PROJECT TRADE

How Would You Like to Trade Your Old Dog Training Equipment for Great Discounts?

We want to swap great discounts on our most popular services FOR your choke, prong or shock collars or any other qualifying pet gear. By participating in “Project Trade” you can earn up to 15% off our most popular services simply by giving us old pet gear* you have laying around. It couldn’t be easier!

What is “Project Trade”?

Project Trade is the Pet Professional Guild's (PPG) international advocacy program that promotes the use of force-free pet training equipment by asking pet guardians to swap choke, prong and shock collars (and any other devices that are designed to change behaviour through pain or fear).

Because we want all pets and their guardians to experience the huge advantages and long-lasting effectiveness of force-free training and pet care, we will give you great discounts on our most popular, effective, fun and pain-free training and pet care services in exchange for your old gear.

Effective, humane animal training and pet care methods are the foundation of any animal’s healthy socialisation and training and help prevent behaviour problems. Since a wide variety of equipment and tools are commonly used when training pets, the pet-owning public needs to be aware of the potential problems and dangers some equipment may pose. Specifically, the use of collars and leads that are intended to apply constriction, pressure, pain or force around a dog’s neck (such as ‘choke chains’ and ‘prong collars’) should be avoided. Distinguished veterinarians and behaviourists worldwide are joining the discussion and calling for the elimination of such devices from the training efforts of both pet owners and professionals.

What Do the Experts Say?

Respected veterinarian and thyroid expert, Dr. Jean Dodds, recommends against choke or prong collars “as they can easily injure the delicate butterfly- shaped thyroid gland that sits just below the larynx and in front of the trachea. These collars can also injure the salivary glands and salivary lymph nodes on the side of the face underneath both ears.”

Bestselling author and canine behaviourist, Jean Donaldson, says: "These devices (choke and prong collars), when they work, do so to the degree that they hurt. With the advent of modern methods and tools they are irrelevant.”

According to veterinarian and veterinary behaviourist Dr. Soraya V. Juarbe-Diaz: "Using punishment to stop behaviours is not new. Notice I say ‘stop’ rather than ‘teach’ -- I can stop any behaviour, but I am more interested in teaching my students, animal or human, to choose the behaviour I want them to perform because they can trust me, because I do not hurt them and they are safe with me, and because the outcome is something they enjoy.”

As members of The Pet Professional Guild we encourage all pet owners and pet professionals to embrace modern, scientifically based, training techniques and tools, especially the latest generation of no-pull harnesses which are free of the risks posed by traditional collars and offer far more benefits. So swap your gear and help create a kinder world for you and your pet!