My GSP in now three years old.

A couple of problems which I would like to train him out of.

1. When playing fetch or during training sessions, he loves to be cheeky and run past me, instead of coming straight to me. And hold onto whatever he has a bit longer.

I think he should be coming straight to me, sit down and then present the toy or whatever straight to me.

I know about the training techniques such as running backwards so the dog follows/chases you instead.

He is excellent in behaviour on the sit command. Used to be great on the "come" command, but needs a bit of reinforcing on that one currently, generally good.

With a toy he will "give" it up a little reluctantly, but holds it lightly and will release it reasonably well. See 2.

2. When retrieving a toy, when he sits near me, usually a step or two too far away, he again is cheeky and turns his head away. If I reach around his head and grab the toy, he will release it pretty well.

But IMO he should be presenting the toy to me, not turning his head away.

3. More seriously, when he has say a rabbit in his mouth, he has developed a hard mouth, actually death's tight grip on the rabbit. He doesn't want to give it up. I usually need to pry it out of his mouth.

Of concern the last rabbit, he did this, and when it was removed, tried to bite my hand. He never bites hard, but it was definite aggression. Rightly or wrongly, my reaction to any dog that growls seriously or tries to bite his master, he gets a quick whack around the head, and a yelling at.

A problem is that as a farm dog he has a lot of freedom and can self hunt a lot.

4. As such he has learned to love CHASING rabbits instead of pointing them. With a dog having his freedom, not sure how to handle this other than have a puppy having much limited freedom from an early age?

Constructive advice, tips and training methods please. Thanks.