Big Paws Only Dog Forums

Jack is 9 months old today and he's also going through a bit of a rebelious teenager thing.  Basically lately it seems like he almost never responds to a command without us repeating it or giving him a correction.  We have come to the conclusion that we can't give him the benefit of the repeat so we are just using corrections.  After all he does KNOW these commands (he he's been through puppy obedience classes and sessions with an individual trainer and LOTS of practice at home). So since he's just choosing to ignore us, so there has to be a consequence EVERY time.  He's already getting better over the last few days since we up'd our expectations and aren't letting him slide.  He had surgery recently so I think part of the problem is that we were feeling sorry for him and letting him get away with things.  NO MORE!  Back to being consistent!  

I think it's important to realize that while you feel bad for correcting them all the time and making them listen every minute, the alternative is having a dog that you are constantly mad at or annoyed with, and one that doesn't get to participate in as much of your life because they aren't well behaved enough.  I think that leaving them out, and not helping them reach their full potential is much more "mean" than teaching them how to behave properly, even if it means a lot of reprimands and corrections which make you feel "mean" along the way.

It's also really important that you and your hubby get on the same page, even if you have to compromise on what your expectations, commands, and corrections will be.  If you both aren't following the same training procedures your pup will just be confused and even less likely to listen.

Linda Arndt is GREAT, she has been such a help to me with Jack's growth issues, which we first thought were Pano, and then found out was actually elbow dysplasia.  But we are now following her othopedic feeding/supplement program.  She strongly recommends feeding Eagle Pack Large & Giant Breed Puppy as the first step in solving your pups problems.  Check out her website for more info.  Here's the link to the HOD program.

http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/feed_program_for_hod.htm

Here's the link for Eagle Pack so you can find the store closest to you that sells it.  I'd advise that you call them before you go to make sure they have the Large Breed Puppy formula, as there are many Eagle Pack formulas and they don't always carry all of them at the same time.  Make sure you get the regular (not the Holistic variety) as it is the one that is proven to work to treat these conditions.

http://www.eaglepack.com/retailer_search/


Good luck, feel free to email me if you have any questions!
- Cortney

Well our Swissy weighs 100 lbs and the large fits her great and still has room to grow.  Our Pyr weighs 92 but is already more broad then her and so we got him the XL but we have to tighten it all the way for it to fit him.  My sister has two great danes (130 and 170 lbs) and they both wear the XL.  So I think the size chart is a little off!

We've never had to clip Greta or Jack's nails since we do daily walks on paved sidewalks/bike trails.  They just naturally wear down to the appropriate length.  Jack does have double dew claws so we trim those every 2-3 weeks, which he's not thrilled about, but goes along with anyway.

Here's a picture of his mouth. It doesn't really seem to be an overbite as you may think at once, but if you'd see him in person, his bottom jaw seems to be too small overall.
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From what I've read usually the only problem with an overshot jaw is that when the permanent bottom teeth grow in they can poke into the soft tissue of the upper jaw and cause problems.  If that happens, they can just pull the tooth or teeth that are rubbing and the dog does just fine without them.  It doesn't seem to be a big deal.

Good luck with your new baby - he's adorable.  He needs a name!!!  How about Buck (as in buck teeth)!   

So glad to hear you don't have to go through surgery - it's no fun - Jack can attest to that.  Pano is really the best diagnosis you could have hoped for, that's great!  As for pain, when our vet thought Jack's limp was due to pano, she suggested 500 mg of BUFFERED Aspirin up to twice a day as needed for pain.  In addition you may want to check out the "great dane lady"'s pano feeding/supplement program at the link below.  She is a canine nutritionist and specializes in issues of large/giant breeds.  We're still using this for Jack, even though it was ED because the joint supplements are helpful for all kinds of growth issues for our large breed babies.

http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/feed_program_for_pano.htm

Do you do a competitive obedience with him?

No we took him to a puppy kindergarten class at Petsmart to socialize and learn the basics from 2-4 months old then we did individual sessions with the trainer we used for Greta to reinforce commands and work on commands without treats.  We had contemplated having him get his CGC but that was before the surgery.  We'll see if we want to brush up and do that after he's all better.  We just like our dogs to have good manners and to listen when it counts - thus are focus on obedience.  When we decided to get dogs we agreed that we would put whatever training was necessary into them so that they could really be part of our lives and could always be around company, other dogs and cats, any kids we may have someday, and so they could do vacations with us and go to as many public places with us as possible.  The basic obedience stuff is just to keep us focused on their training and to give them lots of practice!