(Part 3) Best products from r/puppy101

HEAVILY reward the process! Our GR puppy HATED having a harness put on her. I think we just didn't do a good job in the beginning to make this a fun thing for her. She would squirm and growl and it'd be this entire ordeal but we want her in a harness cause she pulls a lot. I thought we would never be able to get over that hurdle but it just takes time and patience. We got her a few different ones to try out - ones that slip over the head and then has a chest strap that goes across her chest and between the front legs and the back legs that we buckle in. It's the easiest to put on and off so I always look for those. I've used a ton of different ones and this one is by far my favorite - it's easy to put on and take off and it doesn't make her uncomfortable and the adjustment straps stay put unlike some that I've used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PHKHBDH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We let her sniff the harness first and i'll take a treat with one hand and then old the harness with the other and i'll put the harness between her head and the treat so that she has to slip through the harness to get to the treat then I'll pet her until she doesn't think that I'm trying to buckle her in and then just keep rewarding her until the harness is on and then give her a few more treats and praise. We use her kibble cause she loves it but if your pup REALLY hates it, you can use special treats every time you put the harness on so he associates harness with good treats. Like we only use peanut butter whenever we give her a bath so to her it's a very special treat.

In terms of leash training in general, I started teaching her to "heel" by letting her walk next to me and holding a treat in front of her to lure her and get her in the motion of walking next to me. Practiced this for a few times and you just have to keep marking the behavior with "heel." If he pulls a lot, you can buy harnesses with a front loop where you can clip in your leash so when he pulls, his head will be pulled towards you. I didn't find this helpful though because the leash just gets in the way of her face when we're walking sometimes. "Drop it," "leave it" and "look at me" are really good commands to teach for successful leash training.

Good luck!!

>(1) Leash.

A 10 week old puppy should ABSOLUTELY be on leash! A puppy that young is not old enough to have the responsibility of a reliable recall. When he is closer to a year you can make an assessment. You will notice as he grows that he will go through rebellious stages and push all of his limits - you do not want him off leash during these fits and phases. Be consistent with training, do NOT recall him unless you know he will come back and only call him ONCE. Recall is often something covered in kindergarten and obedience level 1 classes - if you are not enrolled in a kindergarten class, now would be a good time. Here is an article on teaching effective recall.

As for the LEASH - have him wear one all the time - even in the house! Buy a very light leash that is comfortable for him to drag around and get used to the feeling. Many puppies need some time to get used to the sensation.

What is he doing that makes you think he hates the leash? Chews on it? Pulls? Chewing is pretty normal and can be remedied. Pulling is part of loose leash walking and takes a lot of time and patience to train.

A harness is actually a good idea for a puppy who is learning how to walk on leash. I KNOW, I know, some people will throw me under the bus for this, but a puppy can do a lot of damage to themselves on a collar. Look for a comfortable front clipping harness to reduce pulling and keep your puppy safe and comfortable. I know a lot of people say back clipping harnesses are evil, but with a consistent loose leash walking training program, we have had a lot of success with them. The PetCo harness has a loop that attaches where a dog wears a collar. For us, using a harness like this helped our corgi learn to walk better ON a collar without hurting himself (as the harness puts the weight on his chest, not his neck). YMMV - front clipping harnesses are one of the most recommended around here (and I can back them too. For most people, it is a great balance of utility and safety)

>(2) Walking on the leash/walking on the sidewalk.

Stop. If he starts to dart towards the bushes, just stop. Dont move. Be a statue. Hold the leash firmly at your side and dont let your arm 'drag out' when he pulls. If you have a problem with this, the slack line leash or other hands free walking leashes can be great for teaching loose leash skills. You snap the leash around your waist like a belt which really helps you maintain control and keeps your dog from finding a lot of satisfaction in pulling.

If your dog starts to go for the bushes, as said before, just stop walking and wait calmly and patiently for him. He will look back at you like "hey? whats up? why can't I get over here?" or sit down. At that point, you can click and encourage them to come back to you for a treat. If you do this enough your pup will start to respond to leash pressure to mean that they need to come back to you. We usually have a release word (we use "break") to release the pup to go explore the bushes/grass. If he tries to pull to get there, he doesnt get to go there. If he is walking nicely on leash as we pass by one of his favorite spots, we use the ability to go explore as a reward. Every time you let your puppy pull you to where he wants to go, you are reinforcing pressure on the leash = I get what I want. You WANT your puppy to think loose leash = I get to go where I want.

