struggling with a couple of issues. duke forges about a foot forward of my left hip when woking outside. if i reverse it stops for about 100 yards. if i give him an active release he moves back and then works forward. i think this is an engagement issue. he gets excited and fixated on his environment forward of him. will this work itself out or should i be getting on him harder. when he is correct his head movement is from forward to right (my left hip). when he is out of place it is forward to his left. i was taught that when a dog becomes fixated that it needs to be moved to at least neutral or to engagement.

second question has to do with relevant obedience. i know you have a Mal in the house. when the UPS guy drops a package and rings the door bell and then rushes down the driveway to leave, i expect your dog lets you know. and i expect that you feel it is a good thing when he lets you know strangers are outside. how do you develop the trust to re engage when you tell him that it is OK.

I learned a neat trick from you regarding wait at the door. I always set up with the dog and myself facing out. You set the dog at a 90 degree angle, so he is less apt to be looking directly at something while I am going through

There are a few ways to handle forging, some more refined, some more straight to the point. The first thing is that I try to use the leash corrections during heel proactively to prevent the dog getting in front rather than to correct the dog after it has happened. In other words the lease correction stops the dog once they have reached the forward most limit of where I would allow them to be.

If a dog forges badly (dobermans have a tendency to do this), then one of the easiest solutions is to work on making very hard left turns. As you are walking forward, the moment Duke starts forging make a 90° turn to the left pushing off of your right foot and leading with your left knee. Your knee will bump into him as you cut across/in front of him, preferably making contact somewhere between his shoulder and his nose. After several left turns he should start to learn that if he stays back a little bit he can't avoid your left knee as you turn into him. I find that it is valuable to sneak in a few repetitions when he is in an acceptable position to show him that when he is there your knee does not hit him. Some people also find it beneficial to simultaneously give a backward leash correction as their knee makes contact with the dog.

I hope this makes sense in writing.

Regarding my Mal...Yes, he most certainly lets me know when someone is at the door. He also has learned through training that once I arrive on the scene, he is to go to his dog bed and wait (place command). He might squeak out a few extra barks once he is there, but generally he calms down. This is one of the most common uses for the place command. 

Thanks Tyler