Originally Posted by
barry581
Classes, or a personal trainer and a prong. Unfortunately, the dog has you trained right now. A properly fitted prong will not hurt the dog, it will allow you to apply pressure, and make corrections as needed. From the sound of it, he's going to need a lot of correcting. At this point these least of your worries is him becoming collar smart. You need to get him under control. I know what you are going through, Sophie was a puppy from hell, and I had to be extremely strict with her at a young age. Constant repetitive corrections. She finally got it that I wasn't going to let her have her way, and even at 3 1/2 she will still test me at times. She struggles greatly when meeting people, wants to jump on everyone when greeting. If her paws come off the ground even the slightest bit, it's a leash check and we turn away, then repeat, until she can do it calmly. Sometimes, she doesn't get to greet someone because she won't cooperate. So I make here sit quietly while Bruce gets loved on because he's not jumping.
While I don't agree with Ceaser Milan on a lot of things, I do agree 100% that you have to set rules, boundaries, and limitations, and exercise, discipline, and affection in that order. You will not hurt his feelings by correcting him, you will be actually teaching him what is expected of him in a given situation.
I'd also recommend NILF. Nothing In Life is Free. He has to earn everything. He doesn't eat until you say so. He doesn't go through a door until you say so. No treat until he does something to earn it.
You may have to correct him once to get it, you may have to correct him 5000 times. The key is to make the correction in a consistent and timely manner, and one day, hopefully he'll get it. But, you never, ever stop trying.