This jumping up at people is getting worse, so its time to put a stop it now! thing is I'm not sure how :unsure:

Basically when we walk down the street when we get level with people Nev wants to jump up at them and it scares the hell out of people as he's so big. He never gets to touch them as we yank him away quick.
He waits till your dead level with people then jumps up without any warning other times he ignores people completly.
Even if you hold him by the collar he's so quick and strong he's jumped at them before you have chance to stop him.
As this happens as people approach us head on theres no point doing a 180dg turn as you'll then be following the same person, and we cant make him sit every time someones walking toward us or we'd come to a complete stand still in town centers.

Also though not exactly the same problem, when we get level with people with dogs but over the rd from us he'll rear up on his back legs trying to get to them, I think to sniff & play, so again is kinda jumping up. Again as there over the rd when this happens & usualy walking the opposit way to us if I walk backward we are prolonging the point at which we are level with the other dog. He also barks & moans loudly.

Any tips on this one lol?

Rob :)

Ps,
Went out today at 05:30 with him and it was great as no-one was out :lol: :lol:

Have you thought about a gentle leader for him Rob ? That way until you sort this out , you have complete control of Nev's head and you will probably be able to feel a lot quicker when he is going to jump while he is wearing it . I know without the Gentle leader there was no way i would have been strong enough to hold Storm with the issues he had , when he kicked off he was like a whirling tazmanian devil on the end of the lead Storm was about 12 and a half stone at that time and i was just under 9 stone so a flat collar and lead would have been no good .

A good sharp Leave should work in time too or the watch me command ,i know it takes a lot of practise to teach watch me but it is a very useful command in all kinds of situations , one of my proudest moments with Storm was when he responded to watch me while he was off lead and going to kick off at another dog through a fence , as soon as i said watch me he did and came accross and sat in front of me waiting for a treat and completely ignored the other dog .

I would still turn him away from people if you think he is going to jump up on them , the last think you want is somebody reporting you for not having him under proper control , sadly in this day and age where the media stir up a frenzy when there is a dog attack people are becoming more informed about the Dangerous Dogs Act , which states in section 10 paragraph 3

(3) For the purposes of this Act a dog shall be regarded as dangerously out of control on any occasion on which there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will injure any person, whether or not it actually does so, but references to a dog injuring a person or there being grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will do so do not include references to any case in which the dog is being used for a lawful purpose by a constable or a person in the service of the Crown.

The grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will injure any person, whether or not it actually does so is the bit that worries me , somebody who is used to dogs might get a fright at him jumping up but for somebody who is scared of dogs they might be terrified and honestly believe they are in danger of being bitten , thats where it becomes a kind of grey area and you would have to prove that Nev did not intend any harm which could prove to be very difficult particularly with so much focus on dangerous dogs at the moment , it is a sad fact of being a responsible dog owner these days we have to for their safety have them under proper control at all times particularly as Pyrs are such huge dogs

Fiona xx

Fiona you hit the nail on the head and typed my concerns!

The "eeks" you get when he wants to jump at people are genuine cry's of alarm due to his size and if it were someone with a bad heart, illness, or an elderly person we'd both be in big trouble!

I tried Nev with Halti, however sadly I bought one with the pic of the great dane on..size 4 or 5 it was and it was too big..only slightly too big but enough for me to be concerned, also Nev hated it.

I think you sent me a link to a place that sold gentle leaders but I've lost it :( and have searched ebay and cant find one Nevs size.

We also spoke of half check collars however that I doubt will solve the jumping problem.
The way things are at the moment, I have to either cross over the road to avoid a problem or keep him on a mega short lead or hold his collar if I suspect he'll jump or lunge at a dog etc. I know he'll feel this tension on the lead or collar and react to it however its the only way I can keep control.

Hence..(and you can phone Joanne to ask) I have been asking her to set the alarm at 5am so I can have a coffee and then take Nev out at 05:30- 06:00am so we avoid the majority of people and dogs, at night I go between 6.30pm -9pm and go places (ie: the costal road) where I can ..if need be, give people and dogs a wide berth.

I know nev only wants to play, and after the worries and concerns we've had over aggression and such, this is a small mole hill by comparison..however as you said other people maynot see it this way..I know some of the people we've met already have been very alarmed.

I'll continue searching for a gentle leader..if not I'll have to try another Halti.

Thanks Rob :)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CANAC-GENTLE-HEAD-LE...1QQcmdZViewItem

Hope this link works Large will be fine for Nev Storm wears Large but Akira gets away with the medium :D

Fiona xx

Wonder why that didn't come up when I search :angry:

Do you think that'd be ok for Nev as the halti I bought (also for great danes) was too big...I think maybe like Akira he may have a little head? Or are they adjustable if too big?

