On the fence

This is the reply I got from a potential trainer I'm taking T to see in 2 weeks:

 

Thanks for writing about your dogs.  The Cane Corso is one of the breeds I usually refer out if the dog is human aggressive.  This breed isn't born aggressive, it is usually a combination of lack of proper socialization with dogs and humans as a puppy and a direct response of lack of leadership and the messages he is being sent from his humans.  What you should be training is "state of mind", which should, with this breed, be.........you lead,,,,,he follows.  The dog is never allowed to practice protective behavior in the first place.  Correcting it after the fact will not work unless your FIRST correction can redirect the dog back to you.  There is big difference between discipline and punishment.  

The first thing is to determine what type of behavior he displays.  True "aggression" is displayed by the confident dog.  "Reactivity" is displayed by the fearful dog.  Most Cane Corsos I have worked with are not truly aggressive, they are protective, that protectiveness can turn into aggression as soon as the owner does not communicate to the dog that it is not his job to do so.  Something as simple as the dog standing between you and a stranger just gives him a license, from you, to protect.  I would be happy to do a temperament evaluation on this dog but I must tell you, I would not train this dog with trinkets, cookies and disneyland treats.  It won't work.  There is a right way to train and a wrong way.   Training with a correction collar, if done properly, can work great.  If done improperly, it will do more harm.    His behavior was created by humans and it must be changed by humans.  You will need to change the way you interact with both dogs.  

I would concentrate more on the human aggression first, before the dog aggression.  How do you see yourself as an authority figure for him?   When you say "it took 10 sessions for people to roam free in your home", tells me that the dog dictates movement in the home.  This is change #1, you control his movement at all times.  You should be able to have people in your home and the dog under control. He should NEVER at this point have free roam if he is human aggressive.  Your state of mind is... I lead him...his state of mind is...I follow.  

Having the dog sit while people go by does not change his state of mind.  He may focus on the "food" but he'll go right back to being protective if that is the information you are sharing with him.

It really doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling about the trainer, I am afraid it's going to turn into that experience we had in Maine with the very intimidating guy. I'm particularly offended by the "trinkets, cookies and disneyland treats" bit.  I'm not really sure what she means, this makes me think of the "do some dogs need a heavier hand" article. 

I think I agree in theory with all the leadership stuff, but isn't a different way to get him to be comfortable and less suspicious of everything?  Does my being a leader translate to all humans being leaders?  What if he's not with me, does he revert to protectiveness with whomever he happens to be with?  I hope we aren't going to talk about rank demoting things like going out the door first and all that.  There's got to be a way to do it without shutting T down. 

I suppose it can't hurt that much to try, we can always leave.  I'll try to go in with an open mind but ready to stop anything I'm not comfortable with.