JL'sPack....it sounds like you have pretty similar ideas about training to me. I just think someone reading that original post is going to think their dog things that they are a part of a pack and if they behave like the "alpha dog", the dog will respect them.
Also want to add - you don't say how you handled it exactly, but showing "dominance" over by either taking resources, alpha rolling, or pushing for growling, a resource-guarding dog is very likely to increase the behavior...you're very lucky if it didn't, in your case. It's recommended to never punish or reprimand a growling dog, because next time, they won't growl as they were taught - they'll just bite.
Making a dog sit before you give them food doesn't have anything to do with being an alpha, it has to do with them not being spoiled. If you control the resources, they're more likely to want to listen to what you have to say. They know it gets them good stuff.
lol a bit more investigation and discussion and we actually have similar views, not necessarily opposing ones
in retrospect, I suppose "alpha" wasn't the best trem to use in my original post - what I mean is just as we've been discussing - being a "leader" and a strong one, i didn't mean to imply using physical force. I think the difference between what you are disagreeing with in the teachings of certain "pack leader trainers" and what I believe to be true, is that there's a difference between your dog knowing that his owner is in charge vs. bullying the dog to do what you want. Whether or not a person believes in the "pack mentality" of dog ownership, Akitas in particular WILL behave like and "alpha" dog -meaning, they are very stong willed and honestly will try to get YOU to do what THEY want if you don't make it clear that it's the other way around. i agree that this can be accomplished by rewarding positive behavior and the dog understanding that his resources come from the human and only if he's behaving appropriatly. You may call that type of behavior something other than acting like an "alpha", but when Miya was a puppy and growled at my son, I made her sit and down. I then made her lay on her side (NOT forcefully, she easily accepted my "nudge") which naturally made her show submission. At that point I just stood over her for a few seconds, then had my son come over and stand above her. Now, there was no need to "alpha roll" her and you may not agree with even what I did do, but all I know is it worked. There is no way on the face of the earth I'm going to not discipline a dog who lives in my home and growls at me over something like food, especially my child. That behavior is unacceptable and if NOT corrected will lead to biting. In other cases such as growling out of fear or an extreme sense of being uncomfortable, that's a bit different and I take a more understanding, passive approach. (Our Beagle once growled and snapped at my niece when she was visiting and while our backs were truned just for a minute, she had cornered the dog trying to "drive" a toy car on her - in that case, it was understandable what my dog did, she didn't know what else to do, so she was not disciplined and instead my neice was taught that that's how dogs say "leave me alone you're scaring me".) There was no force what so ever, I was simply trying to show her mine and my son's "dominance" so to speak. After that, I gave her the chew then took it away and had my son do the same, reapeatedly till she was comfortable with it, praising her for being calm about it. I then started keeping my hand in her food bowl as she ate every meal for a few days, also taking the food bowl away, praising when she let me, then promptly giving it back with a treat added to the bowl for an extra reward. Soon after that she learned "leave it" at puppy class and there's never ever been a resource guarding issue since. Situations like that and some others I believe do need correction as well as praise when they get it right. My dogs including the Akita are not afraid of me at all, but they do respond to the slightest commands, even without anything verbal - if they're in the kitchen when I'm cooking, all I have to do is snap my fingers and point to the living room and they go, not because they're afraid of what would happen if they don't, simply because they know I'm in charge. I'm not really sure how to fully explain what I'm trying to get at to be honest (lol), but I suppose it's more about "attitude" than anything or as some would say - "energy"
. What I meant originaly by "weak" person is, some people like to just "baby" a dog, you definatly can't be that way with an Akita, they will walk all over you. Like I've read by another member here who owns Malamutes, I think it's crutial to make someone interested in a "tougher" breed understand the bad or the hard parts before the good. If the OP is considering an Akita based on just beauty yet is only used to breeds such as Goldens and Labs, someone like that could have a rude awakening raising an Akita, I've seen it - that was the point I was mostly trying to strongly convey in my original post. I use the term "alpha" becuase I don't like saying to people "the dog needs to know you're the boss" because to me, that conveys old school ideas of beating a dog into submission and I'd never ever want to make someone think in those terms.
