Serious aggression issues- friend can't afford a behaviorist.

The leerburg method is simply establishing pack rank in your house FIRST then dealing with the behavioral problems through motivational obedience training and behavior modification.
 
Dogs which exhibit these types of behavioral problems do not have the same temperament as the family golden retriever that can lay on the couch sleep in the bed with you, etc and never show any human aggression in its life. However, you treat a dog with a temperament like Caleb , and try treating it like that golden retriever, you are going to have problems. Dogs like Caleb will need a lot of structure and know that her owner is the leader. Dogs with fear based aggression are some of the easiest ones to alter their behavior is because they are seeking to please. They want structure and that sense of security knowing their owner is the leader and will protect them. The leerburg site gives some very good ideas on how to establish rank within the household, but by no means is it the comprehensive how-to.
 
There is no behaviorist out there that will tell you how to change your dog's behavior and allow you to let your dog run the show around the house. If the dog is continuously doing stuff to put you in your place and you live day to day fearful of what the dog may do, then surprise your dog runs the show in your house. Like has been suggested, NILF is a very good program to implement and the basis of it is establishing rank order; putting yourself first and your dog under you. NILF might be sufficient for some dogs while other dogs with a bad temperament or weak nerves may require you to go further and control even more of the dog's daily routine.

Dogs with fear based aggression are some of the easiest ones to alter their behavior is because they are seeking to pleas

 
dogs with fear based aggression are going to respond to heavy-handed "leadership" techniques aka leerburg's site, by becoming ever more fearful, and thus ever more aggressive. If you read the OP, you can see this already happening-- the more the boyfriend attempts to intimidate the dog, the more aggressive the dog has become.
 
All dogs, regardless of their issues or lack thereof, benefit from NILIF programs. They are a lovely, safe, non-confrontational way to teach the dog the rules-- If you want this, you must do that first. The real beauty of NILIF is that it is SO easy. Anyone can do it and all members of the household can participate. A tiny frail individual is going to have a lot of trouble physically manhandling a large hound into "submission", but hey, no need to do that, just implement NILIF. In the doggy world, whoever controls the resources is in charge. NILIF is all about who controls the resources. It has a wonderful side effect of teaching the dog self-control: not control imposed by a strict owner, but control imposed from within. Want to go outside? you have to control your excitement and sit quietly first. Want to eat? you have to control yourself and do a down stay for five minutes first. A totally different concept than forcing a dog into a down stay.
 
Resource guarding is easily trained away, see suggested links to books above.

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

Dogs with fear based aggression are some of the easiest ones to alter their behavior is because they are seeking to pleas

dogs with fear based aggression are going to respond to heavy-handed "leadership" techniques aka leerburg's site, by becoming ever more fearful, and thus ever more aggressive. If you read the OP, you can see this already happening-- the more the boyfriend attempts to intimidate the dog, the more aggressive the dog has become.

 
The leerburg site has absolutely nothing to do with "heavy handed" leadership techniques. Basically the groundwork portion is along the lines of NILF. You don't pet your dog when it wants to be petted, you make the dog sit before opening the door, you walk first through a doorway,not allowing a dog up on the bed  etc etc. As far as training goes, he does not believe in the crank and pop method of training. He believes in motivating the dog to do what you want him to do because he WANTS to do it, and not because he is afraid of you.
 
NILF helps establish yourself as the leader in the house. All I am trying to get at is there are addional non-confrontation things that you can do with your dog which help establish and solidify yourself as the leader. Because if you are not the leader in your house, you cannot expect your dog to listen to your commands. 

All I am trying to get at is there are addional non-confrontation things that you can do with your dog which help establish and solidify yourself as the leader.

I am confused about why you think yanking on your dog's neck is not confrontational.

Aggression to cure aggression won't be successful.
 
It is like all of these negatives, and it will become worse.  The boyfriend is trying to be dominating, and he isn't the dogs owner.  He is a guest at her home.  He has no right to be towering over her dog.  He deserves to get bit. Trouble is when the dog bites her, and I think it is certainly a strong possibility, the dog will be PTS.
 
The dog has to have trust in the owner. That she won't let others rule over her. She must be the one to protect and orchestrate the care and training of her dog. She is needed to learn a better way. This dog needs her to step up...
 
Read the books, get involved and protect the dog so he doesn't have to be on the defense all of the time.  That means protecting the dog from his own self at this point.  And preventing further insult to injury at this point as well.
 
Sometimes you have to prove that you care. 

The leerburg site has absolutely nothing to do with "heavy handed" leadership techniques.

 
have you actually read the entire site and watched some of his videos?  very "heavy handed", often brutal methods of training. And a complete misunderstanding of fear aggression, which he usually seems to diagnose as "dominance" problems.
 
and no, it is not important at all to establish yourself as a "Leader" before your dog will obey your commands. Dogs obey commands because of training, not some vague concept of "leadership".

Wow I never thought of giving a dog a treat as a form of "Brutal Punishment". Which videos have you watched?
 
Btw, he constantly differentiates between fear and aggression and dominance.

