By Paddy Driscoll, Teamwork Training
Check chains are designed to stop a dog pulling or lunging on the lead. Either through punishment (by punishing pulling by swiftly checking back with a sharp check) or by negative reinforcement (by keeping the chain tight around the dog’s neck or up behind the ears and only releasing it when the dog ‘behaves’). They rely on the dog wanting to avoid the unpleasantness (or even pain) of that potentially harmful chain around the neck. Used ‘correctly’ with an ‘expert’ trainer that unpleasantness is reduced to a minimum, but even used ‘correctly’ they still exert pressure on the neck and throat.
