We just got a prong collar for our pup. (5 1/2 months). When I give her a correction with it she starts growling and barking at me. What does this mean? Am I correcting too hard? (I don't think I am doing it very hard). Is she just trying to scare me and show her dominance over me? Help!

Do you have it fitted correctly? Are you popping it or are you holding it tight on a correction? It's supposed to be snug under the jaw and behind the ears, and a correction is given with a fast pop, not a choke type correction.

Too low on the neck is not a good thing, it will take a stronger correction and will hurt her in a way you don't intend.

What are you correcting her for? Are you correcting constantly? Are you leaving it on her all the time? Are you using the live ring or the dead ring? More details on where you have the collar placed, how you use it, etc would help.

Here's Ed's article on fitting the prong, etc: http://www.leerburg.com/fit-prong.htm

Hi,
Sorry, let me give more information:
I read the article on fitting it correctly previously, so yes, I have it tight aroudn her upper neck. I did just tug on the leash and then release immediately, so I think I'm doing that right. I have only corrected her a few times for biting at me, and a few times for chewing on the leg of a chair. (I said "no", and then if she didn't stop, I popped the leash) I have also used it while taking her for a walk, and she didn't growl then. I am using the live ring. If I am doing something wrong, please let me know b/c the last thing I want to do is hurt my dog. Thanks.

She's a bit young for a prong, and is reacting accordingly (stressed out). I would never use this harsh of a correction on a puppy & I have very high drive GSDs. How are her teeth? At her age, dogs are teething which is why she may be chewing so much. Redirect with appropriate toys. Is she chewing table legs while she is on the leash? Ed has some great articles on how to correct mouthy puppies. I'll try to find them in the archives, but must admit I'm not very good at finding stuff. Maybe one of the super slueths reading this can help?

I think the first thing you should do is read Ed's article "The Theory of Corrections".
http://www.leerburg.com/corrections.htm

I think Susan hit the nail on the head - puppy is stressed out with the prong. You don't want to start a new habit (puppy barking and growling at you on a correction) so you may want to wait til she's older to use the prong. She is just a baby still, and judging just from her picture she doesn't look dominant at all, and she gives the impression of being a soft dog (needing slight, gentler corrections). Hard to tell from a picture whether she's soft or not, that's something you need to determine.

If you feel you really need the prong, attach the leash to the dead ring (both rings at the same time) and see how she responds with a gentle pop. It's not as hard a correction as the live ring. If she's still stressed out, I think you need to wait on the prong.

Remember, in the thread "Teaching Puppy No", attitude and structure, and exercise are important. I know it's hard, but it's imperative you stay patient and in control, and don't act stressed by her. Stress affects a puppy terribly - she WILL keep coming at you if you get stressed. Be firm but be patient and in control.

Thanks everyone. Looks like I'll put the prong away for a few more months. I have been working a lot on structure-- making sure I am going through doors and down stairs first etc. I have also tried being a little more dominant. For example, when she is on one of her biting kicks, instead of backing up from her, I move in quickly. I have tried many times grabbing her cheeks and saying NO while looking into her eyes, but this just doesn't phase her.

Heather, another thing that might help you is to do what I did. I wrote up the new structure rules, printed and stuck them up on the fridge in plain view so I could refer to them in case I "forgot" from one day to the other. They were my rules, based on pack structure rules and advice and articles.

Moving into her when she bites is a surprise for a dog, especially when they're used to you backing off. So a good thing to do. Grabbing the cheeks never worked for my pup either. Looking into his eyes at that particular point in time was, in my experience, not the thing to do. Rather he needed me to stop him and look elsewhere (a kind of ignoring that says "I'm not phased in the least"), and go about my business with his leash in my hand. When he would try again, I'd do the same thing.

I got the impression that my pup loved the fight, so basically I took away the fight. (The fight being pushing him off, trying to move my hands, arms, legs and feet out of the way, turning my body away.) I stopped doing all those things and took the attitude of a nonchalant "no this isn't going to happen". Sometimes I even said that, for my sake so I would stay cool, calm and collected, not for his sake

I stopped being his prey item is what it boils down to. I got rather boring to him as prey but yet would still give him the play time he needed to chase OTHER things. It wasn't cured in a day.

Don't react, respond by holding him away with the leash and say "no", then give her a command like sit. Say "no", "sit" until she does. When she sits (may take a while since she's worked up), give a very calm "good girl". Don't give excited praise. Then ignore and go about your business. Do this for a few minutes with you holding the leash the whole time. Do this often. When you're not actively working this way, leave the leash on anyway so you can take it up again anytime you need to.

You need to do the ground work with your golden and take away all the freedom it has. It has to work for its freedom. http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/packstructure.pdf

If you have tried it, keep on trying it. I know it works really good.