Please Help...I am having a problem with respect.

[stale]

ok - there should be rules about anyone suggesting cesar millan's advice. animal cruelty is never the solution to your problem, be it disguised as discipline, training or "rehabilitation."

[AngelBunny]

Originally Posted by fjones

...have you ever watched the dog whisperer...i swear by his methods...

The swearing I do when I watch Mr. Millan is at him.

You'd be serving the OP better if you suggested Ian Dunbar to her.

[Weily4Life]

Originally Posted by eliguns84

We do take a lot of time with him, and we make it a point to play with him after work at least for a little while.

How long are you walking him?

[eliguns84]

Well perhaps you would not wonder so much about my intentions with my dog if you knew about the things that have gone on since he finished his first round in obedience school. My husband and I were going through some very difficult times regarding this pregnancy, but this is not the place for me to divulge them. Yes, maybe I am guilty of the puppy's obedience classes taking a back seat for a few months, but I assure you this had nothing to do with the dog or my willingness to keep him in classes. Sometimes there are bigger things in life than going to obedience school.

[jlaack]

Well perhaps you would not wonder so much about my intentions with my dog if you knew about the things that have gone on since he finished his first round in obedience school. My husband and I were going through some very difficult times regarding this pregnancy, but this is not the place for me to divulge them. Yes, maybe I am guilty of the puppy's obedience classes taking a back seat for a few months, but I assure you this had nothing to do with the dog or my willingness to keep him in classes. Sometimes there are bigger things in life than going to obedience school.

I am sorry to hear this and I hope that things get better. But the reality is that owning a dog is a responsibility that needs to be followed through on even when it is very difficult to do so, just like children. Taking a dog that is aggressive and has bitten through obedience training and work with a behaviorist is not optional, especially not when a child is soon to be added to the family. While addressing the needs of your pregnancy now is understandable you are not doing your dog or future child any justice by putting off dealing with your dogs behavior. Your dog bit you, what if that was your newborns face? Further your dog is 7 months old and since your due date is not until July/August there was a lot of time between your pregnancy and when you got your dog for obedience training. Likely if a solid foundation beyond 1 class had been laid your dog would not be exhibiting these behaviors now. There are times in our life where things are truly difficult and caring for a dog is trying and an extra burden. Some things can be put off or delayed. Such is not the case with an aggressive dog. The longer they get to practice an unwanted behavior the more they find it acceptable and the more difficult it will be to break. If you had a perfectly obedient dog that wasn't aggressive to people of course obedience wouldn't be as crucial. However this isn't the case. With your dog training for agility or tracking would be consider optional; obedience and work with a behaviorist is not. I really hope that you can do whatever needs to be done to correct your dogs behavior before your child arrives. Often on this forum we imagine the worst possible outcome of situations like this because people don't realize the severity of the situation until the bite is much worse. I'd hate to read about such a post, but you as the owner responsible for this animal are the only person that control this.

[fostermom]

I've had a couple of fosters who have behaved perfectly at my home but adopted to families who didn't set clear rules or do continued obedience with their dogs and several months later, I'd be hearing that the dog was growling at the baby, or not listening...since your pup does fine with hubby, I have a feeling this is more an issue of you learning how to interact with him. Some dogs WILL attempt to take charge if they don't see a clear leader.
We fostered a 10 mo. old male rott last year who had an "edge" to him...where you just knew you had to do everything right...I took him to a trainer who showed me how to work with him...it was suprising, having lived around and trained many dogs over the years, how much I actually didn't know. He showed me non-confrontational ways to work with this pup, some of which seemed very conter-intuitive and I really did fight with the trainer about some of his suggestions. However I was amazed at how well Zach responded once I was "doing things right" with him. He adopted and is now doing advanced obedience with his new family (and getting perfect scores!!!).
Unfortunately, Ceasar Milan, as entertaining as he is to watch, gives many people the idea that to be "alpha" you have to be confrontational. I've talked to more than one person who thinks they have to alpha roll their puppies to let them know who's boss and then they follow up with "just like Ceasar Milan"!!!
I don't doubt your committment and I applaud your attempts to get this fixed before the baby comes...I also would like to suggest you take the dog to a trainer (and I don't mean a trainer who does strict obedience training although continuing his obedience training would certainly help)...rather someone who can work with you on learning how to interact with this pup...hopefully this link will help, and good luck with him.
List of Certified Pet Dog Trainers - [IL]

[hokisteph5]

Another member awhile back described this breed perfectly. They said something like every now and then the dog will check to see if the rules or boundaries are still in place. Mine still do it and my male will turn three in less than a month. My female turned 2 in early November.

I, too, went through a rough patch about 18 months ago where money was tight, I couldn't find a trainer offering classes starting up soon, and to top it off Samson was entering his teenage phase (e.g. he was mouthy, pushy, just a butthead in general).

Until the classes were available again, I found what turned out to be a 1 night only CGC workshop. It was enough to take the edge off Samson's behavior, let me regroup, and reminded him that "oh yeah, I remember this training stuff."

Even if you can't get into a formal class right away, there are things you can work on training-wise in the interim. Things that have already been suggested on this thread like the trade up (or in my house it's called give and take) command.