I hate to say it, as it was a heartfelt piece that ended with weight and sincerity, but I do implore people; find a way to make clear to your animal what behaviour is unacceptable.
Every animal I know that's indulged in this way has turned out poorly. You don't only owe it to yourself to not get mauled by your own pet, you simply owe it to others.
The anecdote about the party was nice, but could have easily ended with a dog inflicting permanent cosmetic damage to a party-goer's face or limbs, and that situation would have absolutely been the author's fault.
When we took in a rescue animal it wouldn't stop barking at me, quite aggressively. My father's partner at the time kept patting it because it was scared and she needed to calm him down. When I pointed out that patting him every time he barked at me would encourage him to bark more, she protested loudly and unreasonably over and over. But once my father put his foot down after a few of these incidents and insisted that I was right, the dog in question was firmly scolded every time he barked and within a week he had completely ceased aggression toward me, but any others as well, and he developed a wonderful friendly nature.
Dogs have limited feedback mechanisms. You have carrots and sticks, and there's no real carrot you can offer for "not barking" or "not biting". Unfortunately, with such behaviours there needs to be some sort of stick, chosen appropriately, or what is communicated is that this behaviour is totally acceptable. It would be nice to make the animals understand.some other way, but these are the tools available to us.
It feels a little meanspirited to point this out, but the conclusion of the story is exactly what I would have predicted in a situation like this, where the main carer takes pride in failing to find a way to train the animal.