Mike, a question based on the comments from the thread, "How Long Do You Allow a Puppy to be a Puppy?"

Based on the information regarding how to introduce a prong to a dog as a positive means in the training regime from this thread; leerburg

When/How/If at all can a prong be used as negative correction when it has been introduced to a dog in such a way? And if you do use the prong as a negative correction when it had been previousley used to create more poistive drive can you go back to that afterward?

Well obviously I don't know how to use the "link function". The thread I'm referring to can be found on the seperate post that I mentioned.

Using the prong in a positive way is nothing more than showing the dog how you want them to react and recover from a correction. If you correct a dog for chasing a rabbit n scream at him for 3 minutes then you will have a dog who ducks his head and slinks to you everytime you call him. If you never yell at the dog on the correction and act enthusiastic as hell with a reward or toy or very excited praise then the dog will be turned on by the correction and be more enthusiastic about coming back to you rather than chasing a rabbit or whatever. A correction is a correction, as long as the dog respects it and you used it at a level that makes the dog respond without being unfair. Only softer dogs need this type of conditioning, a truly hard dog will not duck his head under a hard correction, if he does then he is not a hard dog. That is a whole different ballgame and depends more on the dogs temprement than anything else. Most people don't really care though, either they never correct the dog at a level that is effective, and therefore they never see submission from the dog anyway, or they don't mind their dog acting like a sissy on a correction. Personally I want a dog to deal with correction positively than slink over the ground with their head lowered. As I've said before, a prong isn't the only tool used to train a dog, I use food and toys to teach the dog what I want, and if I use a prong, I don't want them reacting to it out of fear. If I need to break an aggressive or driven behavior the dog goes to a choker.

Mike please could you clarify are you saying you use a flat link choker, for correcting agressive behaviour, the reason I ask is I have been using my prong, to correct this, I only had to use it once or twice, my problem is he is now acting aggressive, when I am not physically in his presence ambushing etc(smart dog) so I have seperated him temporarily,if it doesn't improve in the intrim, he will be living in isolation... He keeps challenging my old bitch, I cannot keep a collar on him because when kennelled he jumps.When the collar on he is as good as gold,
when the collar is off, he starts up again.He is continually obedience trained by me and not allowed any priveldges but it has not curbed his aggressive behaviour one iota...

I like nylon chokers like the dominant dog collar Leerburg sells. I don't care for metal chokes, they don't have a smooth action. A choker is also not used with a popping action, it is supposed to choke, lift up for a correction. If your aggression problems are severe then I suggest seeing a professional trainer in your area that knows what he is doing, some people are unable to go as far with a choker as the dog really needs to solve the issue, and some dogs don't need much at all.

Thanks a lot for the follow up, Mike. This thread and the previous one you had written have done a lot to change my perspective of the prong collar all together. Don't get me wrong, I use them, but now I will be using them in a different way. Your post, in this thread, has also done a lot to make your point crystal clear.

I think thses two points were the most clarifying;

 Quote:

Using the prong in a positive way is nothing more than showing the dog how you want them to react and recover from a correction

All the while keeping in mind,

 Quote:

A correction is a correction

This seems like one of those obvious things that only becomes obvious after it has been pointed out to you.

Mike this is Africa we don't have professional dog trainers per se, here we all train our own dogs, his problem is not one I have not had before, he is very dominant , his pushing rank does not worry me, it will get sorted out,I was more curious about the collar, cos a flat collar when tried did nothing, he is very respectful of the prong, the point was he doesn't wear it 24/7
he is collar smart with the prong he knows the difference, between the two...
The problem as stated is he doesn't pull the move,when I am there it is when I am not around....I will continue with the prong corrections, if the aggression continues, I will look into using the dominant dog collar you suggested above.
Thanks for your reply.
By the way the one(Professional Dog H) we have in our area told a friend to feed her dog more, cos well fed dogs are less inclined to be aggressive...WEll that is really not going to help me!

I keep dogs hungry... dogs you can manipulate with food are easier to control

 Quote: Mike J Schoonbrood

I keep dogs hungry... dogs you can manipulate with food are easier to control

LOL NOT around an open refridgerator!!! My Mal puppy can scale the shelves and make it all the way to the back of the fridge faster than you can believe.