I put my HS colar on my own neck. It does not feel "sharp" at all. I have the chrome version.

You could pickup a set of rubber pads, but I don't know how much they will help:

http://www.horse.com/products/gift-0__sku-100106.html

Try the prong inside out (prongs facing out) and see if you get the same reaction. Wonder what he will do?

Prongs come in different sizes. The smaller the prongs the sharper the correction. The bigger the prongs the duller they are.

Make sure you are using a HS prong equivelent to the size of the Brand X prong.

I find 3.2mm to be the "normal" size prong that most dogs respond to well. I really hate the big fat prongs though, they are junk.

If the dog is yelping from self correction then ignore him, don't say anything, don't react to it, nothing. He will figure it out and stop being a baby eventually.

thanks everyone.

david, i'm pretty sure he's not actually in pain. i've examined his neck fairly extensively, also - i have been testing out corrections on him at other times (light corrections, but not that different from some of his self-corrections) and he's fine.

i'll try the prong inside out, i would assume it would be similar to a flat collar correction - ??

i agree keith, i didn't find the collar painful.

mike - before we had the big fat prongs (only thing i could find in stores here) so the prong size is a bit smaller now. i should stop telling him to be quiet and just ignore him.

the one other thing - though again, he had the old prong set up in this way - when i first started using the prong collar i set up like ed shows in http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/fitprong.pdf, with the rings on the side of the neck. the trainers i was going to had me place the ring portion of the collar between the ears, so that the prongs sat from jaw to jaw. my impression is the dogs attention is caught more quickly w/this set up. like i said, luc wore the brand X prong this way, so i don't see why this should make such a difference, but perhaps it does.

he was good this morning, he wasn't dancing around so he didn't self-correct.

Thanks for the great info on the prong collar.Never thought to check the ends of the prongs for sharp edges or nicks. I plan to check mine for proper size and if needed buy some new prong collars.

Jennifer, if you were using a fat prong before and are now using a medium prong, that makes a huge difference in the way the dog feels the correction. The fat 4+ mm prongs are worthless IMO.

As for positioning of the rings, it shouldn't make any difference. The important part is the height of the placement up on the dogs neck, rather than where the rings are. If you are heeling with the dog and correcting him while he is at your side, the rings will shift to the side of the neck on their own since that is the direction you are using the leash. If this isnt happening then its possible the prong is fitted too tightly.

Are you putting the prong on ONE ring or TWO rings? This also makes a difference.

the prong is sitting properly on the neck. and the corrections do occur from the side, more or less, you're right, but i just notice a bit of a difference with the two placements. how i have it now, the rings (and i have it on the live ring) pull over the far side of the top, though the collar is not so loose that it is shifting around on the neck.

maybe i should put him back on the dead ring. he's been on both, and should be used to the live ring. but it might help w/some of the whining to but him onto the dead ring.

i know none of this is the end of the world, it's a combination of 'is there something wrong with him' and me being irritated (maybe unfairly, but i'm sure you can all imagine how annoying it is to have him correct himself and start whining/shrieking).

I would try the dead ring.

And yes, I have seen dogs get into a total panic from that stupid behavior. The dog gets a correction from the handler, shrieks, ends up self correcting with his stupid panicking, then tries to run away, corrects himself again and just flips out acting like someone's trying to kill him. Its not a pretty thing to watch, but some dogs are just really sensitive until they get used to it. You just gotta accept it and let the dog work it out on their own. If that happens, make the dog sit. They will figure out that sitting stops the correction rather than freaking out.

thanks! i'm just like 'luc, how did you forget what the prong was like! how short term is your memory!? sheesh....'

dead ring should help a lot. and it's not like he needs major corrections where i really want him on the live ring, it's just that he'd started to ignore the flat collar corrections w/heeling and was starting to become the big puller he used to be again, and i'm used to setting up the prong on the live ring. he generally heels well automatically on the prong, so a dead ring should be sufficient. (why don't i think of these things on my own? sigh.)

also, edit - just was discussing this w/terra - while i do think part of it is a readjustment tp the prong, i wonder how much of it that now teagan's with me, b/c he usually does it when i've picked up his lead after he's finished doing his business and teagan is always attached to me. i see it as him being trustworthy enough to go to the washroom on his own (teagan, sorry, is not reliable to do that at this time), but maybe he sees it as me spending more time w/her and giving preference. this week they seem to have entered into a phase where they're still fine together, but she's being possessive and he's being a bit so as well (or kind of jealous, if that's not too anthropomorphic).