First, in response to your second to last post, Don says things work differently for guard dogs and such.
Regarding your statements about the dominance theory not working and the dogs are just being forgiving, I would like to see proof of this before I believe it, and I do not agree.
If a dog can dominate a human, why can't a human be dominant over a dog? I know dogs can be dominant over people: pulling on the leash, barking at people, separation anxiety, growling at people who get close to their food - these
are dominant behaviors; dogs will growl and bark at other dogs. In addition, many behavior problems stop without the need for correction when the dog has learned humans are the ones in control. This will not happen if the dog is treat-trained.
Dogs will work for things, yes, but they will not obey every time.
My dog wouldn't work for toys, either. My dog is not weird; he is a typical dog.
As for the barking problem, before I tried ignoring, I had taught him to "speak" and he also knew the meaning of "enough," but this had zero effect on him. The command collar put a stop to it in two days.
I firmly believe the command collar is the best method. My dog is not being forgiving; if he felt I was threatening him he would have been much more aggressive than he was. It was
clear he felt his authority being threatened, not his life. I have seen my dog control me for five years. Treats did nothing. I have read many dog training books and tried various things to make him listen. I know people who have worse dogs, so it's not just him.
If humans couldn't be dominant over dogs, why do dogs resist the down command much more than the other commands?
Do you have proof this doesn't work? So far, my dog has shown me it does. If you have never seen Don Sullivan's dvd, I would strongly encourage you to do just that. I was skeptical until then.
If I had the opportunity to test this on a GSD or malinois, I would. But I don't need to. I've seen Don train GSDs on the video, and the best-trained dog I ever met was NOT treat-trained and was a purebred GSD.
As for the "treat training is cruel because what if the dog ignores you and get hits by a car"? It doesn't matter what method you use - the dog shouldn't be in a position where such a thing can happen until the dog is reliable on their training. It's called a leash and being a responsible owner. It doesn't matter what method you use - if the dog doesn't know the behavior he is going to blow you off. If the reward (whether that be that he will avoid punishment or that he expects a treat) isn't greater than the temptation (chasing the cat, barking at the mailman, whatever), he is going to go with the temptation. Until you know that your dog will avoid the temptation because you said so, you need to have physical control of the dog.
Very true, but you know as well as I do that prevention is best. In addition, a well-trained dog will enjoy freedoms a dog that cannot be completely trusted can't. I want my dog to have that freedom. Not so I can be irresponsible, but so he can live the very best life I can possibly give him.
Oh, and you seem to be a diehard dog person like me, so you might find this interesting. I don't know if you've seen this, but anyways, I found it when I was looking up dog research ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/07/dog-brain-scan-mind-mri_n_1495791.html