Loki on the town
Loki
DOB: 5.23.11
Breed: Great Dane
Color: Harlequin
Favorite food: my kibble, my sisters’ kibble, bananas, blueberries, apples, carrots, toast, omelets, baked potatoes, milk bones, pizza…wait, it might be easier to ask what will Loki not eat? Um…still thinking….
Favorite activity: anything involving water, especially bubble baths
Loki is the youngest in the family. He lives with his humans and doggie siblings, Muse and Melody. He aspires to be president.
March 24th, 2012 at 11:46 am
I love your articles about your Danes.
I have a 9 month old Harliquin name Spock.
I agree with you on everything you posted and I do know this he is a part of the family.
He is my big royal majestic goof.
Do you have any suggestion on good training methods… or may indestructable toys?
Thanks
Dave
March 24th, 2012 at 12:29 pm
Hi Dave!
I love your pup’s name! I’ve not met any Great Danes named Spock.
I use a combination of shaping/rewards with my Danes. It takes longer, but my 3 yr old Dane, Muse, is trustworthy in just about any situation I put her in. I weave training into our life, so we may do five minutes in the kitchen in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening, or vice-versa. Whenever I see good behavior I praise them like crazy and reinforce with a treat. Ultimately I wean them off treats and just offer praise. For example, when I’m walking Loki, who doesn’t like it when small dogs bark at him, I reward/praise when he walks calmly by the barking dogs (we have a lot in our neighborhood), but if he gets distracted by the barking then we do about turns (left and right) until I get his attention again, then reward the behavior I want (walking calmly by my side). During walks I let the dogs spend some time sniffing until their heart’s content, then ether seem to be more relaxed and teachable during the walk.
I would love to find a truly indestructible toy! I have numerous femur bones in different shapes/sizes that I use. When I leave for work, each dog gets a femur bone with peanut butter smeared on the inside. They all love to chew on their bones. I do have rope bones for play, a few kongs, and recently I picked up a toy called a Chew-bee. The young danes really like it, the older one doesn’t care for it. For the really strong chewers I used american or argentine rawhides once a week.
Enjoy your pup!
Delores