By Nanette Lai, MA, CPDT-KA
This is a revised excerpt of the author’s blog post “It’s 2025. Do Not Do As The [Ancient] Romans Do” published January 20, 2025.
The prong/pinch collar has been described as a medieval torture device. That’s inaccurate. Because the design occurred far earlier.
A wall painting located in the Etruscan Tomb of the Augurs (c. 530–520 BCE; Ancient Rome) depicted a dog wearing a collar adorned with a nail turned toward the dog’s neck. This design was interpreted “to enrage the animal and cause it to attack when the leash was pulled; this same sort of device was used by the Romans in their games in the arena.” (Farage, 2013).
In other words, this would be the first depiction of a prong collar.
The Roman Civilization lasted a millennium (from 753 BCE to 476 CE.) This was not because that society spent 1000 years making friends everywhere. Roman armies fought and won many wars (Cartwright, 2013). Some ancient Romans were warriors (Lusnia, 2020); others were slave owners (Matz, 2001): “Slave owners often beat and starved human slaves into compliance. Domestic animals fared no better. An analysis of a narrative written during the Late Roman Republic (Sallusťs Bellum Catilinae) “much effort goes into the “breaking” (of spirit), domestication and control of animals; that humans should need to “strive with highest might.”
I sincerely doubt the nail on the dog’s collar was there by accident. The placement of the nail was for driving the dog into fight mode for victory in dog fights.
Ahh, Roman entertainment. Exploiting humans and animals for sport.
What is the simplest way to make a dog go into fight mode? Causing the dog to feel pain. Pain triggers an animal’s body into anger and aggression (Ulrich, 1966). Since the dog in the painting was on a leash, there was no option for flight. That dog was forced to fight for survival. To make their owner feel proud when the dog wins. If the dog doesn’t win, the dog will die in battle. Somehow, I don’t think an ancient Roman dog owner was too devastated by the loss.
Modern prong collars have blunted ends. That is not to say the design doesn’t cause a dog pain. A dog’s neck remains a sensitive area. The discomfort is enough to trigger a dog into aggression. Similar to the Roman dog, a modern dog wearing a prong collar is on a leash. Flight is not an option. Some dogs will certainly go into fight mode.
This is why contemporary dogs wearing prong collars often get even more aggressive when they see another dog or human. The dog has associated the view of the other dog or human with discomfort and understands that flight is simply not an option.
Read the original article and see the list of sources cited here.