ORIGINAL: at_a_loss

Wow I never thought of giving a dog a treat as a form of "Brutal Punishment". Which videos have you watched?

Btw, he constantly differentiates between fear and aggression and dominance.

Regardless, this is a hound, not a working dog.  Hounds are soft and rarely tend towards human aggression.  Hounds are in it for themselves. 

This particular hound has a somewhat unknown history.  And has some issues that were discussed in another thread.  The poster in that thread took the first step and when the dog was "in his face" demanding attention, the dog was put out of the room for a few minutes.  When the dog was calm the door was re-opened.  If the behavior resumed, the dog was put out again.  I believe this took 3 or 4 tries and suddenly the light bulb turned on for the dog.  "If I act out, all of a sudden I'm alone."  The dog calmed down tremendously.

Here's the thread on which these types of acting out behaviors were discussed and dealt with in a non-aversive manner. [linkhttp://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=268558&mpage=1&key=rottweiler%2Cpuppy%2Caggression񁤎]Click here[/link]

 http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=268558&mpage=1&key=rottweiler%2Cpuppy%2Caggression񁤎

Tamara--I read all of your post but not every word of all the responses, so sorry if this has already been said.
But, one thing that really stuck out to me in your post was that she is taking the dog by the collar to move him.  That's a bad idea.  It will leave her open to a bite.  If possible maybe she could have him drag a leash.  They even make special ones just for that with no handle on the end. 
 
I did NILIF and I think it would help her a lot too.  And, I had best results with not forcing her into a room but sort of changing the tone and subject and getting her to follow willingly.  For example, we want her out of a room and she doesn't want to hear it, instead of making her I would say something like, "wanna go for a walk", BOOM, dog is at the door.  Or, "wanna get a bone", out to the kitchen she'd go.  And, then once away from the excitment it was much easier to get her to go wherever else I wanted her to end up. 

And, I know with my dog she can also be very unpredictable with guests.  And, like Caleb she will sometimes growl if someone suddenly gets up even if they've been in the house for awhile.  So, I just keep her away from guests.  They are really there for me and not her anyway. 

I hope it works out for her and Caleb.  It's hard though.

[color=#993366]Wow, thank you for all the continued responses.

Mudpuppy- Everything you said makes perfect sense!

Ed- Your absolutely right about Hounds being special needs. It's difficult to work with a dog whose personality is a combination of "soft"/emotional and very stubborn/independent.

Lori- I totally agree about leading him by the collar not being a good idea. The only time I suggested that was the first night when he bit my boyfriend. It all happened in an instant and I just wanted him out of the room...

[sm=blush.gif]I guess I didn't read your post very well either, sorry.
I'm gonna shut up now[]

Just a constructive suggestion in addition to the "leaving the room" scenario, which might serve to teach the dog that he actually has managed to intimidate those he fears (which reinforces the aggressive behavior).  Let Caleb wear his leash all the time.  Then, when he is guarding the couch, he can be gently coaxed away from it by a happy sounding "let's go" and gently guiding him with the leash, not grabbing his collar or pushing him off, and rewarding him for catching up to his mom.  Under no circumstances should the boyfriend be aggressive or threatening to this dog - he will get bitten eventually.  Instead, do what I did with my fearful hound.  I let my BF become his sole caretaker for three weeks - I didn't so much as feed him a Cheerio.  BF fed him, took him out for his walks, took him out for potty, and gave him dinner plus any treats he got.  This went on for three weeks.  My rules were: never raise your voice, don't stare at the dog, and don't grab his collar (we left a leash dragging, which, at first, BF had to step on the end to be able to get the dog, who wouldn't even approach him)..  BF followed the rules & guess who is my hound's best bud now? []

ORIGINAL: willowchow

[sm=blush.gif]I guess I didn't read your post very well either, sorry.
I'm gonna shut up now[]

Oh gosh no Lori, don't shut up please!!! [][][] You have really good input!

Spiritdogs- That's what I was thinking about having both of them leave the room- it might make him think that he chased the boyfriend off. So I'll stick with my suggestion of having him wear a leash all the time, so it's easy to lead him out of situations. Almost forgot to add that I will suggest having her boyfriend take over caring for him. The only problem is that it's a semi long distance relationship so he's not around all the time. I think this guy is "the one" though, so I imagine he's going to be spending more and more time there. The GOOD news is that the boyfriend likes the dog and is totally willing to work with him.

The GOOD news is that the boyfriend likes Caleb and is totally willing to work with him.

That's great.  Let us know how it all works out.

Instead, do what I did with my fearful hound. I let my BF become his sole caretaker for three weeks - I didn't so much as feed him a Cheerio. BF fed him, took him out for his walks, took him out for potty, and gave him dinner plus any treats he got. This went on for three weeks. My rules were: never raise your voice, don't stare at the dog, and don't grab his collar (we left a leash dragging, which, at first, BF had to step on the end to be able to get the dog, who wouldn't even approach him).. BF followed the rules & guess who is my hound's best bud now?

As always Anne, you astound me with simple but effective management solutions to what we consider complex problems!