I've been working engagement training for 2 months and my dog whines a lot. Should I correct him for this?

Ed/Cindy,

I have worked for past 2 months using your "engagement" methods, which I feel is the right way to train. But my 17 month, high energy male lab mix whines far too often that is very disappointing. He whines in the house, he whines when we visit neighbors while he is on leash, he whines on walks on leash. Is it still all about "engagement"?

To date, I have not really corrected his whining, although I really feel like some very hard corrections is what is needed, is it? I use a prong collar. I do have a dominate collar, but have not used, as I don't want to go there yet. Any advice? He is a great dog, loves to play fetch and run. As I type, he is whining at the front door. Thanks for your help.

Thanks Cindy,

When in crate, he might whine for a short time, but then calms down. Overall in crate, he is well behaved.

The whining most happens when on leash walking and he sees other dogs (or people). That is the biggest thing I've been trying to work on for the past 4 months (using treats mostly).

He whines when visiting neighbors on leash, or when the house door bell rings, etc. It is excitement in my mind as well. I've been working on desensitizing him and wonder what else I can do.

The prong collar does excite him more when I did try to correct him a few times, but then realized that is not the right thing to do. I do have a dominant dog collar, but have not tried it as I do not what to use that type collar in a wrong manner. 

I do marking training with him (targeting) and he does very well. 

He is a very smart, high energy dog, lab mix. Some say he has Plott Hound in him. He is a rescue dog, I got him at 12 months, and have had him now for 6 months. I did the foundation type training per your video. He knows the basic commands. Although I have not started really hard core training yet, he just picks it up in day to day activity with him. He does 30 minutes of treadmill a day and loves that. 

I have been doing tug work with him and have the videos on that.

Any other advice/ideas would be greatly appreciated, thanks much for all your great work.

Much thanks Cindy,

Engagement continues to remain the key, I appreciate the added reminder. I've used higher value treat (chicken) before, but not that consistently. They do make a difference at times. Will keep at it, thanks much.

My dog is what he is, and I appreciate his personality. In total, he is a very smart and energetic dog.