Todd.....no water bottle for this one???LOL <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

You would need a fire hose...got any of those handy???

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

David,
Excellent advice there, I may try that on some of my client's dogs also - I like the psychology behind it.

Chip,
Believe me, this is just a rank issue. I knew this would be a supremely dominant dog when I got him - his Flinks puppy tests scores were outstanding. Before I got the dog, Todd talked to me in length about my training methods and past dog experience, along with my competition and titling history - I only hope I do as through a job on prospective puppy owners in the future as he did with me.
Todd got me *exactly* the type of dog I do best with : a hard dog that takes a heavy correction and bounces back immediately.
I'm not seeing that this is fear based, he's a dominant dog and my wife has not achieved pack rank in his eyes. Now that he's a piss & vineger teenager, she will have to do her part in his training also - believe me, I do my part. I have no worries about his temperment, if Bernhard Flinks himself will tell the crowd that my dog is " a serious, serious dog" I'm fairly well pleased here. Bernhard rated him at 70% defense/30% prey. A good sport dog is 70% prey/ 30% defense. A good police service canine is 50/50. So my dog is trained in prey only, never in defense. He'll always turn on defense if needed, so no need to practice that.
His nerves are fine, it's actually very difficult to startle the dog.
Is a dog like this worth the increased risk and extra training involved? That's a personal choice you have to make. For me, I'm use to the increased risk of owning a service canine so that's part of my everyday lifestyle. The increased security that a dog like this brings is a welcome addition to my household tho, as my wife is a psychiatrist and has recieved death threats in the past from mal-adjusted crackheads. She sleeps better at night with him in the house ( and me too <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> )

Hi Will
Growls the dog to you too? Do you do the most with the dog or does your wife something with him too? Of course the dog starts growling when there is a person who he don´t know so good. My female growl to strange persons too when she has a stick and they want to touch it. But I haven´t any problems with her.

I like the wife hand feeding the dog idea, especially if she has him follow a command for each bite of food. The two bowl idea sounds interesting too. As for the rawhides, try holding onto the rawhide while he chews. This way, you still have posession of it, and you're just letting him chew on it for a little while. Also try having two of the exact same rawhide and trade him one for the other a few times per session.

Hey Michael,
The dog had never growled at me. I am the person that trains, cares, and feeds the dog - although I'm trying to get my wife as the feeder for now. I've never had him around a stranger while feeding him, it'd be interesting to see if I could get the same response out of him on a stranger as towards my wife. I think VanCamp hit the nail on the head when he said that the dog was trying to move forward in pack rank.
Hehe....your father told us all about your female at one of the seminars....I know I would not have been able to handle a dog like that at your age. I hope you get good scores with her!