I've overdone NILIF

It is a way of positioning yourself as alpha. In a wolf pack, the alpha usually gets first pickings and then the others eat according to rank.
 
NILIF - Nothing In Life Is Free.
 
I've heard of some methods where the human eats first and then feeds the dog. The opposite of that is the sled dog life, where an ethical musher will see to it that his team is fed before he even goes to the bathroom.
 
Withholding the food until permission is granted is a means of training the dog to await your command in spite of their drive to eat. This can be handy in the training of service dogs. A seeing eye dog must specifically not get distracted and want to chase other dogs or eat everything it finds, as it must assist the blind person.

If they can "wait" for their food, they can wait to go outside without knocking you over in the process, they can sit and quiet when someone comes to the door.  I actually did the same thing with my cockers that I do with my gsds......while I AM the boss, I like to be a benevolent leader, but with this much dogflesh, there have to be rules!
 
One of my younger boys has gotten into a little bit of a thing here lately about eating his breakfast.  First he wasn't eating MUCH in his crate, then he wasn't eating anything at all, but would eat beside me......now yes, I could just take his food up and break this habit, but I'm using his wanting me to hand feed him his breakfast for a couple things.  First he needs that special time, and second, I have FOUR german shepherds under my desk when I'm feeding him and not one of the others approaches my hand because I TELL them, this is for Theo.  They sit, they wait for a dropped kibble, but by golly, no one tries to TAKE one from my hand.  Because they are practicing self control and because Theo seems to crave the one on one even when he's surrounded by the others, well, I'll do it for now.

When Willow first came here, I did use the NILIF program to establish who was the leader around here.  But, I also especially made her sit and wait for an "OK" to eat so that I could safely get out of the way before she went near the food.  It was also extremely helpful that she knew this when I went back to work and DH started feeding her dinner as he is not as "alpha" as me in her eyes.  And, that could of potentially led to problems when he tried to feed her. 

At this point, I stick with making her do things to get what she wants mainly because quite a few times I've tried to stop or do it less and every time she starts getting more and more pushy about things and begins to completely ignore commands that she knows.  In other words, she starts acting a little too chowy for me!  LOL!  Example-One day after a series of days that we had been relaxing the rules, we came home and found her sprawled out on our bed!  She didn't even get up when we came in!  Just stretched and mosied out at her leisure.  Now, you might say, big deal, but she is not supposed to be in our room and when the rules are enforced she follows that.  So, she's a give an inch, take a mile girl and she can potentially get a little dangerous if I let that slide. 

Now, I'm also kind to her, I don't enforce these things in a mean way at all.  In fact, I never raise my voice, never pull her, nothing like that. 

I would use this again on any future dogs I have because I have seen a remarkable difference in her since we started this.   I get lots of comments on how well mannered she is, how she sits at curbs, every doorway, walks a little and then turns and waits for me to catch up on walks.  I've been asked who I took her to for training.  The truth is that nobody would take her. 

Ron--Did you see the Iditarod special on TV?? Those dogs had huge icicles hanging from their muzzles!