Big Paws Only Dog Forums

I always stop to talk to people with giant dogs.  But I get REALLY excited when a new big paw comes to board at the kennel where I work, and I miss my big friends when they don't come.  This Thanksgiving I guess all of my big friends got to stay home, Maggie the Dane didn't come, and neither did Zeus.  Chester the messy Newfie (he constantly bathes in his water bucket) stayed home, and so did my best friend Derry, the Irish wolfhound. Gulliver the St. Bernard got to stay with Grandma, but his sweet mom thought of us anyway, and brought us pumpkin bread.  Allie came (she's a Pyr) but only stayed overnight.  A new Newfie is coming next week, though, and a mastiff that we had as a 4 month old pup last year is coming to visit for Christmas- I can't wait to see how much he's grown!!

Forgot to mention another option.  Med called Wellbutrin.  Acts as an antidepressant but also is highly successful in smoking cessation.  A good friend of mine could not tolerate the patch and went on wellbutrin with excellent results.  She is smoke free.  Everyone is different.  One method I will warn you against is the nasal spray or the nicotine inhalers.  We don't use them here much because of the serious side effects and hospital stays. 

Count me in as a Wellbutrin success story! I tried everything, the patch (would get home from my non-smoking work, rip it off, and make up for lost time all evening) gum (made me puke), hypnosis (faded after a few weeks) acupunture (felt great, but I still smoked) even those things you clip on your ear (looked odd, made my ears sore). 
When I tried cold turkey I had horrible depression, mood swings, trouble concentrating, and two fender benders.  The Wellbutrin made it easy. You can still smoke while taking it, after the first week you just don't WANT as many cigarettes, so it's easy to cut down. Then you can start taking out the ones you think you really need, like the one when you wake up, or after meals.  The Wellbutrin (also marketed as Zyban) helps even out the highs and lows, so you don't feel the need for that nicotine "boost".  It took me about 8 weeks 'til I smoked my last cigarette, and about another month to make sure before I stopped the Wellbutrin.  I've been smoke free now for more than SEVEN YEARS- and have no desire at all- even when other people light up around me. 

Earnest chewed it up within 2 minutes, even frozen solid.  Then (because it was really cheap) I tried a chilly banana, that was worse, little pieces of plastic everywhere! Frozen bones were the only thing that lasted any time at all. 

My biggest problem with the whole debate is the way that an awful lot of trainers and vets reccommend the GL and slam the prong collar.  There are pros and cons to BOTH and it really comes down to what works for your dog.  It's the ATTITUDE that gets me going.
I've seen a lot of dogs who went to training and are months down the road, still fighting the GL and still pulling.  Some of these would be good candidates for the prong, but their owners have been told by someone that the prong is cruel, so they struggle on, both them and the dog frustrated and upset, conned into using a tool that doesn't work for them.  I know of 2 dogs that got rehomed in exactly this scenario, the new owner switched to a different tool, and the dogs learned fast.  The previous owner was heartbroken to give them up, but a physical problem made it impossible for her to continue attempting to walk them.  How sad that an inflexible trainer allowed her to think that the dogs were "stubborn" and "bad" when all they needed was a different set of signals.

I tried a GL on Earnest and he layed on the ground and hollered like I was killing him.  I used a plastic prong on him until he learned "walk nice". I still use it once in a while, as insurance if we're going somewhere that might be really  exciting.  My son took a class with Phyfe where there were a lot of little fluffy dogs, I wasn't sure how he'd react and we weren't allowed to use his prong, so I let them try a GL. He worked with it on, but his whole attitude was "I'm a good boy, why are you making me wear this nasty thing?" He was so unhappy, I won't make him wear it ever again.  Some people have great success with them, but I'm concerned about the psychological effects, I've seen too many dogs terribly depressed and upset by them.  At the kennel where I work I've only seen one or two dogs that really benefitted from them.
Here's two good articles about GLs and Prongs:
http://www.flyingdogpress.com/headhalters.html
http://www.flyingdogpress.com/prong.html

Phyfe is the most laid back sweetie ever. Nothing phases him. Of course part of that is because he is not the most attentive dog in the world. Sometimes he really seems to be daydreaming, or asleep on his feet. His most common expression is that of bewilderment "Wha happened?"
He's very willing, but a little slow. Not so much dumb, as that the signals from his brain take a long time to get to the rest of his big body. When you say "sit" you can see the command sink in- then slowly the gears mesh, and his butt lowers to the floor.  Same with any other command- he does it willingly and well, just don't be in a hurry.
He doesn't really play with other dogs, we suspect he grew up with horses and he doesn't really understand dog games.  At the dog park he joins in the initial wild chase, then he'd rather hang out with the people. He doesn't fetch, or do tricks.  He's an incredibly loving dog, and my "leaner" He loves to come and lean against my knees and smile, like he's thanking me for his new life.  Balancing all this sweetness is a fierce protective instinct.  He ignores visitors when we are home, but woe to anyone who tried to enter when we weren't.  He also doesn't like strangers touching our car or our stuff.  I can leave my purse on a picnic table in the park and walk away, if anyone went near it they'd get Phyfe's big growly GET AWAY FROM THAT bark!
Earnest- well, Earnest
He's not a dog, he's a five year old human in a dog suit. Amazingly smart, Earnest understands everything that goes on around him.  He knows lots of people language, and when he sees something new he will look at me with his brow wrinkled until I tell him the word for it. "Llama, Earnest, that's a llama." then he'll kind of dip his head to acknowledge the word and walk on. He talks, too. He has a huge range of noises and groans that all mean something very specific. He's taught me as much of his language as I have taught him of mine.
Show him once and he's got the basics of any trick.  Repeat it ten times or so and he's got it for life, even if you don't ask for that trick for months.
Earnest loves big machines, like track hoes and the street sweeper. One night at an odd time he insisted he needed to go potty, so I took him out on the lead in the front yard. Instead of sniffing he kept looking off down the street. Turned out the street cleaning machine was coming, and he lied to me about going potty so he could see it better!
He very much acts like a kid, too.  He'll crowd the skinkid off the couch if he thinks he can get away with it, and act extra sweet and beg with those soulful eyes to get to go to work with mommy. 
Romie the manx is HIS cat, we can't go to sleep until Romie comes to bed, too. He ignores the other two cats, but looks for Romie every time we come home from somewhere. He'll back off from his dish so Romie can eat, but the other cats get chased away. I think he thinks she's some kind of weird dog- that makes sense because she seems to think so, too.
He's the Alpha dog most everywhere, but it's all posture and show. Most dogs just acknowledge his superiority and he doesn't need to prove anything, but if a dog objects to having it's feet or neck mouthed, Earnest won't fight, he'll just walk away. Rather than push the issue he somehow has the ablity to isolate the dog that is dumb enough not to recognize his leadership.  He just walks away-- but he takes all the other dogs with him. 
He loves everyone, and if a burglar came he'd just show him where the cookies are. 

My boys wear prongs for walking, but no collars when no one is home.  They went naked when they were crated, now that they have free run of the house they wear harnesses 24/7 so I have a "handle" if I need one.  They're tight enough to catch or guide them, but if they pull back hard enough (like if they were caught) they can back out of them. 
I like the Premier harness, it has two buckles at the shoulders, so you can put it on over their heads and buckle it, you don't have to have them "step in".