I am at my wit's end, I'm glad I found this forum for some help hopefully! I've had and raised rottweilers, german shepherds, and generally love big dogs. When my kids were little we had a boston terrier so they could help a little more and handle him a bit easier. Now that they are older, we decided we would get either another Rottie or an English Mastiff - we ultimately went for the Mastiff b/c "I wanted to a lazy lug of a dog." That was my first mistake. We picked up Ranger (10 months, intact) when he was 9 weeks old. Cute fuzzball, but from day one he has been the mouthiest, most stubborn dog I've ever owned. Definitely not a lazy lug. He's been to puppy obedience (6 weeks worth), socialized all through soccer season, been around other dogs. He has multiple daily walks, rooms and rooms full of chew toys and bones, and is still the most difficult dog I've owned.
My 11 year old son cannot walk him outside on his own - he can't control him. Inside, he can't sit on the couch to watch TV or anything else or the dog will just immediately go to him and either try to hump him or mess with him somehow. My daughter is 16 and can handle him better, but generally if we are all trying to sit down as a family he has to be crated b/c he does not have any manners. He has a prong collar that I have tried to use to "correct" with a leash when he behaves badly. We've watched hours and hours of Cesar and try to put out "calm energy" -- nothing is working!!!
My husband just came home from a month at the hospital from brain surgery. We had a great friend who kept him at her house (she has a house full of mastiffs) and agreed to temporarily keep him there for a while, but we ended up having to get him after a week, only because we discovered he could jump freakishly high for a mastiff. (He was jumping out of her half door, and trying to jump her fence!)
Any suggestions from seasoned mastiff owners? Will he grow out of this annoying, mouthy stubborn personality when he grows up a bit? Or after he's neutered? (Were planning on that around 18 months or so, but with all of this humping would it be better to do it at 12 mo?) All of my friend's mastiffs are big lugs (even the puppies)...I keep thinking, How did we end up with this crazy dog that's supposed to be a gentle giant?
Please help.....
My 11 year old son cannot walk him outside on his own - he can't control him. Inside, he can't sit on the couch to watch TV or anything else or the dog will just immediately go to him and either try to hump him or mess with him somehow. My daughter is 16 and can handle him better, but generally if we are all trying to sit down as a family he has to be crated b/c he does not have any manners. He has a prong collar that I have tried to use to "correct" with a leash when he behaves badly. We've watched hours and hours of Cesar and try to put out "calm energy" -- nothing is working!!!
My husband just came home from a month at the hospital from brain surgery. We had a great friend who kept him at her house (she has a house full of mastiffs) and agreed to temporarily keep him there for a while, but we ended up having to get him after a week, only because we discovered he could jump freakishly high for a mastiff. (He was jumping out of her half door, and trying to jump her fence!)
Any suggestions from seasoned mastiff owners? Will he grow out of this annoying, mouthy stubborn personality when he grows up a bit? Or after he's neutered? (Were planning on that around 18 months or so, but with all of this humping would it be better to do it at 12 mo?) All of my friend's mastiffs are big lugs (even the puppies)...I keep thinking, How did we end up with this crazy dog that's supposed to be a gentle giant?
Please help.....