I hadn't really decided a month as the end all, I know it takes time. One thing I was forgetting to do was tell him "Quiet" or similar command. Talking to him has always made him go longer or irritate him more but I saw a difference this evening. I tell him "Quiet" and when he stops, tell him "Good quiet" and place the bowl.

I was talking with my wife, currently visiting her parents in MI., and they allow their dogs to sit at the table and everything. The dogs do not obey and my inlaws know they are the reason. Since I've been so involved in dog training it seems a miracle these dogs are not horrible problems but when you think of it, thousands of people do this all the time with no problems. I would still rather have my Chow Chow. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

We've been on leave for 3 weeks and away from internet so here's a little update.

Our plans were to stay in DC until 2008 but that changed last week. Susan's dad came down with cancer, we are now moving to Michigan this year. Susan's already been hired as a special ed teacher in Michigan (Yes, she is that good) and my oldest will attend her senior year of high school in Mi. at her request. My youngest, and Bruno and I will stay in MD., and sell the house. I will retire at the ripe old age of 37.

Bruno spent a good amount of time in my in-laws fenced in 3 acres. We also acquired a larger crate for him (largest they make) so he's not cramped while put away. While on leave, and outside, Susan was able to pet him etc. several times without incident. He also did not receive as much attention as he does here. He's never been one to want to sit for long periods and he ran and ran and ran in the yard. I'm thinking he REALLY was not getting enough exercise in MD., but...could it be he was getting to much attention as well? Our previous chow got almost no attention for about 8 years. When we got him (at 8 years old) he was matted and nasty but really mellow. We cleaned him up and made him part of our family. Dunno. In about a year we should be moved and Bruno should have at least 10 acres of fenced in yard. He also plays very well with other dogs. My in-laws have 2 females he played with allot. My sister has a male Great Dane who tried playing with Bruno but he wasn't interested however; the only time there was an issue was when the dane would not leave him alone. It was jumping over Bruno and putting him to the ground. Bruno kept trying to run away so I separated them. He also LOVES playing in the water. My parents have a pond and he was diving after fish in the shallow water.

Basically, Bruno is doing well although his training sort of stopped for 3 weeks. When we go to MI., our lives resemble a hurricane.

DZ

I started using the crate again and feeding Bruno in it as suggested by Ed. At first he was pretty melow but recently he started charging the crate door again as I close the door. To anyone not expecting this, it can really shake your nerves. He doesn't do it all the time either. I tried to see if there was a difference as to food down or not or when he's tired and it seems to be totally random. Sometimes I'll open the door and call him out. Once he sits I'll put the e-collar back on him but I think it's irritating his neck so I have been trying to not use it for awhile. Another thing i just started was making him lay down in his crate while I shut the door. It worked the first few times but who knows. I said to my wife "Maybe he is mental" but I really don't believe so. It's just finding those triggers that's very difficult.

DZ

When able I tried feeding him as a reward throughout the day. Absolutely no problems. I also sometimes feed him when we are downstairs and he is on his pad, no problem. I also feed him in his crate when necessary, minimal problem. He'll grumble as soon as he's released to enter the crate. I squat at the opening as before but do not lean over to look at him. I stay upright so I can see if he downs or not. I also give him a command rather than a pleasent voice. This has been working well. He'll sometimes give me an Umph! grumble but in the same commanding voice I'll tell him quiet. It's like an "I have no concern for your feelings" voice. I'll place the bowl and he grumbles a bit more as I close the door but he has not gotten nearly as nasty as before. I also went back to giving him very harsh corrections on the e-collar for aggression toward us. That lasted about a week or less. He would crawl under me but I would move in case he was trying to get an advantage point. We haven't had any episodes in about a week. He still wears the e-collar from time to time but I usually don't need to use it. We're also getting close to moving to Michigan where he and Susan will meet again. He will probably see life through a muzzle, when she's around, for awhile until he shows he's not going to be a problem for her. I will also put it on him when she's not so he doesn't associate the muzzle with her and hate her even more.