>(3) Barking

Herders are very talkative dogs. If your dog knows that if he barks enough SOMEONE will eventually pay attention to him (even with negative attention) he will continue to bark. You can teach a speak/silence command combo and work on redirection/preventing barking from starting by keeping him occupied. He is young enough that he should not be unsupervised - so if he is barking in the crate, just ignore him. If he is silent for a couple seconds, reappear and reward! Make SILENCE rewarding! Here is an article about barking..

check out our WIKI for more general information about these issues!

My pup was neutered last week, ooh boy is the 2 weeks recovery the longest ever- 6 more days until he's done and I can't wait. Arlo lasted maybe 2 hours at home with the cone (he was napping) when he woke up he kept chewing on the inside and had it half pulled off. I've been keeping an eye on him when he's awake and then when he naps/goes to bed I've been using an inflatable kong donut. He still hates it, but he puts up with it when he's sleepy.

Behavior wise, mine stayed overnight at the vet and came home the next morning. He was still pretty loopy from the meds and napped for a few hours. When he woke he was sore, cranky and ready to run.

The first couple of days were really rough, he was full of energy and because of the 'keep quiet to heal' he had no outlet for the energy which led to a lot of frustrated barking, nipping and human crying in a corner. But by day 4ish I started taking him on longer walks with lots of sniffing which helped calm him and I got him back to regularly scheduled naps.

Unfortunately had some puppy teeth pulled during his surgery so vet said no toys/chews for 14 days. Frozen kongs are really helpful, I just load his up with wet dog food or a pumpkin puree/kibble mix and freeze it. Keeping him mentally busy is huge-we've been working on commands, trying to get his sit/down/stay/go to mat hand signals down. Also making him work for his kibble, when he wakes from a nap I'll have hidden his lunch or dinner kibble around the apartment like an Easter Egg Hunt so he has to sniff it out. I also got him a few dog puzzles which he likes.

If you can manage a few days off work it might help. I work from home and it was nice just to be nearby and work out some of his energy throughout the day, plus keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't pull off his donut or get at his stitches. Mostly it will depend on your dog, mine is an energetic handful that likes to chew on things (stitches). Since yours will be able to play with his toys and have chews you will (hopefully!) have an easier time of it.

Good luck!

Let's see... fetch may be a bit much for a few days. My wife and I like to moisten his dry food until it's mushy and mix it with canned pumpkin (not the pie filling with all the sugar) get it all into a freezer bag, cut the corner and pipe it into kongs like you would frosting a cake. Throw a bag full of kongs in the freezer for a day, and it will keep them busy for a bit. It's also good for teething! We will give him one to keep him cool in the heat, or when he was losing baby teeth. As an aside, he also figured out if he throws it on the ground the little 'nugget' that he couldn't reach would come out. Too smart for his own good.

Take him wandering. I would be a bit weary of letting him off leash if he has any type of prey drive. Maybe just an extra walk a day will keep them a little worn down.

We trained him in German, because that's where we were at the time. We used the time to teach him some words in English too. Also hand signals! They work even better than words. Sit, stay, look at me, touch, lay down, speak, kennel, and any other command you can think of would be great to teach him! I can give step by step, or I'm sure a quick google will pull up a ton of stuff from someone more qualified than me. Just be consistent and patient. He will get it. Also see if you can find a 'puppy puzzle' These are great! Until he steals a piece to gnaw on. Just watch him. Atlas still loves his and gets all excited when we pull it out. found it! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037LRYPI/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_2_w?th=1

took a bit to get him trained, but after a couple rounds instead of a meal, he was out for the count!
If you have an SO (or willing friend), you can teach him to come to his name, or command. My wife and I would sit on the floor about 10 feet apart and call him and praise and give him a treat each direction. We got him comfortable with wearing his harness (Julius K9 makes a great harness BTW, we went through about 4 before he stopped growing).
Other than that, we took him everywhere (and I mean EVERYWHERE) with us, so new experiences wore him out. But it's a little different in Germany, we only got 'in trouble' once for taking him with us. Some older lady got all upset because he stopped to poop on the sidewalk in Frankfurt, we cleaned it up and washed what we couldn't get up away. I think she was just grumpy in general... Take him in the car, get him used to that. Teach him to stay in the backseat, or passenger seat. Teach him to wait to get in or out until you tell him to (later on, pick him up and put him down for now, you don't want a 'couch' incident). show him the bathtub and running water. just dont get his back half wet, we want to keep his injury clean and dry.

train with him while he's eating, take his food, put your hands in his bowl, touch him while he's eating. Slowly, of course. we don't want him to nip at you. Just to get him comfortable, so he doesn't develop a food control issue.

