Puppies learn an ascending progression of discipline at about six weeks of age. When the momma dog is weaning her pups, the first message she sends about the new routine (i.e. "You will now eat puppy food, and get OFF of me!") is to raise her lip and snarl a little. If that doesn't work, she'll growl a bit. If that doesn't get the message across, momma will actually give that pup a little nip. If nipping doesn't transmit the message to her puppy, she will actually bite him. Usually at this juncture, the little puppy gets the message, but for a dominant pup, he may hang in there and make a last ditch effort to continue nursing. This is the point at which mom grabs that puppy, pushes him to the ground, and holds him by the neck, pinning him so he cannot move. And only the exceedingly dominant pup will continue. But if he doesn't acquiesce to her will, she will persevere until he gives up (no matter how long it takes). 

There are two dynamics in this scenario we can emulate for obedience purposes. First, mama didn't begin her corrections by pinning baby Max to the ground. That was her last resort to transmit her message. At first, she simply raised her lip. Then she demonstrated progressively more severe corrections, until the puppy finally gave up. We can modify this same technique in a human way, and our dog will instinctively understand. Additionally, we must always exceed our dog's energy. In other words, you essentially have to have the (calm) determination to win every battle. Just like mama did. 

We always want to use the least amount of correction that will work so the first step is to just correct verbally.  Next time, how to appropriately follow up like mama would. 

Dog's Best Friend