DZ

Hmmm... all I can think is:

Hope your longsuffering better half doesn't decide to take matters with Bad-Ass Bruno into her own hands & bring home a killer Tosa Inu to permanently clean his ol' doggy clock <:-( http://www.ameridogs.com/BreedTosa.htm

A shotgun would do the same thing but I'm not going to do that either. Actually one of her co-workers is giving away a 6 mo. old Miniature American Eskimo and Susan has been spending time with him. She wants a small indoor dog to cuddle with etc. Bruno has never been dog aggressive, even to a neighbor kids Akita he used to play with. As the Akita got bigger it started chasing Bruno around our yard. We'll see soon. But then again, maybe Susan has already made killer Tosa Inu plans and is just not telling me about it. I love surprises <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />!

Eric, have you tried to find a good experienced trainer that can actually see the dog in person and help you out? I've never had a food aggressive dog so i can't offer up any advice except to get some help in person by a trainer you feel you can trust. One thing i can say, if i did have a dog with this problem, it wouldn't be an ongoing problem.
Good Luck,

AL

Eric -
I can’t offer any solutions to your problem, but a couple of your statements bring a few thoughts to mind. For example –
(We take the concept of teamwork and family VERY seriously and for better or for worse, Bruno is a member) – Maybe in this case your concept needs to be that Bruno is not part of the family and may never be and your comment about him being “your boy” is much closer to the truth. I don’t think that you can ever make this dog obey and respect anyone but yourself and he is far too dangerous for the other members of your family to handle. Realistically, Bruno may never be a family pet and for his own good and the safety of everyone else you will have to be the only one that handles this dog. The rest of the time keep him in a safe-secure location and never put him in a position where he can challenge anyone else. Good luck with your work with him, I don’t think re-homing him should ever be an option with this type of dog - so his life may depend on your finding the solutions to your controlling his aggression.
Best of luck,
Peggy

I think you summed(sp) it up quite well. The only place he's allowed to be when I'm not home is outside or in his crate. He has issues but I think there are many dogs with much deeper issues than he that still live with people. Ed said in his video that many dogs are put down every year because people don't spend the time to learn how to deal with their dog. I've had many people say what they would do if they had Bruno and it usually means death although they'll never post it. I believe in Ed's philosophy that most dogs didn't stand a chance because their human owners were either to lazy or uneducated on how to deal with them. This is why I continue to try. I am seeing progression with my youngest, who never took an interest. I think my oldest hates him so she's a big part of that problem. She's mean whereas Bruno is aggressive. Then there's Susan. She wouldn't bat an eye if he died tomorrow but she understands the whole scenario and sees his good side where some people on the forum only read the bad. The main thing is they like to cuddle with dogs and Bruno is so cuddly, it's hard to resist. Well, Bruno doesn't like it when they try to cuddle with him and he growls. Hopefully with Susan possibly getting this mini eskimo, she'll no longer try to have a relationship that probably will not happen. As long as he doesn't give her any grief, she won't give him any. Since he's always with me in the house, if she needs him to move and he doesn't, he'll get a correction from me and he and I can deal with the outcome.

As for an experienced trainer, that would be awesome! Any near the Detroit area? When things first started we thought the Leerburg methods seemed to negative (We were getting advice from a chow forum that said you cannot use aggressive methods with a chow, not to mention we were trying to be aware of bad advice. Their advice would only work a little and no-one could give me solid methods. On the surface, the Leerburg method went against what most chow owners were saying. So we weren't ready to spend money on instructions that seemed to contradict what the chow forum people were saying. Keep in mind your always told to be careful who you take dog training advice from). So we went with what worked for other people and their dogs. Big mistake. Then we took him to a behaviorist. Really did nothing but encourage Bruno. Again your told make sure you go to a good behaviorist. HELLO! If I knew enough about dog training to know what to look for in a good behaviorist, than I probably wouldn't need their help. It's like trying to ride a bike for the first time. They tell you to get a good trainer, then put you in a room with people who have never seen a bike, people that just started riding a bike, people that can only ride a tricycle, and experts. Then you have to decide which person is the best teacher for riding a bike. This sucks! I'm rambling. Bottom line, Bruno has been doing allot better than roughly 6 months ago but most of the changes were made by us. Also, today was my last day of work in the US Air Force. After 20 years, 2 months and 3 days I am finally done. Now it's 2 1/2 months of screwin off! Actually working on our new home and helping Bruno with the transistion.

DZ