If I think of anything else I will add it in, but that should be a great start. I miss my pup, and am always willing to help out! Good luck!

> Is it better to train the puppy to use the bathroom outside or inside on the pee pee pads?

Outside of course, no one likes the smell. Check out House-training Your Puppy from the ASPCA.

> What are the best types of foods to buy a puppy? I've been reading up that a lot of brand name dog foods contain fillers and certain foods that any dog should not be generally eating as it messes up their digestion

A lot of the information about dog food on the internet is total garbage. There are so many websites full of information that "sounds right" but is just a bunch of mumbo jumbo that Sally McNaturalFood conjured up because "chemicals are bad" or "I don't understand nutrition" or "my anecdotal observation caused a placebo effect".

Check out the following links for help on choosing a dog food. These are all from expert sources. People that have been thoroughly educated (not brainwashed as the internet would have you believe) on nutrition for our pets. Hint: most websites that warn of dog food "fillers" tend to not be very good sources of factual information.

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association

• The Savvy Dog Owner’s Guide: Nutrition on the Internet
  
• Recommendations on Selecting Pet Foods
  
  Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University
  
  
• FAQ's on Pet Nutrition
  
  The Bark Magazine article written by a nutritionist (MSc)
  
  
• Dog Food Logic (I HIGHLY recommend reading the full book)
  
  > Is it better to train using treats as positive reinforcement or is there something better?
  
  Use your dog's kibble as a treat when you can. That way you don't have to adjust their daily intake. Use meal times as training opportunities rather than feeding out of a bowl.
  
  One of the BEST things you can do for yourself is read a puppy book. Even if you've owned a dog before, I can almost guarantee you will learn something new and it will make your time with your pup much easier for the both of you.
  
  Recommended Books:
  
  
• BEFORE & AFTER Getting Your Puppy by Dr Ian Dunbar (free on his website w/ registration)
  
• The Puppy Primer by Patricia McConnell, PhD
  
• Perfect Puppy in 7 Days by Dr Sophia Yin

Being overwhelmed is NOT a terrible sign. Things will get a LOT easier as you guys build a routine and a life together. You will not always be this overwhelmed. You won't always have to be freaking out over him.

But you also can't let yourself freak out too much now, either. Take time every day to do things for yourself where the puppy isn't there. Crate him and go to a movie. Go to dinner with friends. Go for a walk without him. The fact that all your dreams are dog dreams makes me thing you aren't having a second to have quiet you-time, and you can't be the best dog parent with your puppy if you don't have some moments of chill to collect yourself.

As for the leash issue: this is easily resolved. Get a metal leash, like this: https://www.amazon.com/CtopoGo-Heavy-Padded-Handle-Medium/dp/B079211458 . He's not going to be able to chew that up. (Mind you, never get a metal collar or harness as they can hurt the dog, but the leash is totally fine). That should go a long way towards your peace of mind on walks!

The "eating things on the ground" issue is also an easy answer. Muzzle training! Here's Zak George's video on how to muzzle train: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7skDA82lvw It's not only for aggressive dogs. A basket muzzle can help you keep your dog safe from eating dangerous things he finds on the ground. With appropriate training, your dog will come to love his muzzle and associate it with great things (like treats and walks!). Take it slow, as some dogs aren't immediately comfortable with the muzzle. The video should help.

Together, these two pieces of equipment should make your walks a lot calmer and safer for you both.

My pup will get into biting "moods" where the "ouch!" method just eggs her on. In that case, having a room (like a bathroom that you have previously cleaned out of mats and things on the counter) to close her in for 30-60 seconds might be useful so she can't just follow you and nip your ankles.

I have this toy that my pup loves and it keeps your hands away from their mouth, gives them something else to bite.

Is she loosing teeth? Might be teething. Have you tried giving her frozen carrots or other frozen toys to help with the pain?

