Training European Great Danes
Hi, my 14 month old Great Dane and I recently moved in with my in laws. She (Dallas) has been a wonderfully gentle, calm dog up until now – but she is struggling to find her place in the pack as we are living with 2 (quite aggressive!) mini Dachunds, and a grumpy Cocker Spaniel. Dallas is the youngest and since moving in she has stopped listening to commands (even as simple as sit, stay). I’m at a loss of what to do – I am looking to move out asap, but in the meantime need some advice. Is there any way I can get her to ‘make friends’ with the other dogs. She bugs them all the time, pushing them with her nose, chasing them if they run. it’s got to the point where they are separated all the time. Thanks. Lauren
Our Response
Hi Lauren, thanks for your question – the most important thing that you can do is to socialize all your dogs together but don’t throw them together and let them get on with it – you need to do it over a period of time. Ask a friend to get involved – attach a leash to all the dogs and introduce them for a few minutes at a time. If any of the dogs show signs of aggressive behavior then correct the behavior with a ‘No’ and when they are quiet give your dog a reward and some praise. Try walking all of your dogs together and reinforce positive behavior. Take your dogs to dog training classes and as this will socialize your dogs with other dogs and people and will allow you to have a professional dog trainer available that can correct behavior problems as they happen. Don’t leave your dogs unsupervised and only introduce them when on a leash and as time goes by the behavior should improve.
Hope this helps
