Try putting it on a leash, stand straight up with your shoulders square, so he knows who is in charge. When he eats, have somebody come up to get him to growl. When he growels, and as soon as he growls, make a noise such as, "SHHHT!" It should be quick, calm and assertive. When you make the noise, give a quick tug on the leash. Enough for the dog to feel it, but not enough to hurt him. It took me about 5 times, and my dogs learned to respond. Now when they bark, I can scream at the top of my lungs, or i can say, "SHHT!" and they respond even when they aren't on a leash. You should eventually be able to train the dog to where you can push his face away from the bowl, and scoop your hand in it without him protesting. I learned this watching the 'Dog Whisperer.' The guy is completely amazing. He tamed a dog that four professionals failed to tame. One had wrestled it for an hour straight, given up and said it needed to be euthanised. He trained it in 30 minutes by putting his hand on it's back while it was on a leash, standing up straight and not taking his hand off until it calmed down and submitted. He never had to hurt the dog or use force. It's hard to explain here. His how is on the National Geographic Channel. He's amazing. He's saved like, 25 dogs who were considered untameable (pit bulls, rotweilers, etc) and they all live in the same pen and never fight.

You can also put him on the positive reinforcement training of NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE, or NILIF. I used a modified version of this training because I personally will not withhold affection from a dog unless he performs a correct behavior...that is I sometimes want to issue a pet, or rub, just because I want to. Although with some dogs I understand that they MIGHT need to use the original program. In a nut shell NILIF means that YOU (and other humans in the dog's life) are the source of ALL GOOD THINGS that the dog wants, needs, desires and that THE DOG must earn these things by correctly doing the requested (trained) behaviors. The behaviors are all basic ones that all dogs should be trained and willing to do to be good, accountable and trustworthy in their NORMAL social interactions with humans. There is NO ROOM for a companion animal to be "quick tempered" at any time towards human beings, this is simply unacceptable behavior. But, NILIF gives you the ability to not only give the dog something else USEFUL to do, but gives you positive ways to REDIRECT the dog's unacceptable behavior into ones that are not only acceptable, but fun, and USEFUL. It makes both the trainer/owner and the dog ACCOUNTABLE to each other, strengthens the bond between them, and adds a positive element of TRUST and security because your dog learns healthy acceptable boundaries, has the joy of learning connected to praise and treats so it becomes FUN, develops good behaviors, and gets to USE it's brain more. Animals behaviors are IN THE MOMENT. They ACT and REACT to stimulus that is either within them (such as hunger, past experiences, memories of such) or external, (something happening that frightens them, hot or cold weather, praise, abuse). They can also react according to HABITS they have formed due to training or LACK of training! I don't know the "Dog Whisper" personally nor do I know much about him, aside from hearsay. Some of what I've heard mimics Aversion Training, which while not optimum in a +R training program, might have some practical use under some circumstances. Traditionally, amongst trainers, the concept of Whispering means learning how a species of animal communicates with body language and mimicking THAT to incorporate it into your training. It means inturputing the animal's non-verbal language so you can capitalize on it to communicate more clearly what YOUR requests are to the animal, and to gain trust to enhance the training experience. Example: Dogs: Eye contact...a huge communication deal. Staring at a dog (in dog language) is a CHALLENGE. With an aggressive dog it is an open invitation to start a fight. NOTE...An Aggressive NOT Alpha...True Alphas RARELY fight at all, and even rarer do they start fights. They don't need to..they KNOW their position with others and they rule with benevolence! An aggressive dog is often fearful, lacks real confidence, has low self-esteem and so constantly tries to move up the ladder within its world. I would never STARE at such a dog...why push its buttons that way? The dog already has a problem...I want to SAFELY build the dog's confidence, set it up to SUCCESSFULLY learn correct behaviors and DO those behaviors correctly when asked. If you want to email me, for more direct tips you are welcome to. This is a pretty in depth and complex training that your dog would benefit from as would YOU! But, what I've tried to give you here is a better understanding of the MENTALITY you might want to create within yourself as you work on these challenges. My goal is to always set the dog/horse/cheetah...what ever animal I'm working with...to both clearly understand what I want from them and to be CAPABLE of doing it successfully...every time the command is given, and that it be a fun, positive experience for BOTH of us.

I can tell you what NOT to do: Heed advice from any dog “trainer” that you may see on television (or in print). Not only might HIS or her methods be archaic, they might border on inhumane and might not help your situation at all. To illustrate my point, I’d like to refer you to the following articles, written by some of the country’s leading canine behavior specialists. These people are PhDs in the field and have had extensive experience and education. http://www.urbandawgs.com/divided_profession.html and http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/10/15/CMGPHL9D1N1.DTL&type=printable and http://www.seattledogs.com/seattledogsdiscussionarchive_1_Cesar.htm