Oh! And the "gentle" command! We just learned it from our trainer which is super helpful for our little landshark. To train it, you put a high value treat inside a closed fist and present. My pup immediately tried to put my entire fist in her mouth haha. Just keep waiting. At the first semblance of a lick, open your hand immediately and praise. Repeat, waiting for more and more licking. Eventually, your pup will learn that "gentle" means "stop biting and lick or nose my hand instead". This has been a godsend because my girl can take her excitement over treats out on my hands and now I can just remind her "Gentle" and she actually does stop.

Hey there,
so I know you posted this a while ago but if your dog doesn't seem interested in walking maybe you need something to get them more excited like treats or a toy that they will only get during their walks. I think maybe a good special treat could be these. I would also recommend a gentle leader like this one and both are relatively affordable on amazon. It doesn't hurt them and you don't risk having your puppy choking itself. Hope this helped!

Congrats on the new golden :) Our golden is 5 months old now and the time is flying by! Take lots of pictures - they grow up crazy fast and lose the rolly-polly puppyness pretty quickly.

But to answer your question, we got:

• adjustable collar (we got the 10-16" collar and haven't outgrown it yet at 5 months old)
  
• poop bags + dispenser
  
• food/water bowls
  
• lightweight leash for when it was small and leather leash for when it was bigger
  
• crate + exercise pen (see our setup here)
  
• toys of different textures
  
• treats of different textures
  
• Redbarn bully strips (cow ears with flavoring, keeps them focused on chewing appropriate items)
  
• medium puppy sized kong
  
• large breed puppy food
  
• nail clippers
  
• toothbrush/doggy toothpaste
  
• ear cleanser (they get pretty dirty)
  
• way more Nature's Miracle than you think is necessary
  
• nametag with your contact info
  
  We didn't get a dog bed for a few months because every time we put a blanket or whatever in her crate, she'd pull it out and then sleep on the smooth floor of the crate. We did get some small rubber door mats to place at strategic areas (in the kitchen and near the dining room table) so when we were cooking we could say "go to your mat" and she'd go lay down on the mat and stay out of the way (obviously this required treats to reinforce, but now when we start prepping food she automatically goes to the mat).
  
  But I'd say the key was the exercise pen. It allowed her to not be stuck in her crate while we were at work, but was adjustable as we wanted to allow her more freedom during housetraining. Eventually we progressed from the small area attached to the crate to just blocking off the kitchen from the rest of the house, and now we only use it once in a while. Prevented a lot of frustration.
  
  Good luck! I'm so glad we got a golden retriever - she was an adorable puppy and is pretty well behaved at 5 months. It's all about consistency and positive reinforcement training.
  
  Also puppy proof your house - we've lost 2 phone chargers so far to those teeth, and a pair of eyeglasses.

> I've been letting her bite my hand for the time being only because I want her to avoid breaking teeth since she likes to bite chairs, the bed, shoes, etc. When she is a little bit older I want to teach her that she shouldn't be biting on everything like that.

Honestly, you should start now. Puppies usually start learning bite inhibition and it is so hard (sometimes impossible) when they're older to teach it. I got my puppy at 16 weeks, she was abandoned with her litter either by a stray or a neglectful owner and the group that took care of them kept them together as long as possible in order to make sure they were adjusted with bite inhibition - with training, even through teething, our puppy hasn't nipped to cause any real pain in the two months we've had her.

Your puppy will be big and powerful. If she bites someone, she can be put down or you can get sued, so it is absolutely important you work on this and train it out of her as soon as you can and continue one it through her entire puppy stage.

Make sure you're feeding her puppy formula for the next few weeks and do doubletime in socializing your puppy with other dogs. I don't know where you live, but try to see if there is a puppy-specific socializing group. Make sure she has at least 1-2 rounds of shots, but because you got a puppy so young it is absolutely vital that you socialize her with other young dogs. This should be your #1 life priority in the next few weeks, but please make sure she has at least one round of shots.

>I have been cleaning her area every day, normally multiple times a day, with alcohol to avoid using any sprays. I have some Febreze spray here that I haven't used yet, but I do see that the can says to keep away from children and pets.

Yes, don't use Febreeze. Get something like this. What this does is more important than covering up the smell, it stops it from smelling like pee and poop to your puppy so your puppy doesn't smell it and go, "this is where I normally pee". Ask the pet store if they carry it.

> I believe I'm going to have to wait probably until she is 2 or 3 months for those social classes.

2 months is precisely when you should be starting. Make sure she has at least one round of her shots. In the meantime, here is a guide on how you can socialize your puppy. An unsocialized puppy can attack other dogs, attack other people, bite children, bark a lot, have anxiety, and the list goes on and on so this is literally one of the most important things you can be doing.

