You know, that's always been a point of contention with me. I've always had dogs who guarded, and you know what? It's their instinctive DUTY to go in ahead of me to check things out, to look around dark corners, to be where they can get between me and anything they consider a threat. It's what they DO, and trying to break that natural behavior seems like a really good way to create an anxious dog rather than a calm, confident one. I just seems like common sense to me.
Cesar's a numbnutz.