I am the owner of a 2yo BC X.

This is just a question to see if you think ther is a potential problem that I shud be concerned about or not to worry.

My dog has to sit and wait before he is released to have his food, he is always fed after us. I have reinforced that I am the food giver (not taker)by adding food to his bowl as he eats. This all has worked fine.

This is what happened this morning, I don't know if I shud be concerned or not:

In the morning he is left for a couple of hours and a while before i leave he gets a bone or kong or something similar. He has do work for this by doing a sit or a down then wait and release as he does for his food ration.
Today we went through the usual but he didnt want to do down properly (this is not uncommon when he is focused on something-he doesnt refuse point blank he just crouches between sit and down watching your every move-the same when we play ball), sometimes a clearing of throat noise or tap of the foot is enough to break his concentration and he will do down properly, sometimes some extra encouragement is needed like touching his shoulders (try to avoid this as cant do it if hes doing exercises at a distance so dont want to rely on it). This morning when i had the bone in my hand I asked for down and he did is hovering, had to resort to touching his shoulders at which he bared his teeth. So I called him to follow me to another spot and tried again, same thing, so started again in another spot-this time got the down-told him wait put bone on the floor walked out of room and then back in -he hadnt moved an inch and was still awaiting release, so I released him and he looked at me unsure so encouraged and he went and had his bone.

The fact that he waited (even with me out of sight)and didnt dive in on the release command suggests to me (but i am inexperienced!) that there are no problems with dominance.

Be pleased to hear people opinions

Many thanks
Becky

From reading your post I get the impression that you are putting too much pressure on him.  I'm all in favour of dogs working for and earning their food, toys, treats and privileges but sometimes we can overdo it and we just need to lighten up a little.  His behaviour today is an indication that he is worried or uncomfortable with the situation.  You are right to add food not take away to teach a dog not to worry about you near his food bowl but if you are still doing this maybe he'd just like to eat in peace now.  Maybe that's how he feels about his bone.  Every day he has to lie down and wait.  You know he can do it but perhaps he is thinking "for God's sake just give me my bone and go to work will you". ;)
Sally

Good points Sally - but maybe he's in some pain/discomfort and physically can't do as your asking - a vet check would be needed........

This behaviour has nothing to do with "dominance" but rather to do with resources.  You had a valuable resource in your hand and he wanted it, dogs are hard wired to be extremely competitive over valuable resources eg good, bitches etc.  Touching the dog with one hand and having a bone in the other is a potential recipe for disaster unless both you and the dog are completely comfortable about it. 

As Sally says it appears that you are putting the dog under too much pressure and he is generally uncomfortable because he does not fully understand what you are asking him to do; if he did why does he not comply?

Also, although your post is not entirely clear, it suggests perhaps that your "release" or "reward" is not timed correctly and the dog is not sure exactly what it is being given the bone etc for.