Can "pushiness" be retrained?

[ayoitzrimz]

This one is difficult to explain but I'll do my best.

I raised my dog to be a family pet first and Schutzhund dog second (it is my first dog after all). That meant respecting my rules and my space. That also meant NILIF as well as manners and minding the handler.

Now, what did I end up with? I ended up with an AWESOME pet and best friend. We have great communication and it just seems like he understands what I want even if I don't always explain myself to him He's well behaved, well socialized, and I couldn't be prouder.

But, to get more out of his obedience and get him closer to the picture I have of a good schutzhund dog I'm starting to see that this pushiness, dominance, confidence are all needed to create a better looking dog (lack of a better word).

For example, see around 3:20 in the following video:

One-on-One with Bart Bellon

One-on-One with Bart Bellon

Can something like this be retrained? How do I start this without affecting the rest of the relationship? Sorry if I can't explain myself right but hopefully the video will help... Just wanted to know how after raising a dog with NILIF and respecting your space and rules can you turn it around and explain to him yea you can be mischievous here, you can fool around a little bit there, but you need to turn that behavior off otherwise...

There are of course many ways to do this but I was hoping to start a conversation and see others' opinion

[ayoitzrimz]

Otherwise it's a great video to watch