I have been shoveling snow around dogs all day (6 Inches IN the covered outside runs and then a foot everywhere else.....so I am a little fuzzy and NOT going to quote each of you.
For the OP if pushing back works...go with it. No one here is with the dog except you and you can read the results. Trust what you are seeing.
I would continue with training and socializing with your dog for as long as you can. It is one of the best ways for each of you to learn about the other and learn to trust each other. The Catahoulas I have know NEED to trust their people. They also needed experienced handling and if you feel you are missing some things that makes the classes all the more helpful as other people see you and the dog and can give input. All of this is gonna vary with your dog...especially if it is a mix. The Catahoula I have know were fierce hunters and very small 'pack' dogs...like chows, sharpei and some others they are comfortable with their family circle and anyone or thing outside it is confronted with suspicion at best.
My other points for all this silly my way is the only way posts would be...
Karen Pryor believes in social hierarchy...but in her more dumbed down for the everyperson trainer newer books to support her company she has stated differently. She doesn't want you to punish a dog because we (as humans) are trying to be dominant over the dog (sorry, no keen links for immediate gratification...but try pages 115-117 of Don't Shoot the Dog. The keys would be people alpha rolling to be over the dog. Works with some dogs, terrifies some, aggravates some and really serves no useful purpose since every dog I have met realizes I am a person and they are a dog.
Patricia McConnell totally believes in a social hierarchy(Read "The Other End of the Leash" (I know, it is a BOOK, not a link but try...again, not to be used as a punishment though. Most of her counseling and advice is based on this key bit of information.
As has been stated by another poster I think it shows how much experience you need to gain that you think your way is the only way for all dogs. Or, to quote my vet after a long day and euthing a biter because the owners were self proclaimed "dog people " and since they couldn't fix it with
PR it was unfixable.....He hates DOG PEOPLE. They know just enough to be dangerous to themselves and their dogs to give bad advice some of the time and not know the difference because most of the time they did well with the dogs before because they had easy dogs...when confronted with a dog that wasn't a submissive lover they lose it. If you are not open minded enough and humble enough to take information for what it is and see for yourself you are not going to grow in this field.
You say I don't post links to PROOF. Hello, just because it is published does not make it truth. (especially on the internet!) Try testing those theories and ideas on more than four dogs.
Most of my advice is based on experience. No, I am not Ed Frawley or Michael Ellis (who does believe in all sorts of things you don't and is one of the top trainers in the nation-hmmm)But I do think for myself and have thirty ADULT years with dogs. Never had less than three in all that time. I would really like for you to say things like...this is what worked for me with my dog..a whatever. Because then I might take you seriously. I have a degree in Animal Science....so am I an expert?No. At least I know I have lots ahead of me to learn.
Right now a couple of you are just popping in links to blips by people with names. It isn't thorough information, it isn't THE ANSWER and it isn't anything YOU are relating to. What I see a couple of you mods doing is making it sound like you are the end all when you are truly way down on that learning curve. (by your own admissions in some cases) It is not to offend you...but you need to realize that you have a way ahead of you...you are NOT THERE YET. Just because you've had an epiphany and trained your dog to overcome one issue does not mean that much.
Posting links to other peoples ideas isn't making you look smarter...just lazier. Especially when your attitude drives people with loads of valid input off the forums because they are tired of defending themselves against your inexperience.