Expert: Kristin Date: 7/5/2008 Subject: Great Dane pup untrainable
Question After loosing my last Great Dane to cancer (which killed me when I had to have her put down)I got another Great Dane pup in Jan of this year. My last dane was literally a prefect pup & dog...never hard to deal with from the time she came home with me. My new pup however, is the exact opposite with a multitude of very difficult problems to cure. I think she came from a puppy mill and she just isn't right in the head and I just can't take much more. I am a very patient person but she's pushed me to the brink of getting rid of her. She's about 7 months old and 80Lbs, quite a large pup and handful and she won't listen, EVER! She is an inside dog and I spend a lot of time with her. She has a doggie door and a big yard to run in on her own free will. I am self employed and home with her every day so it's not that she's neglicted for attention. She gets lots of attention although she doesn't seem to like it much...she's not affectionate as my last dane was. She's a giant dog but not gental at all. Here's the list problems that I desparetely need help with or she's not going to be my pup/dog much longer...
1) She is OVERLY hyperactive to the point she hurts me and any guests that come to the house. I get bloody lips and noses just trying to restrain her so she'll settle down...she just goes nuts no matter what I try. When you try to make her settle down by making her sit/stay put her on a leash ect she will bite and get even more excited to the point she's like a wild dog 100% out of control. She will not listen to you and she is not deaf...just doesn't care to listen.
2) She goes bizzurk when ever someone visits the house and literally shoots pee all over the house and the guests...the only way to keep this from happening is to put her outside when I know guests are coming. If someone is at the door and she knows...it takes at least 5 minutes to wrestle her to the back door and get her outside. Once outside...she trys to break the door down until she gets let back in...then she pees on the floor walks in it and then tries to jump on the guests which is why she got put outside in the first place.
3) She resists any attempt to train her. She will do something wrong, get scolded then goes right back and does the same thing over and over...she won't give up. Nothing works to make her stop except for crating her or putting her outside. I reprimand her by saying NO loudly and sometimes squirt her with a water bottle...I do not like to hit any animal as that sends the wrong message and will just make them afraid of you. She knows what NO means...she just doesn't care.
4) If I walk out into the back yard when she is out side...she will attack me unless I have a long stick to keep her away from me. I can't just walk up to her and pet her. She'll run full bore at you then try and jump on you and bite you HARD if she gets close enough. She won't stop when you tell her NO. She just goes at you harder. At first when she did this (from the time I got her in Jan) I thought maybe she was just playing hard and would grow out of it if I trained her not to jump and bite. She has gotten worse though and has not responded well to all my training attempts. She'll run circles around you barking and looking for an open spot to attack you. If she gets ahold of you...it's gonna hurt.
5)She likes to jump on everybody. I strongly say "NO jump" but it does no good. When I grab her collar and pull her down and say "no jump" so she can relate that jumping is a bad thing...it has no effect. s I think he knows what I am trying to get across to her...she just doesn't care.
I live alone and have spent virtually all my time trying to work with this pup since Jan 08 so she'll be a good dog but as I said nothing is working and she is just a major pain to deal with every second she is wake. It's getting worse the bigger she gets and I am finding myself wanting to give up and just rid of her but I know if I do..she'll eventually wind up in a shelter as her new owner won't likely put up with half of what I have. It's been a lot of trouble and no fun to deal with the constant aggrivation. As I said I've about had enough. The only time she is "good" is when she is asleep. I have trained many dogs successfully (including my last great dane which I dearly loved for the 8 years we had together) but this pup I am deeming "unwilling to be trained in any way". Any ideas as to what I can try before I have to get rid of her would be apprecaited. I know puppies are a handfull but this one far exceeds the defination of "a handfull" she's a major TAZ and way to big to have if she's going to be like this forever! My last step will be to try formal obedience training but I know how that works and have been trying to apply the same methods without any success. Are some dogs just "bad"...if so, I think I may have one...HELP!
Answer Well what I think might be better then taking her to obedience classes is to find a really excellent dog trainer that can come to your house and see first hand all the trouble you are having with your pup-I think this is your best bet,mind you it doesn't come cheap and it does take time
But these type of trainers can make a pup like yours in a dream dog-and a trainer like this can show you one on one how to deal with these issues,so call every trainer in your area and even ask your vet if he or she knows of such a trainer
At this point you have nothing to lose and a trainer can make miracles happen,but do call around and don't just go for the cheapest trainer,go for the one that has the most knowledge
This is a much better solution then just taking the puppy back ect Also this will work better then taking the dog to classes,because they trainer can just focus on you,rather then other dogs,some trainers do both so even call the ones that have classes and see if they do in house training
