[Salamander]

Interesting approach.

Luckily I’ve not had to deal with people aggression in any of my rescue or personal dogs.

I have one dog who grumbles when insecure and to other people, it would look like it’s growling *at* me when actually, it’s growling out of anxiety over a particular stimulus.

That dog gets calm reassurance and then is moved to where I wanted it to be, in the first place.

Only a fool starts a fight with their own dog over such things.

What it *looks* like and what it really is are often wildly different things.

[MarMema]

It's called counter conditioning and it is what I do a lot of...in fact with a new client this week I will begin again on a course of it. Biting JRT - but I do love the terriers.

It is all about changing the emotional state of the dog. Food works. And HVT are the best of all. Hot dogs, cheese, etc.

anyone can do it

The only trick is getting the timing right. You should try it with your grumbler. It is amazing to see it work.

[MarMema]

Btw I found it interesting that you used the word “primitive” since that is how I often describe our Formosan mixes ( from Taiwan).