My 6 mos female Malinois and I have just started using a prong. Things have been going really well, she is heeling and returning to heel like a champ. It is very easy to make slight corrections/reminders for "leave it" when another dog is say barking from a backyard or a window for her to ignore. Plus the analogy of power steering for your dog is bang on. No wonder why some places that only train with food lures don't want you to use prongs as prongs will put them out of business from what I see for the level of training I doing.

Now on one of our walks we encountered a dog behind a hedged fence that scared the poop out of me and my pup. He was just there where we couldn't see him and he started barking at us. My pup jumped and squirmed while straining against the prong not to get at the other dog but out of alarm, not unlike a 7-8 correction. After the initial kaafuffle she came right to heel and sat right away, all the while looking bewildered. I gave lot's of praise to her and gave her a small treat.

My question is some of the members Here from this thread http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/129164/page/0/fpart/3

 Quote: mike j schoonbrood

I'll compare it to this. If I walk up to my dog n smack him on the head, odds are he'll think I'm mad at him n lower his head n think "what the heck did I do now?". Now play with the dog n roughhouse with him n smack him on the head just as hard but with positive "I'm playing with you" body language n run away from him. Odds are the dog will think it's a game and chase after you to play. Now, I'm not saying smack your dog on the head LOL, but everything you do with your dog conditions them to the way you want them to act. It's all learned behavior. So now apply this to using a prong collar. If I prong the dog n have a serious air about me, the dog will be submissive wondering what the heck he did wrong, but if you prong the dog while playing with the dog as a "come on heel with me, good boy! yes!" and reward with a tug or a ball, the way the dog interprets the prong correction is completely opposite. So if you introduce the prong to the dog as being something positive. The harder the dog the less sensitive they are and the less you have to worry about submissive behavior, but you can make a softer dog understand the same thing if you approach it correctly.

My pup getting pronged like this on our walk in a negative way due from no fault of mine or my pup. Was my actions to praise her etc ok to do? Or could she think that the pain from the prong was coming from the barking dog and make her more agitated?

If you find that the behavior toward other dogs started to escalate then its most likely because of the prong.

As for using the prong as a primary obedience training method, at least thats what I am gathering from your post, personally I like to teach a young dog that age obedience motivationally using tugs and food, then at 10-12 months old if I need to I will use the prong to guide them. Ofcourse, if the motivational training is done correctly you will not need to use the prong much at all. The Leerburg DVD Building Drive & Focus is a valuable tool in showing you how to turn obedience into a successful game with your dog.

For the most part she calmed down after the original 'ambush' barking, so that to me is a positive achievement. As when we would go to obedience classes and other dogs would be unruly she would pick up on that energy and go ape herself. She was on a elevated alert but not teetering the other way.

I'm only using the prong on walks, more for the fact that she is/was to hard with a flat collar or nylon choke. For recalls and other basic obedience I am using food, balls and a rope tug for reward, which seems pretty normal to me at this point. Am I on the right track at this stage?

I am going to order Leerburg's basic Obedience DVD for a start and have read and reread Ed's ebook about theory of corrections.

Sounds like you're on the right track.