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Hi!
If you are working on phase 1 obedience, you should start by using a phase 1 collar, such as a martingale collar ( all nylon or nylon and chain are available). I would stay away from the use of choke chains since they can be damaging to the dog’s trachea. You could also use an easy walk harness but it is more likely to be tempting to chew this since it is attached at a stationary point in the front of the chest.
Make sure to start with the first video lesson in the Phase 1 section and progress through them in a step wise fashion. There is also an obedience checklist that you can use to document progress in the downloadable forms section. During phase 1 it is more important that you are both learning the structure of things and what each command means. When you progress to Phase 2, where gentle correction is applied, you will teach him that it doesn’t go away until he complies (think someone tapping on your shoulder constantly to get your attention). It will not be necessary to use strong physical correction, in fact it is not necessary in any Phase of Foundation Training.
Have you read through the establishing relationship in the selfhelp section (Layer 5 of the pyramid = Pack Structure)? A proper relationship can do wonders for certain “bratty” behavior. They can sometimes roll over or bite the leash as an avoidance behavior. Try to examine when he exhibits this behavior. Is it toward the end of a long training session? After a correction is applied?
Keeping sessions on the shorter side can help avoid problems. And making sure to not skip ahead in the training, especially when introducing correction , can remove the confusion of what a correction is and how to avoid and and get rid of it.
Teaching a good “OUT” command can help in this situation as well. Here is a video on this command , which is taught while playing tug.
[video]http://www.selfhelpdogtraining.com/Video/video/Phase1Obedience/ProperPlayDemo.html?videoDetId=279281a7c8c1b65be2e b908281b4e10e[/video]Happy Training!
Teresa
