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What's worse is the trainer asks one dog to perform a heel around the other dogs who are all practising the watch me command in the middle. That's how I hurt my knee. I'm thinking tonight, I'll practice watch me standing beside him, holding onto his leash. They want us to stand on the leash and hold out our arms and wave them around to create a distraction and reward when your pup's looking at you and not your hands, but Max is just too distracted by the other dog heeling and I need to hold onto the leash I'm thinking. I do want to participate in the exercises, but I'm thinking I really need to do what works for Max and not what the trainers want.
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You are very correct! It can be more damaging to push your dog beyond his capabilities than to progress slower at a pace your dog can handle. You want training to be challenging to keep your dogs interest but if what you are asking him to do is beyond his abilities nothing will be gained by doing so just because the trainer said. From the sounds of it the other dogs were plenty of distraction (probably more distraction) than you and everyone else waving their hands in the air. I'd also say if you feel that both of you (not just your dog) need a break during the 45 min - 1 hour session, take a break. If you miss something important the trainer can clue you in after class or perhaps you can repeat the class if needed. Sometimes it is best to leave for 10 minutes take a brisk walk outside with less distractions and then head back in.
If you are going to move to a prong, you really need to know how to use it especially because of this:
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I had him on a martingale for about 2-3 weeks, but then noticed last Monday, he really doesn't mind being strangled and will continue to choke himself out and nothing I can do, no toy, no food, will get his attention back to me.
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. If you are correcting a dog on a prong it needs to be a quick correction and release, it cannot be constant pressure. The difference in the functioning of the collar might make all the difference, but I have also seen people being dragged down the street by their dog on a prong. It is not using the collar correctly and can harm the dog in this manner.