MrStompy

hi Sas Thanks so much for your very kind offer. i will send you an email. We have been working hard with him and have been attending the local dog obedience school After seeing how the other dogs are i dont think our edmond is that bad after all. His problem is that his size exaggerates everything he does. When he doesnt sit in class it is obvious whereas the little dogs can get away with being disobedient. It is good though as it gives him a chance to be with other dogs as most dog owners out and about wont let their dogs near him because they think he will eat them (which he definitely would not do). I feel sorry for him about this as he is desperate to play with any other dog but doesnt get a chance too often as usually the other dog is too small, scared etc. Walks are much better too now. i use the body harness and a short leash. I carry treats and small squeeky toy. He still isnt interested in treats but when he becomes more interested in a passing dog or a bird etc i squeek the toy and he cant help himself but to look at it will usually gains a bit of time for the distraction to pass without too much fuss. thanks again everyone for the advice. its greatly appreciated

Ive gone back to only using the harness. I must say the last few days walking him have been a joy. I have also been using the advice i have been given here. I take treats and bribe him till he loses interest in them - i also keep a small squeeky toy in my pocket and that gets his attention back quick smart. Once he has lost interest in the treats i use the toy Changing direction often has been good too as he never knows what is going to happen. Tonight we walked past barking dogs but as i squeeked the little toy he was not interested in the other dogs like he would have been normally. I am looking foward to this weekends obedience school to see if he can control himself with all the other dogs there. Im sure he nearly got expelled last week :laugh:

Thanks for the links and info. I will probably avoid using the head collar again for the reasons you mentioned snook. From reading the links that Persephone shared I realise that I'm probably not too far off track with the training but I need to be more consistent. I will try a few of those ideas tmw. Like I said though around the house he is a really good dog - don't want to sound like I am complaining about him. We love him dearly. Even if he can be a little naughty sometimes. Just want to make sure we are being good owners

Depending on the time of day or what distractions are out he can get over excited and pull on his normal lead. I train with him all the time. On every walk. Usually have treats to reward him for doing the right thing but sometimes he isn't interested in them. I'm trying toys and things now to keep his attention.Around the house he is a very good dog. Does everything we expect of him. It's just out and about that I want to be sure I have complete control of him. I have done the puppy school stuff and recently started the group obedience classes. we went to a private lesson with a trainer and she got us onto the head collar. We will do more of that in the future too but I like the group obedience classes as there are heaps of other dogs there so hopefully he will get used to ignoring other dogs. We are very inexperienced dog trainers though.

Ive been getting conflicting advice regarding head collars or body harness for our 9mth old great Dane (I will try to add some images) Both work on him ie settle him down when walking. Tonight I went back to the body harness after relying on the head collar for the past couple months and he was a perfect dog. I'm thinking of using that instead of the head collar now till I am confident he can walk on just a lead I'm still not sure why one would be better than the other based on the breed of dog. No one has ever given me a clear reason why Is it just a personal preference or am I possibly doing the wrong thing by using either of these leaders. Thanks for the advice

Thanks everyone for the feedback. It makes sense that the outside world is too overwhelming for him. i guess i was expecting too much from him too soon. Since my initial post i have changed a few things for his walks. when i walk him i try to take him at different times than i was doing so there are fewer people around or to places that are not so popular. When he pulls on the lead now i stop and dont move again till he is not pulling or else walk the other way. The suggestion about taking a toy as well as treats is a great idea - usually a squeaker toy gets his attention pretty quick. I dont know why i didnt think of that ... makes a lot of sense The last few walks have actually been very promising with him. maybe he was having a bad week (or i was). I will check out those suggested sites. thanks again

We have an 8 month old Great dane. He is a great dog and we love him to death of course. Around the house he is a perfect dog i can get him to come when he is called, go to bed, sit, stay etc etc and even to be "gentle" (not sure how he knows what that means but tell him "gentle" and it works). At home he will do just about anything it seems for treats, he is fantastic and he is now at the point where he will most things without a treat - just kind words and a pat. He will walk on the lead beautifully in the yard and even to the point where i dont even need the lead - he will just stay next to me and voice commands keep him with me. He lulls us into a false sense of security and we venture beyond the yard and all of a sudden he is no longer interested in treats or us anymore To walk him out of the yard i have to use one of those head piece things that wrap a cord over his mouth. That was reccomended by a dog trainer and it has worked really well in the past but I am continually having to pull him up. I dont trust it and i dont think it is an indefinite solution. If he sees a little kid or another dog he will still fight me to try and get to them (not aggressively) I want to be able to trust that when he is just on a normal lead i wont have to fight him at all. He also gets way over excited and pulls hard on the lead. Ive tried stopping, walking back the other way, treats but he still pulls If he is off the lead at the beach or gets out of the yard he will do whatever pleases him and will not come when we call him. i basically have to trick him into coming to me or sneak up on him and put him back on his lead. I know that he just needs recall training for that but i dont know what to reward him with that will entice him to come to us when called as he is not interested in us or treats when out. I know some dogs are food driven and others are play driven but our boy changes what drives him depending where he is. He is food driven at home but out of the yard I dont know what drives him. I was hoping someone might have some suggestions on training tips or how i can reward him when out and about so that i can try to settle him down and get better control of him out of the yard. It is at the point now where we think very carefully about where we are going, who will be there and what time it is before we take him - ie we wont take him to the beach if we think it will be crowded. he is a very socialised dog - he comes most places with us but we have to very catious around kids and strangers etc not that he has any intentions of harming anyone its just through his size that he can easily knock a small kid over which he then thinks is a game. I really appreciate any advice you might have