I was on the bus home last night and a fit looking man running with his fit looking staffy-looking dog along the sidewalk caught my eye.

How great! I thought. Now here was a great pair – an owner and his dog exercising after work. The dog was pulling on the leash a bit, but that’s ok!

As we passed the pair, though, I noticed that the dog had a slip collar (also known as a choke or choker chain) around its neck. A slip collar is a chain that tightens around the dog’s neck when it pulls, effectively ‘choking’ it if the pressure is constantly applied. When used correctly, slip collars and prong collars are designed to cause discomfort, not pain to the dog – they are not meant to choke your dog or prevent breathing. But you should never put a slip collar on your dog when running or cycling.

When used incorrectly, a slip collar can damage your dog’s neck. And applying constant pressure on the neck using a slip collar like this owner was doing is one of those incorrect uses. His dog was obviously pulling on the leash, so not only could it have been damaging its neck in the process, but it was obviously desensitized to the constant pressure of the collar as well.

If your dog pulls on your run, focus on training it to walk politely with a regular buckle collar first, then advance to jogging politely using a buckle collar. A slip or prong collar should not be used for running or cycling with your dog.