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Hi Tina, there are definitely some common but juicy things going on that will cause an almost impossible blockade to moving forward with a plan.
What you are describing is a dog that mainly makes requests of you and then secondarily you have him do it in a certain way.
I’ll give you an example. Here you write:
Rocky is not possessive at home, he has his toys and plays with them, he does not guard them or his crate or beds. He goes to the door and hits the knob to let us know he must go out,
Then here you write:
To be pet, fed, to sit and wait when leashing him up and not to get up till we say so. To walk behind me when going out of the house.
This is a common misunderstanding about leading the dog. In this case Rocky owns things in the house and tells you at least some things that he wants to do. He mainly fulfills his needs by his own solicitation or free access. By making him “walk behind you” or sit for something or do another exercise to finish the process of getting what he requested in no way will see you as leading. He just knows he needs to jump through that last hoop to get what he asked for. This ultimately goes out the door when you tell him to do these things when he something else in mind such as being aggressive at a person.
So, even though you said he doesnt resource guard his things, it doesnt count for your particular issue. He is very secure in the fact that he lives a good life with you as the bringer of his resources and love, etc.. and he is confident that those are HIS toys, but he is going to be aggressive toward outsiders for two reasons. One, reason is fear… I am going to get you before you get me. The second reason is competitors. If someone comes in your house and he has toys, control over your attention to ask for things, etc.. then people coming in the house are potential competitors. If he is also a dog that goes on the furniture you can basically kiss any chances goodbye of having him be content about a visitor coming over and sitting where he normally likes to lie down. This is a dog that has too much at stake for allowing people into his domain. Too much to protect.
So even if you never let people in your house, if you try to train him to any type of level that requires discipline it will be fighting against mother nature to demand compliance from a dog that has mixed feelings about his relationship with you. Ultimately, he has at the very least mixed feelings about who makes the decisions. It will come to many people’s surprise that in cases like this, despite what you may expect dogs will bite their own owners if they do any type of training that adminsiters a correction that is motivational enough to stop the average dog from disobeying around a distraction. With the right relationship it is normal dog behavior for the dogs to obey with minimal discipline. This the way mother nature intended. This is so true and there are such trends that every case i go to that has these types of issues we know before asking about the dog soliciting for needs and owning possessions. This confuses the dog since it is unnatural in their culture unless they are leading the relationship. Dogs are the best teachers. The best way to confirm this theory is to see how a dog usually acts once you try to introduce a second in the house. You will see what the dog protects. Owners attention, control of his things, resting places, initiation of things like play, etc.. remember it is about owning possessions and initiation. NOT about making the dog do obedience to get something. A dog needs to know no obedience for these exercises, and obedience will actually confuse some people to think they are controlling the situation but it is non-related.
You can watch this video to get a little more insight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owjyJh2NlfE
