late to the party as usual, and im sure what i have to say has already been hashed, but:
i use prong collars. not on every dog. there is no tool i flatly refuse to use, none, never. every dog is different. every dog handles stimulus and positive and negative in a different way. some dogs need a given tool. some dont. some situations require a certain tool where they arent needed in a different place.
to be a versatile trainer you have to use everything at your disposal and nothing can be off limits. you are going to own a dog at some point or another that is going to either be impossible for you, or require you to break your "never ever"s. beware putting your own ego in front of the needs of the dog in front of you.
i use prong collars. not on every dog. there is no tool i flatly refuse to use, none, never. every dog is different. every dog handles stimulus and positive and negative in a different way. some dogs need a given tool. some dont. some situations require a certain tool where they arent needed in a different place.
to be a versatile trainer you have to use everything at your disposal and nothing can be off limits. you are going to own a dog at some point or another that is going to either be impossible for you, or require you to break your "never ever"s. beware putting your own ego in front of the needs of the dog in front of you.