Were back! Urgent help needed though please!!!??!

[toppy]

Hi guys, hope u r all well and ur pooches are doing good!
I'm thinking this one may be for Bev, but any help at all would be fab!!

I'll start right from the beginning, sorry if it makes a long read!

My OH's uncle is living inbetween houses at the moment and was having trouble finding different places for his dog to stay, so yes we have been landed with him until uncle has got himself a house and back on his feet.
Mr Bojangles is a Dogue de Bordeaux cross Rottweiler (a mighty giant compared to milly) he's 11months old.  He usually lives with a Rottweiler.  He's a whole male bits still intact!
Round the house he is the perfect dog, doesnt bark or go to the door when someone is there, listens well to what you tell him, he really is Mr Perfect until.........................he goes out for his walks, then the trouble starts....

His usual leads are a harness and a choker   (can i just point out i dont like or agree with chokers and this has been replaced with a normal collar)
He pulls like mad no kind of heel work been done, he does focus on people coming towards us quite alot esp when its dark he bulks up in front which im quite scared of!  
Other dogs walking past on leads or when he on lead he lunges at he went for a little dog today which was tiny (smaller than milly)    
He goes for 3 walks a day, uncle normally always lets him off lead to do his poo (he wont do it on lead) then he has a little run then back on lead!  When no other dogs are about he is fab comes when hes called no problem!
This is leading to be a pain as we can only let him off lead when NO other dogs are around as he chases them like a loon although he seems more playful, but no one would like a bloody big dog like that darting towards them and he has no recall   which brings me to the next bit............this is where i think he confused, his real name is MR Bojangles, around the house he gets called Puppy dog but when out he responds to Mr or mist!!!!  

He really is a great dog and i dont want to have to pass him back to uncle so he can be thrown from one house to the next as i dont feel it fair on him and he's settled well here with all our animals, so ANY help would be great, i will attatch a pic at the end of this so you get the idead of his size.

 


Puppy Dog & Milly





EDIT TO ADD - We have tried distraction whilst walking him, because of the pulling one obviously has the leads and the other has tried distracing with treats, toys and balls, still no joy not interested in the slightest!

[kerrie and stan]

sorry not much help but he is a lovely dog, so is your little one

[Mudgie]

doesnt matter what size he is - doesn't matter what breed he is - training is training.  You need to go back to basics.  Look in stickies.  His name doesnt matter it is commands.  Nacho gets called, nooch pooch, noo noo, nach, nachie, tiger, smellypants, a whole load of stuff that is just to get attention what is important is the consistency of cues i.e. if you want a sit you say sit - down is down, heel is heel, come is come, etc etc.  So you need to do work on lead stuff - this is more difficult the older they are, you also need to work on leave it.  Have a read through and see what you think.  Any questions come back.  One step at a time.     At dog's pace not yours    the more you put in the more you get out.  Have a look at some of dodger's posts too Laura been through all this and came out the other end with a fantastic well adjusted dog and a very happy owner.

And good to see you and Milly back. 

And Mr Bojangles, Puppy Dog, Mr, Mist is one mighty fine very handsome pooch.   

[.dodger.]

sounds very much like me and Dodger although dodger is wanting to do a little less playing with dogs

This is leading to be a pain as we can only let him off lead when NO other dogs are around as he chases them like a loon although he seems more playful, but no one would like a bloody big dog like that darting towards them and he has no recall 

you really do need to go back to basics like Mudgie said - i did it and all the hard work sure does pay off

Just the other week Dodger was rolling around the ground playing with a 6 month old westie, something i never thought i would see

[xtine]

He is a very handsome chap  good luck with the work ahead 

[toppy]

Thanks guys, back to basics it is......found a few really helpful posts already! 
Starting it all today, should be fun haha! how do i get him to start pooing on the lead though, any ideas 

[kerrie and stan]

probly by getting him to go on cue of lead first then cueing him to go on lead

[Sweetypye]

A dog HAS to evacuate, he may PREFER to be off lead, however YOU are the person who should be telling the dog where and when it can eliminate.

You can start in the garden, always take him out on lead, if he does not eliminate, take him indoors; this is how I trained my dogs to eliminate in a designated spot in the garden.

It takes a few days, but if you do not give the dog a choice, eventually he will HAVE to do it on lead; simple.

Lovely looking dog, and well done for recognising that the picture he presents to others is not necessarily the one you want to promote.

Good lukc

[toppy]

Thanks guys, he had his first poo on lead today after much whinging and walking round  
Other half is having to take him out at the mo well hold his lead anyway as i think ive pulled something in my back with all his pulling, strong thing he is lol! im sure we will get there in the end  

Does anyone know a better lead or something to use just until we at least slow his pulling down, he uses a harnes but i swear they are worse than a 'normal' lead, hes all bulk up front where his harness is so i think it makes him pull more..............any suggestions 

[*Lassie*]

Toppy you can get a lead with a spring near the clip which dissipates the pulling
http://www.shopwiki.co.uk/Dog+Lead+Shock+Absorber

[kizkiznobite]

why is he on a harness? train him in a collar and leash

[toppy]

We just kept it on as uncle used to use it and he said helped with pulling, but it does nothing in my eyes lol wo we just starting out with collar now

[toppy]

hey guys
Well we have been away for two weeks visiting family, started lead work with puppydog hes doing ok with that if not slow, recall we have taken back to the house at lowest treat.

I have another little problem now though 
as i said we have been away for 2 weeks so puppydog had to go back to OH's uncle (or should i say uncles friend) We have noticed a big difference in pup since we got him back, hes even more alert to things when we are out and this scares me a little more as he is starting to get pure muscle at the front and loosing some of the sagging,
Also, before we went away thedogs (milly & Pup) have their own food bowls but they have always gone to whichever they have felt like eating from plus sharing the same bowl whilst both eating, but while we have been back he growls at milly whenever she goes near the same bowl as him  he kind of hovers his head over his bowl while looking straight forward but will watch milly out the corner of his eye tail between his legs 

I dont want to give up on Puppy Dog but at the same time i cant have them two not getting on
anyone please 

[Sweetypye]

You must realise that dogs generally do not do sharing and some breeds are more prone to resource guarding than others; it is not fair to either dog to continue to feed as you do presently, they must be fed separately so that one does not get stressed about being bullied and the other cannot practise inappropriate behaviour.

His behaviour around food is perfectly normal as this is what dogs do in the wild.

What is he like with food and humans?  Have you actively tried to prevent resource guarding from people by desensitising him to your presence?  This is VITAL in such a powerful large dog.

It sounds to me like you are a little bit afraid of this dog and that you realise that now he is maturing you may not have the confidence or knowledge or skills with which to handle him?

[Foxisle_crazy]

I second sweetypye in that you cant keep feeding them together, keep Milly out of the way for now, she's so tiny compared to him, it wouldn't take much force from him to cause her serious harm