GSD Bite

Question
HI there, we have recently taken in a 12 month old stray GSD. Overall he is well behaved and is responding to training. Whilst trying to train him no to be possessive with his food, he bit my husband.
In general he is not an aggressive dog and we have a fair amount of experience training GSD, however previously we had never been bit.
We also have a 2 yr old son, are we mad to keep him and continue the training or is it a case of if they done it once, they will do it again?

I hope you can help

Answer
Many dog experts insist a dog and a child can never be left alone together.  I am a little more moderate suggesting eventually they can be trusted together.

Has he been neutered?  If not, do so now.  It is no cure all, but helps with many problem behaviors.  As a stray, there should be no question of using him for breeding.  

The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts.  Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog.  Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/  For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm  See their page on children too.

Specific to the food aggression.  With hold part of his food at first.  After he finishes what you gave him, add more.  Again, after he finishes what you gave him, add more.  He will become very accepting of you being near his food dish.