Thanks Bob, I know you said that that was not directed at me, but I appreciate the info. I am trying to be a good dog owner/pack leader, and that means learning about my dog, dog body language, and having firm and consistent boundaries. I tell him no when he nose bumps me and jumps on me, as i do not want a pushy dog.

Rather than just telling him no, I'd focus on teaching him what you want.

Show him what you want and reward it. Sit, down, heel are all simple things you can ask for. Also, training basic tricks can be lots of fun!

 Quote: Bob Scott

To much behavior is called dominant when most of the time it's a dog that hasn't learned it's boundaries.

Even a shy, soft dog can get pushy with an owner that either doesn't know how or doesn't want to stop the bad behavior for fear of "hurting" the poor thing.

Dominance over a soft owner or other soft dogs does not make a dominant dog.

Often time the aggressor is doing it as a results of being attacked as a puppy. It's attacking out of stress.

"Strike first or your get hurt".

100% Bang-On Correct, IMHO

 Quote: Sara Severson

Thanks Bob, I know you said that that was not directed at me, but I appreciate the info. I am trying to be a good dog owner/pack leader, and that means learning about my dog, dog body language, and having firm and consistent boundaries. I tell him no when he nose bumps me and jumps on me, as i do not want a pushy dog.

You're sure in the RIGHT place here, Sara !!!

If you don't already have the following DVDs, I would order both of them TODAY

http://leerburg.com/puppy-pack-structure.htm

http://leerburg.com/120.htm

"8 Weeks to 8 Months" works equally well with Adult RESCUE Dogs -- Both are worth their weight in Diamonds & Platinum...

Well, i walked into my yard tonight after our nightly walk and my downstairs neighbor's dog was off leash and charged us barking. I had to smack it in the face with my walking stick to keep him away from my dog. I hope I didn't hurt him. I told my neighbor not to keep her dog off leash ever. I told her I don't want to smack her dog in the face, but I will and I explained why. Don't think she was happy, but now her and her dog know not to charge at me and my dog. Ok, rant over. Anyways, I am currently doing the pack structure training with my dog. Leerburg talks about introducing things slowly. The dog has to earn marker training, being on a leash in the home, grooming, etc. So I have not introduced anything yet. The first thing I want to introduce is marker training, and i am going to get the Leerburg video on that. Who else has experience with this? Do I keep my dog kenneled most of the time still while marker training or can I have him on a leash in the home and do marker training? If that's a stupid question. I apologize. I have never trained a dog like this before.

NEVER any stupid questions. We've all asked most any question you can think of when we started.

ALL you say that you plan on doing can be based on marker training.

With a young dog or new dog you can use the tv commercials for training time.

Start the marker training during commercials on TV. That keeps you from moving to far, to fast. Most of us did that.

"My dog did good so I kept doing it". DUH! Train till boredom and failure.

Quit when the dog is still wanting more.

4-5-6 three or four min sessions, spaced out will get you MUCH further then one 20 min session.

That's where the commercials come into play

Once the dog really understands how the marker and reward are connected the rest falls in place.

Grooming for instance;

My brother got his Presa when it was three yrs old. The breeder got the dog back because of a divorce then my brother got him. Nice dog, no serious aggression EXCEPT FOR nail trimming.

We were told the vet wouldn't touch the dog's nails and neither would any groomers.

The original owners said the had to hog tie the dog in order to do nails.

With markers my brother was trimming the dog's nails within 2-3 weeks with the dog laying on his side.

Ok Bob, I will do that! Thank you for the insight and knowledge, it is much appreciated!