Heh... Fair enough.... most all that needed said has been said on the thread, all that is left to do now is tear down any opposition, and the owner we'd like to help will still do whatever she wanted to do in the first place.
The trainer I would have recommended to them if they'd take the dog to Washington (they're in Oregon) is this one: http://www.kraftwerkk9.com/ Might be interesting to you and your husband.
I mean it when I say the man is a Dog God. His animals are magnificent, and I have seen him turn around both his own and other people's dogs and get them to do amazing work. But he's really expensive. I knew him way back when he was still doing regular obedience classes. And he'd enroll all his own puppies in his obedience classes as a term of their sale so he could keep tabs and make sure they became the dogs the people wanted.
I just loved watching his Schutzhund dogs work. I'd show up and just watch when I lived near him. I can't believe the price of his puppies now.
I can't get the page to come up. I'd like to look at it. I am really opposed to training dogs abusively but good trainers don't. They do teach them to mind and to respect their owners/handlers. You're right, they will do what ever they want, regardless of imput.