AboutLabman Expertise Housebreaking, chewing, feeding Most medical questions are best handled through a local vet.
I try to base my answers on carefully proven methods confirmed by my own experience. Much of what I know about dogs, I have learned raising a puppy every year since 1991 for a large dog guide school. I am familiar with several similar programs. Nobody is in a better position to know dogs, need ones with long, active life, and share what they know, than the service dog schools. In addition I have done extensive reading. My answers have much more to back them than the limited experience any one dog owner can have.
PLEASE DON'T SEND ME MEDICAL OR BREEDING QUESTIONS. An internet forum is not the appropriate place for them. Even if I could tell what was wrong from a handful of symptoms, you would still need to get the medications from your local vet.
Breeding should be left to those not needing to ask simple, basic questions. Books have been written about it. Rather than ask me a question, start reading. Those unwilling to do the work it takes to produce quality puppies should spay/neuter their pets at 6 months. I will not answer questions that sound like a poorly prepared breeder.
Experience
Past/Present clients Been around the net a long time answering dog questions.
Question I have a St. Bernard that is 1.5 years old. I switch from a no pull harness to
the largest prong collar. I adjusted it by removing severa links to ensure
proper fit. It doesn't sit just under his ears and below jaw (I feel it is too tight
then). He is a really hard puller and actually got better when said collar was
put on. He now has almost a "rattle" when he pants and sounds hoarse when
he barks. Supposedly there is no damage to the trachea when these collars
are used. What should I do? What do you make of the situation? Thanks for
your help.
Answer Every type of collar seems to have its friends and foes with plenty of strong opinions and very few facts. Number me among those that don't like the looks of the prong collar. Event the strongest partisans of the prong collars admit proper fit is very important. I don't know enough about them to say if you had yours fit properly. If not, you could have injured the dog's neck. Perhaps the best thing is to get him to the vet.
I like head collars. The leading brands are Promise, Haltie, and Gentle Leader. They have a strap going around the dogs nose looking something like a muzzle. They work by pulling the dogs head around. No other way gives you such great control with so little force. You never want to use the same snap of the leash with one of them as the others.
One gentle technique I like is to just stop when he pulls. He wants to go. If you move forward when the leash is slack, and stop when he pulls, he should quickly figure out the only way to get to go, is not to pull. This is about teaching him not to pull, not getting somewhere. The man that taught it to me said "If in a half hour you haven't made it out to the front walk, fine, you have taught him a lesson. Pulling the dog backwards is a good technique too.
