Dog Behavior Problem Prevention Starts Early
Following these 8 simple rules can help thwart a future dog behavior problem in your Great Dane or large breed dog.
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These eight simple common sense rules..
Will keep innocent puppy behavior and actions from leading to bad habits, or a dog behavior problem that can be dangerous with an adult giant breed and difficult to correct! Prevention starts early, enforcing simple "house rules" will pay-off, especially with a puppy who will grow to giant Dane stature.
What?, How?
It's easy and simply put, we've come up with eight innocent puppy quirks that we should NOT to teach a Great Dane. Trust us, it's much easier prevent a dog behavior problem before it begins then to deal with and correct as a bad habit. Bad dog behavior and habits are hard to break and you will absolutely be pulling your hair out with a Great Dane!
A Danes craftiness is also uncanny! You may never catch your dog up on the couch yet will be amazed and bewildered when you take a seat and it radiates warmth. Feels like four people just got up after watching a 14-inning baseball game:)
The good news is you can start with these "house rules" the day your puppy comes home. So, let's have at it!
#1 - Calm in the house!
If you don't want a house full of broken furniture, we recommend never playing rough with your Dane, especially inside your home. When your Dane gets the "zoomies", a.k.a., a burst of energy.. calmly direct them to a safe outdoor area to run around and let it all hang out.
#2 - Watch those paws!
Adult Great Danes have massive paws as large as a human hand. It's kind of cute when a pup gives you a high five, however, an adult Great Dane can hit you like a heavyweight boxer.
Playing patty-cake with your dog can lead to a dog behavior problem resulting in black eyes, broken eyeglasses and other painful injuries when your dog is full grown.
#3 - Four on the floor!
Danes in general will not jump up on people, they don't have to, they just look up and they're almost nudging your chin. If a Giant adult Great Dane decides to dance with you, you'll be seeing eye to eye or actually looking up at him. Unless trained to be gentle, an unexpected tango can easily topple an full grown man! Dancing Danes may further develop a dog behavior problem that leads to canine crimes such as jumping up on people, cars, counter tops, and even the refrigerator! Stop this dog behavior problem before someone gets hurt, or dies from fright:)
"An unexpected tango can easily topple a full grown man!"
#4 - Off the couch!
Your call, Danes are notorious couch potatoes and bed potatoes for that matter. Typically, if you let them up once you can expect they will be there for life. This can be a troublesome dog behavior problem and may become a habit that is very difficult to break. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to cuddle up with a big warm Dane but I should warn you! My wife and I tried it once, we both woke up on opposite sides of the bed with about 12-inches of space each and we have a king size bed:) As you read more about training Great Danes, you'll find that a dog should be at the bottom of the pecking order within its human pack. Allowing a dog up on your throne may give him a sense of power. This can escalate over time into other bad dog behavior, in some cases, even aggression.
#5 - No people parts!
As with all dogs, it's not advised to let a dog mouth you. Great Danes can be very gentle, even with powerful jaws, yet this behavior is unacceptable. Mouthing a human can lead to a dog with a behavior problem around strangers. Go ahead, let her lick you to death but always keep people parts out of the mouth.
#6 - Lower your voice!
"A Great Dane's bark is a powerful deep blast that echo's through the valley."
Training Great Danes to speak is not a GREAT idea, we teach tell-me instead, this is more of a Raaraaaarara low-pitched grumble. As it goes, speak typically translates to bark for most dogs. A Great Dane's bark is a powerful deep blast that echo's through the valley, I'm not kidding. A barking Great Dane will only get your neighbors angry and probably wake every sleeping dog in a 2-mile radius:)
#7 - Stand up straight!
Danes are skilled leaners so this may be tough. Not necessarily bad dog behavior amongst adults, yet a leaning Dane can easily topple most children.
#8 - Gentle!
Not one of the five basic obedience commands for training Great Danes but we found it necessary. A massive Dane running down a flight of stairs or a hallway is a train wreck waiting to happen, especially when it's sharing the track with other family members. My "gentle" command is often called when I'm greeted after a long day at work. "Gentle" helps keep that tail under control and eliminates massive leg welts:)
Remember, your puppy's actions are probably cute at the moment, but give it a year. Many of these seemingly harmless quirks can become down right dangerous when delivered by a 160-pound adult Great Dane.
House rules should be enforced, you can even come up with your own! Just stick with them, start as early as you can and you'll avoid all together a dog behavior problem, bad dog behavior, and future bad habits in your adult Great Dane.
