Sounds to me like Bart has learned to 'like his own company' He also sounds like he really likes your family( he's happy to see you and wags his tail..etc. ) Keep up the good work with leadership though. With kids in the home, you must be very diligent with a dominant dog for everyones sake.
You could tell your kids that he 'may' be able to sleep with them in the future IF he learns the rules properly...this might elicit more enthusiastic assistance from them regarding his training. ( they are sneaking couch time with him when you're not looking I'm sure of it!! ) LOL

I would also suggest that (depending on the ages involved) that you have your kids in charge of the toys and food on a daily basis. NOT to tease him with or lord over him their power! But, to strengthen in his mind that they have the power, thus, making them higher in the pack then little ol' him.
Games and petting should be initiated by the kids, AND most importantly ended by the kids. The dog should not be able to say when he plays with them, or when it stops...
Simple pack order dictates this. If you watch a pack of wild dogs (wolves, coyotes, whatever) You see how the younger, weaker dogs behave toward the other (higher members). There are many subtle cues they give each other via body language, vocalizations, etc... We should use all of them to simulate a pack environment for our dogs at home.
Good Luck with Bart and God Bless for Adopting him.. no one else would do it for him. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I think what you mean is Prey drive not Bite drive. The instinct to chase and bite a moving object. Look at Ed's articles he discribes it severel times. It sounds to me that you have a nice working dog. I think though you and your family should spend more time bonding and establishing pack order. He doesn't seek attention from you physically but he is rewarded in his prey dr, Use that as your form of affection. Also look into the drive, focus, and grip video for some exercises in play and bonding. My dog was not very affectionate until I started the "to my arms" command. Now he trusts me and desires affection...

Apart from the dominance issue, I'd just like to add, the one reason I don't let Cheza sleep with me is because she would wake up WAY more hours before I would and chew my face apart. She has climbed up and done this on several occasions when I nap. It hurts so much. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Kay, Bart is soooo lazy that if I let him sleep on the bed, he would NEVER get up!!! I have learned alot since I posted last. Everyones posts have been so very helpful. Training is going slowly with Bart, but that is OK. We have so much going on at home that I try to get something in whenever I can. I have faced the fact that I probably will never have him trained to the extent most people on this web site have their dogs trained to, but he is turning out to be a delightful family pet. I wasn't even worried about having him around when my 8 month old grandson was here yesterday- of course I didn't put him on the floor with him- but before I found this site, I would have been a nervous wreck having a baby over- now all the other children have their friends over and Bart is never a problem. I still give the children rules to follow with him though and always will.

I just had the most wonderful experience! My daughter had 4 little girls in- some of you MUST know how squirrely little girls can get. Our big bad Bart just sniffed them and got his pets, and then lay down in the middle of the floor while they played. He even rolled over and let the little 4 year old rub his chest- and looked like he enjoyed it! This is a dog who when he first came looked like,"Why on earth would I want to be stroked, but I suppose if you really want to I will let you for your enjoyment... maybe..." There is such a change in him! This is the dog we thought we were going to have to put down until we started using Ed's training. I just had to post this after this last episode with children- I think people who knew him when we first got him would faint if they saw him now...