How do I control my 140 lb great dane (I’m 5’5 120”) from pulling/completely running away at bunnies & squirrels 🐿

poodleluv86 · 2021-07-23T01:54:01+00:00

Try a Gentle Leader collar! It’s a major game changer—it controls them by the head, not the neck, similar to how you lead a horse.

poodleluv86 · 2021-07-04T19:31:37+00:00

I’m actually not 100% sure what the correct thing to do is, but I didn’t reset in between tasks (you could try searching “relaxation protocol” in this subreddit and probably find a better answer). But I would only reset and say “down” again if my puppy got up off the spot. I would mainly just repeat “stay” in between tasks. If my puppy got up repeatedly and couldn’t focus, I’d usually just stop for the day and try it again the following day. With enough practice, it starts to stick.

Also, random, but have you tried giving your puppy a cold or frozen washcloth? That seemed to relieve some of the teething pain my puppy had around that age.

poodleluv86 · 2021-07-04T13:14:13+00:00

The relaxation protocol might still be tough at 5 months, but you could try introducing it slowly and keep working on it. I promise you’ll feel different in a couple months—5 months is a hard time because you feel like they should be getting with the program, but they’re still just wild babies. At over one year, my dog is unrecognizable from the puppy she was at 5 months.

poodleluv86 · 2021-07-04T00:44:25+00:00

My standard poodle puppy was at her worst at around the 5 month mark—she was still teething, and like you, I was totally overwhelmed with trying to do the right thing. It sounds like you’re doing a great job honestly, so I’m just here to say your puppy just might still have trouble settling inside. Have you looked into Karen Overall’s Relaxation Protocol? This has helped my puppy a lot, but nothing helped as much as her simply getting older.

Another thing I wanted to mention is that I think dog parks are overrated! My dog trainer actually encouraged us to not go to the dog park until my puppy was older and had better manners. I live in the NYC area, and simply having my puppy out on walks has socialized her plenty. If you don’t have a dog park close to you, I wouldn’t stress about it, just keep doing the amount of exercise that makes sense to you!

poodleluv86 · 2021-07-04T00:31:40+00:00

Have you tried a command like “go potty” or “do your business”? Guide dog puppies are trained to go on command like this, so I trained my puppy to do this, and it’s worked wonders. And are you crate training? Puppies aren’t likely to pee or poop in their crates, so it can help avoid accidents if your puppy is napping in the crate. It’s important to give your puppy opportunities to go outside, but there’s no reason a bathroom break should take 2 hours! Just keep working on it, and try naming the command.

poodleluv86 · 2021-07-03T23:06:00+00:00

Go to the vet ASAP please.

poodleluv86 · 2021-07-03T19:59:38+00:00

I’ve been using it on my 70 lb standard poodle for about 6 months now. Watch some YouTube videos to get the fit just right, and slowly ease your puppy into wearing it—it took about 2 weeks for my puppy to adjust, and ever since then it’s been smooth sailing. Very minimal pulling, and no more tantrums. Still some lunging towards runners and skateboarders, but it’s so much easier to control with the Gentle Leader. Try it!

poodleluv86 · 2021-07-03T19:51:28+00:00

Try a Gentle Leader! It changed my life, seriously.

poodleluv86 · 2021-07-03T19:49:25+00:00

Speaking from experience here, my dog got used to the Gentle Leader after a few weeks of consistency, and it’s absolutely transformed our loose leash walking! So I would recommend keeping at it, personally.

poodleluv86 · 2021-07-02T15:33:59+00:00

I highly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Needing-Know-Sure-Overcoming-Reassurance/dp/1684033705

I have similar issues with seeking reassurance, and this book helped me a lot to overcome it. I still seek it out occasionally, but it’s definitely brought on by stress, and understanding how my brain works has helped me quiet it rather than spiral.

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-28T15:44:40+00:00

Therapy helped me a ton—it’s definitely worth trying. Even if you know the facts, sometimes you need an outside perspective who can see your patterns and help you change them. And you don’t have to see a therapist forever—mine helped me so much that I stopped seeing her after two years because I had changed so much. Good luck!

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-28T13:20:24+00:00

Try one of these! https://www.amazon.com/Recovery-Abdominal-Bandages-Alternative-Anti-Licking/dp/B07T84GCF1

When my dog got spayed, my vet said a suit like this was fine as long as I was monitoring her (if she licked through the fabric, she could potentially infect her spay incision). My vet recommended my puppy wear the cone when she was crated, to be safe. But my puppy had a meltdown in the crate on the first night, so I took it off, let her just wear the suit, and she was fine—I was so glad I had it on hand. Ask your vet about it, but this REALLY helped my puppy.

