[Mikey T]

What you mention is standard protocol for Counterconditioning that is to keep the dog below threshold while reinforcing,. If you are familiar with
'Calming Signals" these can be very telling on the stress level of the dog. You want the dog non-stressed not simply not acting out. If not familiar wiith calming signals a google search or the book dvd by the same name will be very helpful for CounterConditioning I would recommend The Cautious Canine-How to Help Dogs Conquer Their Fears: Patricia B. McConnell: 9781891767005: Amazon.com: Books it deals specifical the issue you have.

2. Is the behavior only on leash? say he is in a fenced yard and another dog walk by how does he react. If only while on leash then you have leash reactivity which is somewhat of a learned behavior and the interaction between dog and handler,. So handled somewhat differently than above. From Crazy To Calm: A Training Plan For Leash Reactivity

3. The most important thing you did not mention Is whether the dog has any bite inhibition,. If and when he reacts aggressively and does bite what if any damage does he cause.. This is the number one guide on how successful behavior rehab can be, Simply put A dog that causes damage is significantly less likely to be reconditioned than one that causes damage. simply because ethically what you can do in training/;behavior is severely limited because of the harm the dog can do.

4. resource guarders are also typically touch sensitive. You want to keep that in mind with stranger and is something else you might need to work on besides food. training and off command to get the dog off furniture etc without physical confrontation. If you do not have Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs: Jean Donaldson: 9780970562944: Amazon.com: Books is the best resource of resource guarding in dogs.

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he only other minor issue I have is his nose drive! Whilst I have managed to get him to respond/recall at his name, he will not/cannot pay me any attention at all when he’s found a sniff to sniff and I just know that he would disappear on a forever chase given the chance! But reading some of the other comments it looks like that trait may well be here to stay!

That is a high level distraction for a scent hound and something that will require a lot of training to overcome, If you want to embark on that I would say it needs to be secondary to the more pressing behavioral issues,. but Susan Garretts only line recallers course is going to be your best bet Susan Garrett’s Recallers Online Dog Training Program - DogsThat and there is also Really Reliable Recall - Train Your Dog To Come When Called... No Matter What! Dvd You may need another work for "come" because of past history It might be a lot easier to train a new non posioned cue than try and untaint a posioned one. Most people tend to poison recalls by calling the dog to them to do stuff the dog does not want to do. So the dog associates being called with bad stuff happening,.

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I have to remind myself not to feel too sorry for him or ignore his behaviours

This is why in general rescue dogs tend to be more ill tempered and dangerous than dogs sourced elsewhere. While training a dog with such a history you will want to rely on positive reinforcement,. But Positive does not mean Permissive,.

 

[Mikey T]

"Our old dog picked up a piece of food the new one had dropped and he growled and barked frantically " I think there is a big difference between resource guarding with other dogs and resource guarding from humans.

" mixture of fear " fear is the driving cause of most aggression in dogs,

"My old dog was highly aggressive initially without any vocal warnings at all " makes for a very dangerous dog . Also why punishing a dog for growling is not a good idea

"she was always much more responsive to voice commands and reward compared with this nose driven obsessive!) " Basset tend to be much responsive to physical and contextual cues than verbal cue. but they are not harder to train if you understand their mindset and motivations and with scent hound 99% are perpetually hungry and of the 1% that are not 95% of the time it is because they are over fed. Food as reward generally has much higher value than praise or touch.

FWIW below is our Food guarding touch sensitive basset rescue. Which we found out later "if you had not taken her we were going to have to put her Down, never cured always potentially dangerous. I retrained her to growl. did not have proper bite inhibition so most situations need to be managed but the one thing SHE was good at was dog v dog relations she was incredibly savvy. In a multi dog household IRT ISA Easier to manage a dog that is aggressive toward humans than it is a dog aggressive toward other dogs.