Well.....My wife and I took the pup to the trainer last night and I thought things went very well. I learned a lot.
When we arrived at the kennel the trainer worked with him for a little while to see how he reacted to strangers and a strange environment.
The trainer said many dogs he has worked with from Czech. Bloodlines seem to be more “suspicious” of people. This appears to be the case because when he is around people he doesn’t know; he will watch them very intently and sometimes bark. In the past when he would bark at strangers I would try to calm him by petting him and talking in a soothing tone. The trainer said that doing that may be actually encouraging this behavior. The correct thing to do is to give him corrections when he starts whining or barking and pet him only when he is completely calm. It seemed to work. Within a few minutes he would sit calmly without making a sound.
Another thing I learned was timing. Watching training videos may have given me a foundation to build from, but actually having someone there to critique what I am doing was very helpful. Even the short time that he worked with my dog seemed much more productive because the timing of his corrections and praise seemed to improve communication with the dog. Even my wife said that she could pick up the timing issues that I have when working with the dog. Therefore we are going to watch each other when we do training sessions so we can improve our timing.
For now we will be doing some obedience at home with all the members of the family and socializing him with people and dogs in the neighborhood. In December he is going to an obedience class basically to socialize him with other dogs.

Any input from the board would be appreciated.

I will add updates…..

Mike, glad to see you are getting the help that was recommened. One other thing I wanted to recap was when you do take him out in public for walks ditch the retractable leash and go with a leather leash, NOT NYLON. Good luck to you and keep us posted.

Sounds like you are in the right direction! Great for you!! Keep up the hard work!!( And have fun while you're doing it!)
Just remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, and you must still watch this dog at every moment and I would not let my guard down....Good luck!!

Mike that was what I saw that some how you were praising the dog for barking and acting aggressive and just like the good puppy he is he doing what you wanted. It is good that the trainer corrected your timing and delievery, you seem to love training and working with your dog, so I think things are going to pan out.

He sound like a good strong puppy and that is refreshing because some people post about no drive or low drive, weak nerves dogs. Its nice to hear about a future SchH champ or a super Protection dog, like him. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Get the right leash for that strong of a dog is a good suggetion. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Good luck in training Mike, you lucky dog!