> Could she possibly meet my girlfriend and/or a friend once in a while as long as they sterilize their hands to avoid getting her sick?

Yes, she should meet people. There are very few diseases that transfer from human to dog so people should be okay. If anything, you should introduce your dog to as many different types of people as possible to aid her socialization. My dog still is wary of people who are in costumes and big hats or masks because she wasn't socialized to them early enough.

She's really cute. Huskies tend to be. They are really, tough though, but even in the city, I've seen it work with A LOT of exercise daily. If you're committed to it, I'd suggest you check out /r/dogs and /r/dogtraining, go to the Search box, and type in "husky" and "husky puppy" to see what kind of issues you may find along the way and how people were able to fix it, so you won't be overwhelmed when your puppy grows up and starts having seemingly unmanageable behaviors.

There's always a way forward.
First off, good on you for taking in the dog. Many people would not be so charitable.

>She pees and poops anywhere and everywhere, even where she sleeps.

Like, literally exactly where she sleeps? Given a choice, she'll choose to curl up in her own excrement? If that's the case, then traditional methods like crate training will not work, because they assume the dog will not soil where it sleeps, given a choice.

The way I see it, this is a problem that needs to be attacked from multiple angles simultaneously.

Angle 0: Have you had her to the vet yet? If so, did you mention her potty training problems? Sometimes severe potty issues can be caused by medical problems like UTIs. Fixing underlying medical problems first will be a huge sanity saver for you. If a vet hasn't cleared her of medical causes yet, make that a priority asap.

Angle 1: Take her outside and keep her outside until she goes. It might take hours of waiting the first couple of times you try it. It can help to wander around near where other dogs pee and poop, because the smells will encourage her. It will also help to do it when you know she has to go. Generally ignore her and let her sniff around slowly--too much attention on her will give her stage fright. Bring a book if you think you'll be too bored. When she finally goes, gently praise her and give her a really stinky, soft, delicious treat when she finishes. Do this at least three times every day. That will mean spending most of your free time outdoors at first, but the first couple of days will be the hardest. She'll get faster and faster as she starts to understand.

Angle 2: is to try to gradually re-teach her to discriminate her sleeping area from a bathroom area. You could start by leaving her in a pen like this when she's alone, with only a bed and a potty area, so she has a clear choice. Commercial potty pads will be easiest to start with because they are treated with pheromones to attract puppies to pee there. If you want to use the bathroom or kitchen instead of a pen, then give her a bed in one corner and cover the rest of the floor with puppy pads, so she only has two options: Pee on the bed, or pee in the potty area. When you see improvement, you can start making the potty area smaller and farther from her bed. (I pulled that image from this kikopup blog post: http://clicktreat.blogspot.se/2009/06/making-escape-proof-x-pen.html)

Angle 3: is cleaning up all the trace smells. If you haven't found Nature's Miracle yet, try that out on your carpets. Wash her bedding (and yours) in hot water with detergent and baking soda. Anything that can't be washed hot or drenched in nature's miracle gets trashed.

Angle 4: is reducing the separation anxiety. There are some suggestions here: http://dogmantics.com/2013/08/01/separation-training-tips/ Most notably, confine her while you're home sometimes. If the bathroom is her confinement space while you're gone, then leave her in the bathroom with a baby gate (less claustrophobic than a shut door) and something to chew on sometimes while you're nearby so it is not a traumatic experience. Feed her meals in there. Generally disassociate spending time there from your departure.

Angle 5: is management to prevent the worst of it. For example, she should not have access to your daughter's bed, ever. Not for a single second. If it's a hassle to remember to close doors, then put baby gates in strategic doorways to keep her out of trouble. Or have her live in a roomy pen while she's indoors as a temporary solution. A puppy that is not housetrained absolutely does not get the run of the house. Note that if she's confined more indoors, she'll need extra exercise outdoors to stay sane.

If you do all 6 of these things consistently for two weeks and still don't see improvement, then it's a problem beyond what I've ever seen. I'd recommend consulting with a veterinary behaviorist for help.

I'm in a similar boat (except I've got more advance notice) and have been finding the Digital Dog Training Textbook linked-to in the sidebar to be invaluable. Highly recommend. It's a little oddly laid out and it repeats itself itself but—as it says—you're really training yourself how to train the pup, so the reinforcement works (at least for me).

