Big Dog,
Big personality!
"A
Dog is A Dog"!
That's
what I've been told by so many so called 'dog trainers'.
I think
this statement is nonsense; it's the same as saying that people are all the
same, which we know is a stupid thing to say. We've kept dogs for years and had
several different breeds from very small dogs such Dachshunds to Poodles,
Labradors, Dobermans and for several years now we have shared our home with the
gentle giants, Great Danes.
So I
know first hand that not only does each dog have his or her personality but
also that various breeds have certain traits and characteristics.
It's easy to
understand this is if you ask yourself why a particular breed was developed in
the first place? What was the dog going to be used for and what it was the
original breeder was trying to produce?
The Gentle
Giants.
Big Dog
with a BIG personality.
I love
dogs and as I've already said we have always had them around us.
This is
probably going to be difficult to explain, and for anyone who doesn't or has
never had the pleasure of owning a Giant Breed Dog, this will be difficult to
understand.
This BIG personality I mentioned earlier is something that you just
don't get in smaller dogs, yeah sure you get dogs that are feisty and dogs that
aren't afraid of anything but that isn't what I'm talking about.
It's more
than that, It's like having another person in the house.
It isn't the physical
size either. I said this would be difficult to explain! Giant dogs are just
like no other dogs in my opinion and you'll soon find that the attachment you
develop with a large breed dog is different to any you've ever experienced with
a pet animal.
I
attribute this to the 'BIG personality' I've tried to explain.
Training
Who's the Boss here!
I now
firmly believe that the training of a giant breed dog such as a Great Dane, Irish
Wolf Hound, or Mastiff to mention a few, is not the same as you would approach
the training of a, Labrador for example. Partly because of the physical size
but more because of the dogs spirit.
Don't
get me wrong, I'm not saying it's any harder to train a giant breed then it is
to train a smaller dog, I'm just saying it's different!
The
Trainer
There
are many so called 'Trainers' out there who are not only unqualified but have
little or no knowledge of training a Giant Breed Dog. Some of the techniques they
may use are actually counter productive.
Luckily
there are some good qualified dog trainers out there who do have knowledge of
all breeds, trainers who believe in training dogs using kind and proven methods
such as positive reinforcement.
Training
costs vary enormously
, I can highly recommend 'Secrets To Dog Training' by
Daniel Stevens for all your dog training needs.
I can't emphasize enough that a
badly or un-trained dog is dangerous but an un-trained GIANT dog is in another
league.
I'm not
suggesting for one minute that all poorly trained giant breed dogs are going to
kill everyone but what I am saying is,
If you
are unable to recall a 150 pound Great Dane who decides to run directly into
someone then your going to need some pretty good insurance. And of course
there's always the possibility you could loose your dog if he decided to run
onto a busy road not to mention the resulting chaos caused and possible injury
to road users.
I've
seen with my own eyes someone getting hit from behind by a Great Dane at full
speed (NOT one of my dogs I add).
That
person literally went several feet into the air before crashing down on the
hard ground which could have resulted in serious injuries. This sort of thing
can easily be avoided with the correct training.
So what
are you waiting for?
If you
love your dog, you'll love him even more when you've properly trained him.
Good
luck and please believe me, Giant Dogs need training.
Article
Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Edwards
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