How to behave

[DellaDane]

Cindy and Merlin


Merlin is almost 10 months now and 130lbs. His behavior has improved greatly. I can trust him, he plays well with others, and he listens to me. I have one problem. My sister has 2 italian greyhounds. Whenever she tries to bring them over, Merlin goes crazy. I have to put the collar and leash on him, and he wont listen, he keeps lunging at the little guys.He is not being aggressive, only very happy and excited, but way to wild and rough. He only acts like this with them. We have tried to socialize them slowly, but he just wants to play very roughly with them, which includes pouncing. I dont really want them to play together because he could hurt them even being calm, but how do I make him behave better in situations like this. Thanks

[danelvr]

RE: How to behave

hello,
does he do this with all dogs, or just the two italian greyhounds? maybe you could use your "sit stay command" and keep his attention with a treat or something like that? with my other dog that used to do things like that, i mean with everything, people, dogs, cats, heck even his own tail , i would grab him, and say sit, down stay, and i would lay down with him holding him, and eventually he learned. tons of trainers told me this was wrong though, but it worked for me! ! ! sorry for ramblinf, thought i could maybe help a little?

[DellaDane]

RE: How to behave

Cindy and Merlin

He is excited around other dogs, and its only a problem because he is so big. But he goes CRAZY around my sisters dogs. (9 lbs and 3 lbs)I put the pinch collar and leash on him ,and I say NO, and he stops lunging for a sec, then repeats the whole process. Maybe I will contact that guy on the animal planet from the show GOOD DOG U, and have him help lol ehhheehhe

[danelvr]

RE: How to behave

hello,

i know how you feel, my doggie chance, wen he was 8 weeks old, he was huge(well my largest dog) and he LOVED playing with the neighbors dog. but she was only a pup too, and at that only 4 pounds ! ! so she got the short straw, and was always being picked on by him. he was good with her, but hated other dogs. even though we had tried hard to socialize him. this kind of gave us a social handicap since he would try to eat every moving thing, literally. so he did this for ehh. somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 months! ! im sure your dog is much better behaved though. this dog was a nightmare from the get go. anyway, good dog u huh? hahahahhaa, i remember watching that a lot. and there was always this one show on on theose PBS telecast fundraiser things, and i would watch it, same guy?!?!?!!!?!??! anyway good luck. other than give you susanne colthier, i think her name is, try finding her website, its really good ! ! ! i printed out tons of info from her site ! ! ! good luck! !

[dina]

RE: How to behave

Cindy,
Part of this is probably AGE related- Merlin is an adolescent now. You know how those teenage boys can be :-). If you are not already in a weekly obedience class enroll him in one- even if he already took a puppy & a basic class. Now is a great time to reinforce it with another class. There you can practice exercises where Merlin sits & stays & pays attention to you while other dogs heel around you. This is very helpful in helping them gain a little self control. For now, when your sister comes over put him in a down stay at your side with your leash & collar on him so you can correct him on the spot. Alot of dogs have a much easier time complying with a down stay when they're excited than a sit stay. Guess it takes more effort to get up then, I dunno <G>.
Dina