Thank you, everyone for all of the advice. Now I've just got to sort through it all. Yes, it is very confusing, and maybe that is part of the problem. I've tried so many different methods, both the dog and I are stressed! The ONLY reason we were considering re-homing him was because of the out of the blue biting of us and the growling at other people. I can't have my daughter in danger, and this was meant to be a family pet. I was really hoping my daughter could have a good experience with a pet. Our last pet was very aloof. I myself am completely against giving up on a dog, but I can't have my daughter in danger or be afraid that he is going to bite someon on a walk either. I am still willing to work on this. I am going to keep the pack structure video. Would the Working With Food or Marker Training be better as a second video?
As far as tug goes, he ends up getting our hands in the process.

Your daughter doesnt need to be in danger Kelly. We have 3 kids and 4 different "family pets". Everyone of them are different and the interactions between the kids and dogs are all different.

Instead of needing to think too much about targeting and such with the tugging, just use something bigger for now. You want to play with a goal of him bringing it back to play with you. Ronie Hoff opened my eyes on this a while back. You need to keep him on a line in the beginning so you can guide him back to you.

You tug, 1,2,3, let him have it and run with it. Guide him back and start again. I hold an open hand towards him and say come play. Pretty soon they come charging back pushing the toy into your hand.

Now they're learning that the play with you is a reward and also coming to you is a reward. It comes in handy for recalls and retrieves too.

 Quote: Kelly Schultz

I am going to keep the pack structure video. Would the Working With Food or Marker Training be better as a second video?

Kelly, follow Steve's advice to a T. As for the video dilemma, if you just read this FREE eBook, it is about marker training, which also addresses how you train dogs with food:
Marker Training eBook

Get a feel for it. Then watch this streaming video of Michael Ellis with a couple of puppies. It is short, but FUN!!!:
Michael Ellis training puppy

See how you are doing, and then decide where you need to go next

And just a quick reminder that for now, physical interaction between the dog and kids is not a good idea. Neither are excited scenarios with the dog and children together (like a group of people, or company, or having the dog present when the excitement of visitor arrival is going on, or allowing other people to approach, play with, pet, "accost" him). Too much; he's not ready. His environment needs to be managed so he succeeds almost as a matter of course; his day needs to be set up for him to succeed.

I don't think you're going to get any mixed messages on this.



It sounds great that you're feeling ready to sort through and make a solid plan. The dog has had too many reactivity triggers going on around him, as Randy pointed out, and too high of an excitement level, too much too soon.




I hope none of this post is overlooked:

 Quote: steve strom

Kelly, you do not have a dominant dog. If he likes to play tug, I would play tug with him. It's a lot of help in teaching him to interact with you. ....

I wouldnt spend any more money on trainers. You've bounced around enough already. I think your being too inconsistant and have fallen into a pattern of just trying to stop things and not really training anything you want from the pup.

Back off a little and go back to what you were doing when you taught the basics like sit, down,come, etc...

Some dogs live better without everyone petting them. I wouldnt isolate him, but I would ask everyone to please ignore him and keep him at a distance that he can remain calm at, and just observe everyone. Look for him to gain the confidence to be indifferent to strangers.

My guess on him going from friendly to biting when you are petting him is there's a trust issue.Give him some time to figure out he can relax around people, even you. Limit the petting and hugs and kisses from all of you till some of those demons spinning around his little noggin go away.

I'd bet a very structured day would help him too. If you could feed,train,walk,play and everything with a consistant routine he could depend on it can remove some of what you both find unpredictable.

I've browsed over the marker training and have started to use it. I guess I just don't know how to use it for the biting. My pup does love to play tug. He will tug away all day if I let him. He just "chokes up the tug toy and gets our hands. However, I will try to find a long rope to play with. Like I said before, my 2 MAIN concerns right now are the biting and aggression towards strangers (and dogs). Whatever would help most with that would be great. I know a lot of it has to do with us and our leadership skills. I'm hoping the pack structure video will help with that. I am also going to take more time tomorrow to look over all of these posts. I've been checking in quickly today in between doing other things, so I haven't been able to totally absorb everything. Again, thank you all very much, and I will try to bring everything together!

 Quote:

Like I said before, my 2 MAIN concerns right now are the biting and aggression towards strangers (and dogs). Whatever would help most with that would be great.

Distance. Keep at a distance the dog isnt reactive at and allows both of you to relax. As for the biting on you, at 6mos, your probably going to need to correct him for it. This may be one of the things that seems contradictory to what I said, but I think it may have become established enough with him that you need to stop it now for you to make progress with your training.

 Quote: Kelly Schultz

I've browsed over the marker training and have started to use it. I guess I just don't know how to use it for the biting.

Once you get a couple of basic OB commands down. You can use the marker training to redirect the dog to appropriate behavior. When the dog gets mouthy, for example, you can start using commands such as sit, down, touch to get a short training session going and they will forget about the biting. (giving them something else to chew on is good too, and sometimes a time out in the crate to calm down). When they are confident and working, you can get them to sit and watch you instead of charging off to harass another person.

Never underestimate the power of the crate...

There is a bunch of free videos on the website, including parts of Markers and Tug DVDs.

Kelly,

The biting...been there recently with my pup, between my own dogs, rehomes, rescues, and service dog pups, this guy topped the charts! I found what worked the best was to set him up so that he would bite me and teaching him NO, redirect with a toy. My pup is happy with something in his mouth, he also LOVES
food which made the Marker training fun for him! He is no longer mouthy, and certainly knows "No!"

I am sure your overwhelmed with all this information, but once you view the DVDs, it will all come togther...Good luck!

Not trying to beat a dead horse with the biting issue, but we had an example this morning. My husband was out working in our larger yard, and he let Toby run around in it while he was working. Toby was happily running, sniffing, and digging away. All of the sudden, Toby runs up to my husband, jumps up, and bites his hand. It was hard enough that there is a scab there now. Hubby yelled "NO", and he came back at him and tried to do it again. He also tried to pull towards another man today. The guy just walked out or his house and Toby's hair went up, he started to growl and pull towards him. When my hubby changed direction, the guy did too because he was going towards his garage. He was pulling and gagging till the guy went in his garage. These are the kind of examples I'm trying to explain. These are also the reasons hubby wanted to get rid of him before. He used to do this CONSTANTLY to my hubby and daughter.

If there was ONE single video to purchase besides the pack structure (which I am keeping) which would be the best? "Training with Food", Training With Markers", or the Michael Ellison one? Sorry, not sure if that last one is the correct name. I can actually afford 2 more if I hold off on a behavioralist.