Their shopping list (oddly-formatted, watch out) includes:

• At least six chewtoys to stuff with kibble and treats (The Kong Company’s Kong and Biscuit Ball, Premier’s Squirrel Dude and Football, and sterilized long bones^† are the best.)
  
• Water bowl (Only buy your pup a food bowl once he is socialized, well-trained, and has impeccable household manners.)
  
• Dog food (dry kibble) During his first weeks at home, make sure your puppy receives all food stuffed in chewtoys, or handfed as rewards for socialization and training.
  
• Freeze-dried liver for men, strangers, and children to win your puppy's confidence and as rewards for housetraining
  
  (All links non-affiliate, just tryna be helpful :)
  
  Also, I saw this recommended somewhere. I have used a similar product for our cats and it's fucking magic, so if you're concerned your pup might be stressed, I highly recommend.
  
  ^† above, /u/caffeinatedlackey recommends against these until older

The leash i wish i'd known about and used, which i now is the Halti Training lead. You can adjust how you want it, it's very versatile, long but it's for training so you hold in your right hand and walk dog on left side.

Also great if you have two dogs, i can wrap one round my waist and attach the other to both dogs and walk handsfree so i can lure, reward more easily.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00589G9YY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For the tooth brushing thing, they'll just tell you to get some doggy toothpaste (they have peanut butter flavor!) and a brush. From experience I can recommend this brush: https://www.amazon.com/RADIUS-Original-Toothbrush-Sustainable-Materials/dp/B001NIOK3Q/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=large+grip+toothbrush&qid=1554227042&s=gateway&sr=8-4



The head is huge which makes it easier to get in there and actually get bristles on teeth when the beast is moving their face around, and has a great big thumbpad to hold on to when your hand is covered in saliva.

The biggest challenge is that dogs just want to lick/chew the toothbrush head so you have to put your arm around their head and reach under to lift lips and crank open their mouth. It's quite the ordeal lol

I use these: https://www.amazon.com/Wellness-Natural-Training-Treats-3-Ounce/dp/B001HBBQKY

Wellness is a great brand, has good ingredients (sweet potato, carrots, apples) and my puppy likes them. Only 4kCal per treat and I usually split them for training (they're kind of partitioned to do this easily).

I've found that I need to switch around treats frequently, though, to keep them of any value. He also has liver jerky, liver loaf, Charki Puffs (https://www.amazon.com/Diggin-Your-Dog-Charki-Amazing/dp/B00AO1633S/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1480950067&sr=1-1&keywords=charki+puffs), and I like BarkBox because he gets a couple of new treats each month that can be cycled in and out.

We use the puppy kong fill it mostly with his actual dry food taken from his food allowance, then a bit of this to make it sticky. He mostly licks it out, but he's not chewing anything else while he's engaged with the Kong if you see what I mean.

He loves to chew up sticks, but he's pretty entertained by carrots as well. We only let him at those supervised though, just in case.

Links are Amazon.co.uk, sorry if that's confusing.

here is a puzzle I got for my pup! It's very high quality and keeps him busy for a little while and he loves it! That brand has a lot and me and my friendly collectively have like five of their puzzles. They're all pretty strong and have held up to a lot of use over the last year

Oh man. This sounds exactly like Wesley for the first 6 weeks we had him. For the first 6 weeks he was in "venus fly trap" mode.. His mouth would just be open waiting for something to land in his mouth so he could snap his jaws closed. I literally cried I was so frustrated with him. What worked for us was finding things he actually liked to redirect him to. He hated kongs and nylabones. He's warmed up to kongs now, but thats because his lunch is frozen into a kong and given to him when we leave him for the day. What he did like was one particular toy that was like a very long stuffingless fox with 2 squeakers in it. Me & my boyfriend each kept one either as a scarf or in our pocket and when he attacked our feet we made a high pitched yelp then redirected with that toy. The only chew toy he liked was a "bully stick". It smelled horrendous, but he would actually lay down and chew on that without chewing on us. So we kept that for when we needed a break or when we were eating dinner.

But the thing that probably helped the most was time. He's 14 weeks old now and finally starting to learn not to bite people. He's still high energy, but a puppy play date now that he has 2 rounds of shots tires him out (and now that he has 2 rounds of shots we finally feel safe taking him for walks). He finally has an attention span to get training started, and that helps. We taught fetch and that helped with puppy energy a lot.

