Dear John: I have a nine-month-old Pomeranian I have been training him for a couple of months, but can't solve his aggressive behaviour toward my 18-year-old son. The dog jumps on my son's lap, but he starts to growl if my son stops petting him. If my son puts his hands down, the dog will attack them. I don't understand this. He doesn't usually snap at me and my husband, except if he is angry. I am using a metal prong collar and I am supposed to snap it when I correct him, but he growls at that, too. Now he sometimes tries to bite at me when I give him trouble for biting my son. Please help us because, besides this problem, he is a pretty good little dog. Thanks for your time. — RACHEL

Dear Rachel: It's hard for me to get my head around a nine-month-old dog, classified as a toy breed, needing a metal prong collar.

Maybe once or twice a year would I reach into my tool bag for a prong, also known as a pinch collar, and that's usually when the dog appears to be a cross between Sasquatch and a dump truck and is owned by a person that might blow away in a light breeze.

Training equipment is used to provide leverage so you can teach, not to act as the teacher.

I don't like working with harnesses as I find they have a psychological effect probably having to do with the neck orientation dogs have when this type of collar is being used. A Pom has a pretty thin trachea, so the risk of physical damage isn't worth it.

I doubt your pet's behaviour is a response to the prong collar. I think he's behaving as a spoiled wayward child who needs to learn respect and I think you're the Rodney Dangerfield of dog owners.

At my house this dog would be living like the Count of Monte Cristo without the mask -- although if he doesn't holster those ivory guns, a muzzle might be a suitable mask replacement.

Put him a leash and let him drag it around. Other then the absolute necessities of life give him nothing, not even a smile. No laps, no furniture, no treats, no playing with other dogs etc.

When he starts to look like the average neglected plant in my house, give him a few more days and only then start to introduce one privilege at a time.

For instance, give him some lap time but if he so much as moves a whisker in a black-hearted way, introduce him to the floor again. Reward only good behaviour.

Hopefully the sterility of his prior days and the return to that status should he get snippy again will result in his connecting the dots.

Respect buys him love, disrespect withdrawal. The silent treatment is slower than just disciplining him, but my gut tells me that discipline will just escalate this Napoleon's attitude.

Get him involved in some sort of balanced training class. One that is a little less hardware oriented and a little more grey matter oriented.

John Wade helps dog owners through his books, workshops and telephone consultations. E-mail him at johnwade@johnwade.ca, or visit his website at johnwade.ca.