The only time I would worry about this is if your dog is a resource guarder. Resource guarding has nothing to do with dominance as it is usually a dog in the lower scheme of things that will resource guard.
I sleep with my Rottweiler and Doberman and my Sister sleep with all 3 Newfoundland dogs, the cat goes between the 2 of us. We have no problems at all and the dogs feel free to bed hop if they wish. If I want to sit on the couch and there is no room I have my dog get down from the couch. If the dog were to growl at me and not move...then couch and bed privileges would be taken away for awhile until he/she learns that it is a privilege not a right to be on the furniture. NIFIL basically teaches the dog rules of the household, it is not showing a dog you are the Alpha. Dogs and children all need rules (so do all species of mammals). Any time there is a group of animals living together they need to have rules. Also the NIFIL policy makes even fearful shy dogs feel secure, we all need rules to abide by...if we don't have rules some dogs become confused. The worst offenders are people who don't practice the NIFIL and let their dogs do whatever, then comes the day the owners try to enforce rules, I have seen some dogs get frustrated and confused over the sudden change especially since some owners will become hostile towards the dog. For example the dog is allowed on the couch since being a pup, the pup grows up and suddenly the owner decides the dog is no longer allowed on the couch, they grab the dog by the collar pull it off the couch and say "bad dog". The dog is going to be surprised and may become defensive, snap, or become fearful and start associating the owner with being unpredictable. The owner then thinks because the dog snapped it is being dominant or aggressive...
NIFIL is meant to be a non threatening training method which is not meant to over whelm or confuse the dog. You are kindly showing the dog the rules of the house and a default action of sit to earn rewards. Basically like the child who cleans their room if they want their allowance, you don't threaten a child to clean their room (although some people do
) you encourage them. You are also not teaching this child you are the Alpha
You are teaching them to be a respected well represented, well behaved part of the human race. Look at children that have no rules and you will see a delinquent child who will probably end up in jail, the same applies to dogs..
