Cesar Millan Original American Illusion Collar Training Collar & Lead

Having purchased just about every collar out there to try and control my Rottie while walking, I was a little hesitant to try yet another one. I have seen Cesar use the Illusion Collar on his shows but was skeptical about it working with my little girl. She is a fearful 110 pound dog and lunges at just about everything that has wheels making walks with her dangerous. I realize that this is not a healthy behavior and a topic for a different discussion, however, the collar works beautifully for keeping her under control giving both of us a much more relaxing experience on our walks. The fact that the collar sits higher on the neck gives you much more control of your dog's head which is key to controlling a behavior like lunging. It's given me more confidence in walking her. I cringed a little at the price only because I've tried so many other collars without success but after using the Illusion Collar I can say that it was well worth the price and that I highly recommend it.

I love Cesar Milan and what he's done for dogs but I think the success of this collar really depends on the dog. For mine, the 3 separation bands between the two parallel collars weren't firm enough to keep them apart as shown and needed. He didn't mind walking with this on but it didn't keep him from pulling either. It's well made, with thick, doubled web straps, so not a shoddy product by any means, just not effective on Anchovy. I wish this had worked esp. bec. he has a thick APB neck like the pooch pictured. But I must say, people seeing my dog in this collar were afraid of him. He's a sweetie but he looked like Hannibal Lecter wearing it. What works like a charm for us is a harness with the leash ring at his chest (got it here on amzn, too). But I'm keeping this just in case.

I'm not a pet person but they always seem to find me. The latest is a 100 lb, one year old German Shepherd with an incredible chase instinct which ran the streets, wild, before coming to me. Not a mean bone in him, absolutely beautiful, plays well with others, strong as an ox, can clear a four foot fence from a sitting position, but will chase a squirrel through the side of a metal storage building, then out the other end. Yes, the squirrel needed two holes. One in, one out. No, the dog didn't.I read the reviews on this collar and bit on the science, i.e., that by raising the collar closer to the dog's head, your training issues would disappear.No.Yes, upon putting on the collar the 1st time, the results were amazing. I, too, was ready to Hail Cesar!However, I'm betting most of those glowing reviews were written after the 1st walk. Or two. And by persons who didn't know you can buy a short leash and gain much of the control provided thereby for a fraction that this thing costs.In my case at least, the dog very quickly became used to the collar position and reverted to his old ways. His indifference was accelerated, no doubt, by the fact that the nylon straps which separate the two collars began to collapse, making the 3" rise more like 1". I'm thinking of taking the collar to an upholstery friend and see if he can sew some plastic stiffeners onto the separating straps, making the rise once again the full 3". And yes, I've tried adjusting it a dozen times, nothing makes it work like new. This may be a German Shepherd design problem, I don't know, that's why the review is labeled Your Experience May Vary.The other negative, like you need another than the fact that it doesn't work for more than a few days, is that the collar is amazingly difficult to put on the dog. Of course, if your dog is a placid little thing, you might not have this problem. Trust me, it is a problem getting it on this monster I've rescued ... but after, what's it been, six weeks now, he is getting used to the noose going over his head and the snapping of the two collars but it is still a pain.All this said, it is a well made piece (aside from collapsing on itself and edit 3/26/12 below) and given the two collars provides a bit of additional security (again, edit 3/26/12 below) when walking something as big and untrained as Axle. But, for the money and my experience to date, I'd go with a short or better yet two handle leash (Kong makes a really nice one with a sliding grab) and leave this on Amazon's shelves.Edited 3/8/12: If you read the negative reviews, you'll see anti-commentary from the same one or two reviewers, one of whom claims to be an expert on this dog collar because he/she is a vegan! This is a forum for product reviews ... not member/poster/reviewer reviews. This thing is advertised as the greatest training aid since everything. Stating that it doesn't work, collapses on itself (contrary to the pretty picture provided), is grossly overpriced, or has the potential to hurt the dog relates to the PRODUCT, not the member/poster/reviewer. Please limit your comments to the product and leave us alone, we can't all be dog whisperers. Besides, if you're so damn gifted, why did you find it necessary to buy this piece of crap in the first place?Edited 3/26/12: Took the Axle for his usual, 3 mile, walk this morning. If we leave early enough, break of dawn early enough, we can get back before the squirrels come out in force. Decided to use this collar. Halfway around, an early rising squirrel popped out of a tree. As continues to be his habit, Axel lunged. Then, as he has learned, he stood still and watched. However, this time the metal ring on this "high quality" training device/collar had failed, without warning spreading enough that the leash snap popped out. Loose dog. Fortunately, he didn't realize that he was unhooked and, again, as he's allowed to do, continuing standing perfectly still, on 'point' if you will, intently watching the squirrel scamper up and down the tree. I re-hooked him, temporarily using the second ring to finish the walk. Now, as noted, this is a tractor of a dog with a very strong prey instinct, particularly as to cats and squirrels. So, once again, your experience may vary. As far as the lead, an easy fix would be to replace the cheapie metal rings with stronger, miniature, screw together D rings from one of the box stores or better yet Amazon. If you've a large, spirited dog and buying this collar, I would recommend this fix before one of the rings fails ... particularly if you walk the dog anywhere near traffic.Edited 4/7/12: Gave up on this thing, it's gone. Went with Signature K-9 2" wide. Much more to my liking, see my review @http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005CXJ3LW/ref=oh_o02_s00_i00_details

I received this collar in the mail yesterday and am currently using it primarily on my four-year-old, approximately seventy-five pound Boxer. He has never had terrible leash manners or any significant dominance issues, but as I've recently brought in a German Shepherd pup to my house, I've decided it was time to crack down and remove all of the remaining minor dominant tendencies from him so he sets a proper example for the growing puppy.I took my Boxer on his first walk with the Illusion collar last night and was almost instantly convinced that it will be a great help. My Boxer was completely unable to tug on his leash even when we passed other dogs (which is usually the point that he gets a bit excited and wants to meet them). After about five minutes, he was walking properly (ears back, head down a bit) most of the time.By the end of the walk, he wasn't even raising his head much when we passed other people. When he did, I issues a quick tug and correction, and he resumed the submissive position. It was pretty amazing how easy it was to correct him with this collar opposed to any others he's ever worn.To be fair, this collar isn't some high tech piece of technology. You still have to be assertive to your dog and offer tugs and corrections when he does something he shouldn't. This collar simply makes it significantly easier to control a large dog and offer corrections that actually get through to him.The only downside to this collar is that it is pretty overpriced for what you get (hence the four stars). All it is is a couple of adjustible straps that hold up the actual collar portion of the thing. It probably costs less than two bucks to make and they're charging fifty. Twenty-five to thirty bucks would be a much more reasonable price for this collar.Still, it works and it works well, so it's hard to complain about too much. I'll definitely be buying a second one for my Shepherd when he's big enough and has a strong enough neck to wear it.