It does get better. Just gotta wait it out. Puppies are awful, thankfully they are damn cute and generally grow out of it.

I use these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SRDB76J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Pricey but effective. My lab accepts these as a treat when I'm going to work in the morning.

There are also toys you can get that will act as a toothbrush while they chew on it.

My 7mo puppy also isn't always super excited by kibble (he has weeks where he inhales everything in 10 seconds and then weeks when it's like pulling teeth getting him to eat). We got him this puzzle feeder, which can hold a half cup of kibble, and he goes wild for it. Also he has one of those kibble-dispensing balls which he used to love rolling around when he was younger (not sure why he's not into it lately. Maybe because he prefers the puzzle toy). Hope this helps your lil buddy!

There are a few solutions to this.

One, you can install a baby gate across the doorway of the bathroom. They make baby gates with cat doors, like this one: https://www.chewy.com/carlson-pet-products-extra-wide-walk/dp/54889?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=hg&utm_content=Carlson%20Pet%20Products&utm_term=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI64mz9pmA5QIV-_7jBx1yLg30EAkYASABEgLD8vD_BwE

So you can leave the cat door open but your dog won't fit through (assuming he isn't a tiny dog).

You can also, if you think your cat will tolerate it, switch to a covered litterbox. I use one like this: https://www.amazon.com/Petmate-Booda-Clean-Litter-Colors/dp/B0002DH8LE/ref=asc_df_B0002DH8LE/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167144469268&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=236664198740175006&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9015332&hvtargid=pla-277741464402&psc=1

It contains the smell MUCH better than open litterboxes and a dog won't fit up the steps. My cat isn't fussy about her box and will use open or closed ones, so test that out on your cats.

There are also a variety of top entry litterboxes (e.g. https://theidlecat.com/best-top-entry-litter-box/) that you might want to experiment with.

Take her to you vet, they should also be able to give you a special tool that is for removing ticks. It's looks a bit like the claw of a hammer and makes it far easier to take them out then with tweezers. I live in Australia and our ticks are scary so most vet recommend them for anyone who goes bush walking.

https://www.amazon.com.au/Pack-ZenPet-Tick-Tornado-Removal/dp/B010NU1V1I/ref=asc_df_B010NU1V1I/?tag=googleshopdsk-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=341772817816&hvpos=1o9&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12804250129565077048&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9071842&hvtargid=pla-373661072329&psc=1 an example of a good one that is similar to the one I have used

This might help; my puppy used to knock her water bowl over in her crate as well until I got this bowl. It's secures very tightly, so they can't tip it over with their noses. :)

I just got two of these
https://smile.amazon.com/KONG-Puppy-Kong-Small-Assorted/dp/B0002AR18C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496790665&sr=8-1&keywords=puppy+kong

And one of these
https://smile.amazon.com/KONG-StuffN-Treat-8-Ounce-Puppy/dp/B0009YD7P2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496790691&sr=8-1&keywords=puppy+kong+stuffing

Although like I said, sometimes we use small dabs of peanut butter. I got two so that I could switch them out - so he can have one to chew on (empty) during the day and one in the freezer. I've never had a chewer before, so this was my first experience with Kongs, and so far, they're great!

Fellow Dane owner here. As far as equipment, I have this leash and it's pretty well padded. You can clip both ends to the collar/harness and make a loop out of it for easier holding and less slipping, as well.

Part of owning a giant breed dog is sizing up equipment, unfortunately. I'd recommend a Freedom Harness and buying larger sizes as needed.

Instead of just focusing on the equipment, what are you doing to teach her that walking at your side is the appropriate way to behave? You shouldn't be relying on the tools to teach this for you. Instead, you need to reward her for being in the correct spot.

I know that you say you've been remiss in her training due to an event outside of your control, but I strongly urge you to dedicate as much time to it as possible. If you think being dragged by a 50 lb dog is tough, imagine being dragged by a 130 lb dog. My male was 100 lbs at 6 months, so your window in which your puppy is "easily" controllable is closing very quickly.

Someone recommended this snappy fit bowl to me some time ago. Been using it since and it's awesome. I just snap it to my pup's crate and she can have water all day without me worrying about spills.

We have one too - it's from amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Snapy-Stainless-Steel-Small-Animals/dp/B0012GS73S

Ian Dunbar's Before You Get Your Puppy and After You Get Your Puppy

Sophia Yin's Perfect Puppy in 7 Days