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Originally Posted by G1GY
With some large breed dogs (Rottweiler, German shepard, pitt bulls, Bull mastiff, Stafordshire terrier ect..) There is a need to reinforce your dominance as the alfa in a way that they understand. If this done with too much force or at too young of an age, the dog will be broken and that's not an easy thing to change. On the other hand if it's not done at all, you've taught the dog that it's the alfa of the pack and you will be the pet unless you take the appropriate measures to estlablish your dominance.
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It's not just the large breeds, this applies to all breeds. My little cody (all of 16lbs full grown (Even if he does look like a german shepard)) had a hellish dominance streak that took the better part of 3 months (working with him all day every day) to break him of. after getting him back from his visit with josh, it was a good month of retraining - he picked up a few bad habits (no offense intended to josh - but we do have very different views on keeping dogs) that needed to be broken again.
The real hard part about training dogs, is all the little things they do to assert dominance... Ever met a kissy dog? Notice how most people recoil away - you pull away - and you've just shown the dog he's the boss. They can read body/facial language better than we can ever hope to. With difficult dogs (like my cody - who was a ferral dog when I got him) you've got to stop and think about everything you do and say - because it really can come back and "Bite you in the arse". David kilcommon wrote a great book good owners great dogs I think it was called, I'd personally call it mandatory reading material for any dog owner.
And training isn't just a one time thing, it's a daily thing - as much as it sucks some days. You've got to prove to your dog daily that you're the boss, you've got to make him "work" every day. That doesn't mean obedience classes, in some cases it's as simple as who eats first, who sits on the couch - and who gets the floor at your feet. One of the big ones for cody was making him 'work' for a treat, not just tossing one to him.
Andy