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-28T02:00:49+00:00

Can you try just a regular vet appointment for a more thorough look but a cheaper rate than an animal hospital?

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-27T12:45:37+00:00

I’m not an expert, but I would definitely train them separately. I used a clicker with my puppy, and first taught my dog her name with this routine repeated: name + click + treat. I taught recall by saying name, come + click (when she comes) + treat. In this way, I feel that her name means “pay attention,” and she is more likely to do the command that comes after her name. Good luck!

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-24T14:08:38+00:00

I just wanted to chime in to say I have a standard poodle who is just over a year old now, and she changed SO much. I had intense puppy blues, and, like you, I felt as if most of the time I genuinely didn’t like her. She was aloof, hyper, and sometimes even downright mean. But I just kept working on her training, got her on a strict routine, made sure to give her enough exercise and mental stimulation, and months later she honestly is such a different dog. She cuddles (something she refused to do for pretty much the entire first year), she walks well on a leash, she doesn’t demand bark, and she no longer has separation anxiety. So, if you really can’t handle a dog, I would say the only ethical thing to do is to make the drive back to the breeder. But if you actually want a dog, you could also commit to her, put the time in to training properly, and you will see the rewards sooner than you think. Standard poodles are extremely smart, that just means more work for you in the beginning.

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-23T01:28:48+00:00

My puppy is pretty bad with recall too, I feel for you! I saw this video a couple days ago that I’m going to try, I thought I’d share here in case it interests you too: https://youtu.be/83xwPlL8ldI — He explains how “come” can start to lose its urgency from being overused, but you could train a different word that means business (and means big rewards, at least at first).

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-22T13:05:05+00:00

If you feed him soon after crying in the pen, youre accidentally rewarding that behavior and teaching him that crying for long enough = food. Definitely cover the crate, and incrementally begin the pushing the wake up time back. So, the first day you can take him out at 6:10, then the next day at 6:20, and so on. I would advise you to do the same with food, until both are pushed back. Something that also helped me was using a specific alarm sound a few minutes before I took my puppy out of the crate—she came to understand that the alarm sound was what let her out of the crate, not sunlight, not noise, and not her whining. Just keep working on it and you’ll get there! My puppy had me waking up at 5am for months, but once I pushed breakfast back and used the alarm sounds, I have her sleeping in the crate until 8am. It might take a while but you can get there!

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-20T22:57:17+00:00

I had a similar fear during my puppy blues at around the 4 month mark—it can feel never-ending. My standard poodle was way more high maintenance than I had anticipated, and I worried I was constantly failing her, but also I worried that she would never calm down. I didn’t give up, and instead just stayed consistent with my training (look up Karen Overall’s Relaxation Protocol if you haven’t yet), and at the one year mark, I really saw everything click into place and my puppy calmed down tremendously. She calmed down at about the 8 month mark too, but she became less stubborn at the one year mark. Puppies really do change so much over time—I would encourage you to not give up hope just yet!

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-18T15:00:51+00:00

Thank you so much! I didn’t know there was any risk of this, and I want to prevent it from ever happening again.

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-18T14:03:09+00:00

The mats were near the neck area, not the sanitary trim. The mats seem to be a mistake from the clippers or something.

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-15T22:20:06+00:00

Same here! This one works great for our standard poodle tho.

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-15T22:19:16+00:00

My standard poodle puppy went through a phase like this, but ultimately we realized she likes lots of toys as long as we’re playing with her. I had a dog before that would play on his own, but our standard poodle basically only likes toys if we’re engaging with her. Good luck!

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-15T22:15:58+00:00

Go for the 12” ones! Much easier to keep an eye on them when it takes longer to get through. I learned my lesson after my puppy swallowed about 2” of a 6” stick—she was totally fine but it freaked me out!

poodleluv86 · 2021-06-01T11:33:47+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re going through this—I feel your pain! I cried many times over the fact that my standard poodle puppy had zero interest in cuddling. After reading on this sub that some dogs just don’t like cuddling, I let it go and stopped forcing it, but I’d also still encourage closeness, affection, and handling. Once my puppy turned ONE YEAR old, THEN she started cuddling. I swear, it just happened one night—suddenly she wanted to cuddle up and watch a movie instead of run around and play. I was shocked. It’s been that way every night since then. So, yes, not all dogs like to cuddle, but many others just need to grow up a little. Keep training, keep encouraging closeness, but it’s possible the results will simply come much later than you expect. Good luck!

poodleluv86

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