Hello. Well sounds like the corrections are working.
I train in home obedience and am working on my first working border collie. And if you want to learn a little bit about how to correctly "correct" your dog. WAtch other dogs correct each other. It is usually not pretty and it can be pretty physical. Never forget that dogs are animals and as such live by different rules than us. They can handle pain 7 to 10 times what a human can. But stress is a different matter. As some of you can atest to im sure. ie ... cow dogs that can handle cow kicks in the face and keep working but will shrink away from a harsh glance from a human. Stress is an outstanding motivator. If you had no stress you would not pay your bills.
When im training a dog i look for exacly what u are already looking for. Does the dog look affected by the correction. does he stop the behavior that is causing him to be corrected. I would be more physical at home with him personally. Every dog is different so cant say for sure. You have some where a stern look is the same as a hard pinch collar correction to another. Of course the ones affected so harshly by stern gazes are usualy the ones held up by positive only trainers as there example of how purely positive training works. But using just positive methods to train dogs is like someone speaking greek to you. It will be very confusing to you but eventually you may pick up the meaning of a few words. Bottom line is if you watch dogs interact you'll find that dogs just dont speak greek.
