The way I see it is yes you should be able to take anything off your dog, you never know when you may have to in a life saving situation BUT you can't just take it, you have to train them to accept you removing things, teach them to give or leave. Otherwise you're asking the dog to bite you. It's called resource guarding and dogs are no different from Gnasher and her Doughnut. You have to teach your dog to trust you and that doesn't happen overnight.

Earlier you start, the easier it is. No different from taking a toy of a small child and weathering the shrieks of dismay and tantrum, but if you often take things, put them down and then go onto doing something pleasant it doesn't become a vicious cycle with the child throwing larger and louder tantrums

Well said - you have to go through the pain of removing things and weather the storms that follow in order to teach a child that it does not mean the end of the world.

There are always puppies in a litter that take off other puppies, and puppies that let things be taken off them, they all have their own status, so 'proving' you are 'Alpha' or taking it for granted the puppy is 'dominant' is a total waste of time. Puppy will more than likely think you are some kind of fool as it already knows its status thank you, and if you have to 'prove' that you are 'Alpha' by strange means, that actually in the main prove you are not by any means the 'Alpha' then you will never be the leader in the puppy's eyes or mind. Alpha's (or leaders as I prefer to call them) are born not made, so you cannot change a puppy's status because you think you can. Its all about teamwork and proving to the puppy you are a worthy, reliable provider and that can take time, depending on what the puppy's status is and how you go about things

Wise words my friend|