Rob

They are adjustable Rob and i would go for the Large for Nev as Akira has a really fine head and Nev will still be growing

Fiona xx

Can't add much to what Fiona said... you might also want to try to throw a few treats on the floor as soon as he spots a person and goes up to them. That will eventually teach him to focus on the floor when walking past people rather than think about jumping up!

Alternatively you can do what I did: I offered treats as soon as we got near someone and taught our dogs to look at me and get a treat rather than jump up on people or chase joggers/bikes. It worked great!

Re head collar: Troy has got a leather Dogmatic headcollar. Absolutely fantastic. More expensive, but lasts forever and fits really well. (Have used the Gentle Leaders too and they worked fine, but Troy would keep biting the strap under his chin through, he does that with the Dogmatic too, but with that one it can easily be replaced with a fabric collar.)

Vera

I'll go for the genlte leader for now as to be honest money is tight at the moment, see how we go.
I tke treats and if I think he's gonna do something I say "look at me" and give him something, we still not there with the watch me command esp where other dogs are so we have a long long way to go, still will do everything mentioned and keep at it, hopefully in time we will get there.

Now for the gentle leader...where did joanne hide her purse :P :D :lol: :lol:

Ps, Nev also likes Joggers and Bikes..so its same story with them. :rolleyes:

pps

Whats the difference in a Halti and a gentle leader??


Rob :)

*Edited to add..I'm quite happy as I just phoned pets at home and they have them in store for £10..so only 70p more, and we can try them on to ensure we get the right size, as I can't afford to waste more money or wofeepoo will kill me lol.

Have to say tho the young lad on the phone was relly trying to push a harness! :huh:

Been & bought 1 wish us luck ;)

Rob :)

Slowly get Nev used to it before you try to walk him Rob , when i first put them on Akira and Storm it took me a wee while to get the knack of handling them and working out how they worked the best Storm more or less was ok with his straight away but Akira hated it so i took Veras advice and let her have a good sniff at it then let her take a treat through it before it was even on her then i put it just over her nose treats treats and more treats before finally fastening it and letting her eat her dinner with it on .

You will probably find even once you have Nev used to wearing it he will still do either the rubbing him face along the ground , and pawing his nose which Akira did or the shaking of the head like Storm sometimes does , dont fight with Nev if he does it i found if i stood still they soon realized they didnt get far doing it :D

At least you are only working it with one dog so you should manage batter then i did , i practised int he gardenvwith my 2 before i took them out for a proper walk and the first few times i took them out it was just along my street until i got my confidence with them , good luck with Nev

Fiona xx

Nevs worn it for a few secs in the shop..and yes pawed at it and wanted it off, I'm sure he'll get used to it in time, and I'll associate it with good things as you say, such as treats and stuff, he loves going out so thats a good thing if he associates it with going out I guess.

I over slept today and didnt get nev walked till 08:30, there were loads of people out but today he was really good.

He did want to splash in all the puddles, making an elderly couple laugh as I had to hold him while they got past or he'd of splashed em, I have a mental image of Nev wearing four bright red welly boots and splashing in puddles :rolleyes:

I was very worried about him also, as in the night I think he'd run at the cat who'd jumped onto the side then ontop of the cupboards and knocked down a bag of chocolate timeouts. They were on the floor intact which suprised me and a couple of empty packets. I'm suprised he didn't pig out on the lot?

However either he hasn't or he's eaten the wrapers as well :unsure: so I'll keep a very watchful eye on him. <_<

Rob :)

*edited sunday 20th jan to add*

Took Nev out this morning and used the gentle leader outside for the first time. Yesterday i'd been putting it on indoors and giving him treats and then taking it off, and he'd been fine.
So as its Sunday and quiet I decided to try it, and Nev was brilliant!! :) No pulling or anything, we walked past people and he was fine. He did want to get to other dogs but was much easier to control as we just kept walking and he couldnt really turn and drag me back. I too treats and rewarded him when he walked nice and I was very impressed with the gentle leader.
Needless to say I was terrified it'd come off or something, and about 4 or 5 times he shook his head or pawed at it, and at one point almost did a rollie pollie, :rolleyes: :lol: :lol: but very soon I realised it wasn't gonna come off and my confidence grew also. :)
I have to say my arms feel great as this was the 1st time they havent been tense or yanked on while out! and nev was walking by my side nicely.

Nev was walking so nicely that on the way home an elderly guy I've seen out with his boarder collie, who normally crosses the road when he see's us coming walked right at us. I was able for the first time to explain to him that Nev is a puppy and wants to sniff & play.
Yes Nev did start jumping up and trying to get to his dog but I let him sniff and then Nev wanted to play and paw it, with hind sight perhaps I should of just walked past..but was eager to take the oppertunity to be nice to this guy so he wasn't so worried about Nev because as I said we see each other almost every morning.
All in all things went brilliant and I'm very happy with it, though i'm not so sure Nev is as happy with it :lol: :P

Rob :)