Akeisha wrote to me with some very good questions. I’ve included
her letter (and my responses) below:
[Akeisha] Hi its Akeisha again. I do see what you mean if it is
on all the time the dog will soon forget it is on and then will
behave regardless. Ok, so the dog never wears a buckle collar
again? This is what irks me. I want to be able to control the
dog regardless of what collar is on not just the pinch or it
could be no collar at all and the dog still behaves. What if the
owner for some reason takes off the collar then they put the
buckle collar on for ID but then forget the pinch collar? Then
there is no control.
[Adam] WRONG! The dog gets conditioned. Take off the collar for
awhile. Doesn’t matter.
[Akeisha] Do you ever in the training go back to the buckle
collar after months of what you recommend with a dog that is
happy with doing the commands?
[ Adam: ] Yes, the dog does the command because he is happy and
he likes it. But eventually, there will be something that tempts
him. This is where conditioning comes in.
Think of it like this: You’ve lived in the same house for 10
years, right? You get up in the middle of the night and you
reach for the light switch that is to the LEFT of the door.
Pretty soon, you get conditioned to reach out to the LEFT of the
door.
One day you travel and stay in a hotel. You wake up in the
middle of the night and reach out to the LEFT of the door for
the switch… even though you cognitively saw that the switch is
on the RIGHT.
In fact, you may wake up for several nights– perhaps even weeks
or months– and still reach out to the LEFT, even though the
switch is now on the right. Some people will continue reaching
to the LEFT for the rest of their lives. Some will begin
reaching to the right.
Those people need to be reinforced. Get it?
[Akeisha] Motivational corrections if on the right dog won’t
frighten them or make them hate you I know but aren’t there
other ways except using the collar that will eventually be
established thought training that will allow you to take the
collar off and have control?
[ Adam: ] Yeah, this way you can take the collar off and have
control, ONCE THE DOG IS CONDITIONED. But eventually you’ll have
to go back and reinforce, for most dogs. And definitely if you
start expecting to work the dog around new distractions that
it’s never been proofed around, such as chickens if the dog has
never seen chickens.
Look, I don’t make the rules. The dog is not a robot that you
can suddenly say, “He’s done” and expect him to act consistently
for the rest of his life. Like any relationship you have with
another person, boundaries need to be established and
maintained. The dog is like your wife or husband… they will
eventually test you. 
[Akeisha] Last question, how can the dog not realize the don’t
have it on since it feels a lot different than the buckle? Its
like my id around my neck at school I have gotten used to it but
I do realize when it is off? Just for the record I have no
problem with pinches, many members in my 4-H club use them and
they work great on the right dog.
[ Adam: ] Because the way you should be using the pinch collar
is that the dog (since he has limited reason and logic) does not
KNOW that it is the pinch collar that allows you to give him
good corrections. But it’s more than the pinch collar. If I put
the dog in a number of small yards, with no collar on … and
I’m able to chase him down and make him come back to me, if he
doesn’t come when I call… then the dog will learn THE
UNDERLYING PREMISE that I can make him do it, if he doesn’t. So,
the pinch collar and the long line make my job easier, but
ultimately, the dog knows (or he thinks at least) that I am a
man of my word and when I tell him to do something: If he
doesn’t do it, I’m going to make him do it. And his life will be
a lot more fun if he does it willingly. So the dog starts to
extrapolate this principle to other commands, too.
[Akeisha] Hope I am not being irritating I just like to know why
certain trainers value certain methods over others since I love
competing in obedience with my dog.
[Adam:] Keep training. -Adam.
Do you want to be able to take your dog anywhere, and KNOW that
he’ll listen to you… even if tempted by another dog, a cat, or
even a piece of food??? Then check out: “Secrets of a
Professional Dog Trainer: An Insider’s Guide To The Most
Jealously Guarded Dog Training Secrets In History!” By Adam G.
Katz, Owner of South Bay K-9 Academy. For more information, go
to: http://tinyurl.com/4efaq