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Hello everyone!
I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to have a dog. I have some mental health issues and this dog functions as my service animal. He is trained to wake me up from nightmares and distract me from compulsive rocking. Medication was not working for me so he has changed my life.
My dog is 1/2 Great Dane, 1/4 Lab, 1/4 Coonhound (Plott). He is big... will be upwards of 90-100lbs and is still very much a puppy at 20 months old.
He has an issue with mouthing, and I know labs have a soft mouth. He has carried an egg to me to ask my permission to open it, this is how gentle he is.. but he is a big tall brindle boy and people are NOT okay with him opening his mouth to them, as they should not be. I do not know how to remedy him of this behavior. Ignoring him doesn't work because he is willful. He will stop in the moment, but upon next meeting if I don't mitigate it he will try to play this way again.
On top of this.. if he sees a dog he wants to play with.. he will jump and bark. If the dog does the same, he will do so as well, despite being across the street. His best friend is a chi-rat terrier and his other bestie is an AmBullDog/Mastiff cross.. they 'bro' out together because they have a similar stature.. and he likes and greets other dogs just fine... when he is allowed to approach.
I see this longing in him to be more social, but it is hard to get an owner to understand that he is not aggressive, but excited.. because he is big.. his bark means business.. and people despite my reassurances shy away. I get it, and when he is working we are not okay to greet..
On top of this if he is obeying me he will cry and sob and howl and whine at another dog.. and I don't get where this is coming from and how to stop it..
I am not rich and therefore I am training him myself. He is so good at his psychiatric tasks on behalf of my health and he is an angel in the house.. and in structured obedience classes.. so what is going wrong here?
I am not afraid of him, trust him completely, I don't get mad at him for this behavior because he is a dog.. he has a very calming effect on me. I believe in positive reinforcement, rules, boundaries, and affection.. He has a Halti which decreases his ability to pull and a British style slip lead to keep his head up in the forest, because he is prey driven.
My dog also LOVES children.. loves them.. but he wants to play with them too rough and they are too small.. he will cry and bark to get to them, same way with dogs. I have a small child and she knows how to control him and follows my plan of direction for him, but on the street when children approach to ask I have to say "no, he is too excited" and its sad because I want him to get the attention he wants appropriately...
He walks 2-3 miles a day, training him now to run at my side on a bike lead.. because he is far more athletic than I am...
Any suggestions from other dog owners? Sorry for the giant essay, but I wanted to provide an accurate picture of everything I have noticed.
Thanks!
I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to have a dog. I have some mental health issues and this dog functions as my service animal. He is trained to wake me up from nightmares and distract me from compulsive rocking. Medication was not working for me so he has changed my life.
My dog is 1/2 Great Dane, 1/4 Lab, 1/4 Coonhound (Plott). He is big... will be upwards of 90-100lbs and is still very much a puppy at 20 months old.
He has an issue with mouthing, and I know labs have a soft mouth. He has carried an egg to me to ask my permission to open it, this is how gentle he is.. but he is a big tall brindle boy and people are NOT okay with him opening his mouth to them, as they should not be. I do not know how to remedy him of this behavior. Ignoring him doesn't work because he is willful. He will stop in the moment, but upon next meeting if I don't mitigate it he will try to play this way again.
On top of this.. if he sees a dog he wants to play with.. he will jump and bark. If the dog does the same, he will do so as well, despite being across the street. His best friend is a chi-rat terrier and his other bestie is an AmBullDog/Mastiff cross.. they 'bro' out together because they have a similar stature.. and he likes and greets other dogs just fine... when he is allowed to approach.
I see this longing in him to be more social, but it is hard to get an owner to understand that he is not aggressive, but excited.. because he is big.. his bark means business.. and people despite my reassurances shy away. I get it, and when he is working we are not okay to greet..
On top of this if he is obeying me he will cry and sob and howl and whine at another dog.. and I don't get where this is coming from and how to stop it..
I am not rich and therefore I am training him myself. He is so good at his psychiatric tasks on behalf of my health and he is an angel in the house.. and in structured obedience classes.. so what is going wrong here?
I am not afraid of him, trust him completely, I don't get mad at him for this behavior because he is a dog.. he has a very calming effect on me. I believe in positive reinforcement, rules, boundaries, and affection.. He has a Halti which decreases his ability to pull and a British style slip lead to keep his head up in the forest, because he is prey driven.
My dog also LOVES children.. loves them.. but he wants to play with them too rough and they are too small.. he will cry and bark to get to them, same way with dogs. I have a small child and she knows how to control him and follows my plan of direction for him, but on the street when children approach to ask I have to say "no, he is too excited" and its sad because I want him to get the attention he wants appropriately...
He walks 2-3 miles a day, training him now to run at my side on a bike lead.. because he is far more athletic than I am...
Any suggestions from other dog owners? Sorry for the giant essay, but I wanted to provide an accurate picture of everything I have noticed.
Thanks!