We got Aurora when she was only 6 weeks old (long story short the lady lied about her age to get rid of her quicker). She’s an amazing Labrador/Great Dane mix. She’s 4 months old now and growing like a weed (40 pounds!) but we have been having quite a lot of issues in some specific areas and are desperate for help.
First and most pressing: she nips and bites… a ton. We have scars from what we know is playful biting to her but with her sharp teeth and having come to us too young to have learned gentle biting, it hurts. She loves to bite her Daddy the most and he can rarely even sit down without her jumping and biting his hands. We’ve tried every gentle way we could find to redirect her and reinforce good behavior but she is still biting us constantly. As I said we know it’s playful bites and nothing aggressive.
Second: she is having sooooo much trouble potty training. She will go right in front of the door to outside because she knows she’s supposed to potty out there but it’s like she can’t quite make it. She has mastered not pottying in her bed at night time, but during the day she’s still having issues.
Third: pulling on the leash during walks/going potty. We’ve had this issue since we got her and we just don’t know how to correct it. We use a comfortable harness and a retractable/long leash so she doesn’t get hurt but she’s getting so big I can barely keep up.
And lastly: evening zoomies. Every. Single. Day. From 6pm-8pm she gets this gigantic burst of energy from seemingly nowhere. I’m a stay at home dog/cat mom so I’m with her 24/7. It doesn’t matter what we do that day. How much enrichment or exercise she gets, she still gets wild in the evenings. I have her on a schedule (not strict or super rigid but she knows what’s going to happen at different times of the day) and I try to provide as much mental stimulation as I can through the day even going as far as to switch her toys out daily so she doesn’t get bored. Because she’s getting older (and bigger and bigger) she’s causing quite the stir when she gets this rambunctious and zooms around. I’m mostly scared that she’s going to get herself hurt rather than anything else breaking or us getting hurt.
Sorry for the really long post but we are struggling with these things and would love any advice we can get especially if there are any professional resources out there to help. Thanks in advance for any advice!
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