Great update!

I'm glad to hear that you're mindful of not putting him in situations where he is likely to have behavioural problems. That alone will go a long way.

I know what you mean about submitting to your authority over knowing a bunch of obedience commands, and I think you're right about "Both" being the best situation. I've really noticed that the work we do in obedience strengthens our bond. I try to keep the obedience training totally positive, if we go through all of our commands (sit/down verbally and with signals, sit/down in motion, stand, stand in motion) and he gets every single one the first time with no corrections, not only do his treats increase, but we only go through one complete iteration, then we play ball for 10 minutes.

It takes literally 2 minutes to do this, and he is completely attentive to me for the rest of the night. Groundwork is necessary (he has his bad nights, and winds up on the leash (no prong) for a day or two) and also don't overlook the really positive benefits that training sessions can have on your relationship.

It's so great to see a community full of people who conciously try to help their dogs be all that they can be. So much of America treats mans best friend like another piece of the landscape. I hope you'll keep giving progress reports on your work with Luc.