate to the Gentle Leader, a Sensation body harness follows the same principle.

Leashes should be four to six feet in length, and made of nylon or cotton webbing or leather. Thin cloth leashes, while cute and fashionable, can fail under pressure.

Inappropriate Equipment:
Prong Collar: Despite their popularity as everyday collars, prong collars are designed to inflict positive punishment. To use a prong collar “properly”, the handler must snap the leash hard at the same time as giving the No command. After three or four snaps, either the dog has abandoned whatever behavior was being reprimanded, in which case the prong collar should be replaced with one of the appropriate options listed above, or the prong collar will not work as an aversive and should be removed. It is quite disheartening for a trainer to see the large number of dogs who walk around the city in prong collars as part of their daily routine. Especially cruel are the prong collars on small dogs — the smaller prongs are very thin and sharp and the sensitive skin on a small dog’s neck make their presence very painful indeed.

Retractable Leashes: Retractable leashes are useless in controlling or training a dog and dangerous to both the handler (fingers can be severed if tangled in the wire-like lead) and the general public (a dog on a retractable leash turns a corner long before its owner does and can trip up other pedestrians as well as meet an unfriendly dog face-to-face). The ONLY times a retractable leash can be useful is when training recalls (the Come command) or when walking a dog who cannot eliminate when close to its owner. In the latter situation, the leash should be “locked” to a four to five-foot length at all other times.