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My husband and I have a 6 month old great dane. We have had her since she was 6 weeks old. I am always told how nice great danes are and it makes me a little concearned about mine. She is nice to everyone but me. When I am home alone with her she barks at me and tries to bite me. She gets really hyper sometimes and I can't tell if she is just trying to play. She has actually drawn blood before. have talked to a dog trainer about this and he gave me a few suggestions but they aren't working. First of all, I am wondering if anyone else has ever experienced this with their dane and if they grow out of it. I am hoping that things will change so we can keep her. I am getting to the point that I am sometimes afraid of her and my husband tells me we can't keep her if she is a mean spirited dog because it is to dangerous. She isn't mean to me all the time either, it is just occasionally. Is it a puppy phase? I don't know what we ever did to cause this. We don't hit her or play rough with her at all! Please help!

Hi Allyc, it sounds to me as if your pup is challenging your standing in the pack order. Does this behavior only occur when you are alone or when others are present? If you haven't already you and husband should sign your pup up for obedience training. What suggestions did the dog trainer give and why didn't they work? At the very least leash training at home can be a very effective tool. You would have to leave the leash on your pup and when she acts up with someone else there, they can take the leash, pull the pup back and give a no command. If you are home alone and your pup displays this behavior you can always tie the leash to a very heavy object since I'm sure she is a big pup or lead her into a crate as sort of a time out for bad behavior. Please post back.
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Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
PHMax
HMax@pethobbyist.com" target="_blank">Email PHMax

Thank you for replying so quickly. Let me begin by saying that we do have her in obedience training. We started with the puppy class and she did very well. We are about half way through the next class. She does excellent in her classes and obeys the commands that we have taught her. The trainer told me that when she begins biting me I should pin her down to the ground until she calms down. When she was younger I would do this and it would take her a long time to calm down. Once she did I would let her up and she would go right back to biting me and growling at me. Now that she is 75 pounds I can barely hold her down so that is not going to work. He has also told us the leash technique and it works sometimes but it doesn't totally eliminate the problem. I have heard that it is bad to punish her by putting her in her crate because then she will not want to ever go in it to sleep or anything. Is that true? My dog, Josie, doesn't really do this when other people are around. She may throw a little attitude but for the most part she is pretty good. The worst of her comes out when me and her are home all alone. The trainer also told me that when she is trying to bite me, I should grab her mouth and squeeze until she whines also I should repeat No biting. I have tried this but it just makes her more mad and aggressive.The only thing that I have found that gets her a way is to hold up a spray bottle of lemon juice. She doesn't like the taste and so she backs off. I am glad that works but I can't always carry around a bottle of lemon juice. I am so afraid if she continues to do this she is really going to hurt me. Thanks again for the reply any ideas help!

I have heard it will help if you are the one that gives her her food, takes her to the bathroom, lets her out of the cage, if you control every privelage she has. You have to be the one in charge and she has to know it. Thats how the barn dog at the stable I used to board at was. When they were out of town she bonded to whoever fed her.
I love great danes. My neighbors sister has a really cute one!
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which has been shown to actually INCREASE aggression, not decrease it. When you pin a dog to the floor like that, it does make that dog VERY mad. Plus when you hold the dog's mouth closed like that, it will make the dog very mad. You might want to consider getting a new trainer, as the alpha roll has been discredited in past years.

Are you the one who is going to classes with her and doing the actual training? Do you work with her on a daily basis? In order to restore the pecking order in your house, do not allow the dog to get up onto the couch or chairs at all, do not allow the dog to get onto your bed.

Have you heard of the "nothing in life is free (NILIF)? To use NILIF, the dog has to earn everything. That means that she has to perform some 'trick" before she gets a reward. So you could make her 'sit" before you give her the food, make her "down" before she is allowed to go outside, make her "sit" again before she is petted, etc. When the dog comes over to you and demands to be petted, use the NILIF. Don't just pet her because she is nuzzling your hand or barking at you. When she is barking at you, stand up, turn around and walk away from her. When she stops barking, then turn around and make her sit before you pet her.

It sounds like you need a new trainer. You also might want to consult with an accredited animal behaviorist if this problem continues after swtiching trainers.

We used to have two great danes, who were both wonderful dogs. Hopefully you can get this problem under control. Good luck.
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sue, cheyenne-the American bulldog bully, nehi-her long suffering border collie mix, and charlie-our "basic black, white, and brown dog" who is watching from the bridge.

your dog is still young & impressionable, so if you can establish your leader role soon, that would be best. agree, the alpha role is NOT the way to deal with this dog. if you can determine the exact trigger that causes this agression, you'd be able to figure out a solution. every time the dog gets his way by challenging you, he wins & it becomes more difficult to erase that 'learning'. don't know the role your husband plays, but it sounded like the dog respects him. perhaps if your husband does some leader exercises, then hands the lead to you & is right there so you can do the same exercises (repeat over several days,weeks) the dog will see you in the same role. just a thought. This isn't going to improve by itself & proffesional help may be your best route - but be sure to get a handler that uses positive reinforcement.

nm

I have never heard of the alpha roll before. Thanks for all the help. I kind of thought it was odd when the trainer told me to pin her to the ground. Whenever I did it she just got more mad. I told him it wasn't working and he told me that it doesn't work immediately. I do go to the training classes and I always participate in teaching her the commands. She is not allowed on the couches but I have made the mistake of letting her in our bed. I definately need to stop that one. Thanks for all the help. I am definately going to try the NILIF. Have any of you ever had a great dane that acts this way? It makes me curious what brought this on. I have always been the one to feed her, let her out of her crate, etc. I am home with her the majority of the time so I always wonder if I was doing something wrong or if she is just mean spirited. I have never heard of anyone that has had a problem with a great dane. What do you think! Also, we are going to be getting her spayed in a couple of weeks. Do you think that will calm her down? Thanks again to all of you for all your help!

however it is hard to tell with a big dog whether they are playing or being mean. She is only 6 months old right now? She is still such a puppy, but even puppy teeth can really hurt! And if you were doing the alpha roll with her, it can also be interpreted by the puppy as a form of wrestling, as can the hold the mouth shut method. And both of these can signify to the puppy that you want to play with her. We have a 2.5 year old american bulldog now and she will get playing and if you didn't know her better, you would swear she was going to rip you apart!

I have another question for you. Have you had dogs before? What made you decide to get a great dane puppy? Our danes were our second and third dog, so we definitely weren't experienced dog owners, either.
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sue, cheyenne-the American bulldog bully, nehi-her long suffering border collie mix, and charlie-our "basic black, white, and brown dog" who is watching from the bridge.

>>My husband and I have a 6 month old great dane. We have had her since she was 6 weeks old. I am always told how nice great danes are and it makes me a little concearned about mine. She is nice to everyone but me. When I am home alone with her she barks at me and tries to bite me. She gets really hyper sometimes and I can't tell if she is just trying to play. She has actually drawn blood before. have talked to a dog trainer about this and he gave me a few suggestions but they aren't working. First of all, I am wondering if anyone else has ever experienced this with their dane and if they grow out of it. I am hoping that things will change so we can keep her. I am getting to the point that I am sometimes afraid of her and my husband tells me we can't keep her if she is a mean spirited dog because it is to dangerous. She isn't mean to me all the time either, it is just occasionally. Is it a puppy phase? I don't know what we ever did to cause this. We don't hit her or play rough with her at all! Please help!

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Get back to the trainer and let him or her know that the techniques are not working. Contact the dog's breeder for help. Discuss the problem with your veterinarian. This is not normal and you do need to get expert help in person with it.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com