Too Late to Be Trained?

Question

I have a Great Dane who is almost 2 yrs old. He is extremely hyper and to be honest, I do not get to spend much time with him. I work two jobs...I didn't when I got him otherwise I wouldn't have gotten a pet at all. I adore him, but he plays too rough and my 8 yo son is scared of him because of his size. We tried training when I first got him, but I was told he wasn't ready because he wouldn't pay attention at all. Just wanted to play with the other dogs in the class. He is pretty uncontrollable and I wonder if it is too late for him to be trained properly. I feel guilty altogether for having him because he doesn't get much attention, but do not think I could place him in a good home if I can't get him under control.

Answer 1

Not at all. A dog can NEVER be too old to train.

You say yourself that you do not spend much time with him. This is probably why he is acting the way he does. Great Danes are gentle giants -- social creatures who thrive on human interaction.

One option that I think would be fantastic for you would be to take him to doggy care, even if it was just 2 or 3 times a week. He would get plenty of interaction (both human and canine) and he would come back totally exhausted. Either that or hiring a dog walker to take him out for a good hour to burn off some energy.

I suggest you try and evening obedience class. Both you and your son can attend. I bet you will both benefit from it. Also, take walks together! dogs should be walked twice a day, every day. Remember that dogs cannot phone a friend up, switch on the TV or read a book. They rely on us for entertainment. If you don't give your dog enough physical and mental stimulation, he/she will be bored, frustrated and extremely miserable. GIVE him both of those things on a daily basis and he will be a happy pet.

Good luck with him. Hang in there. Interact with and exercise him more and you will see BIG improvements.

Answer 2

Well some of his hyperness comes from the lack of attention.
But its never to late to train him. Petsmart has some pretty good classes for puppies...im not sure if they train grown dogs. But when you come home...dont pay ANY attention to him. If he jumps on you tug him firmly on his collar and tell him "DOWN" or "No" . If he keeps jumping keep repeating. Once he has calmed down THEN give him attention. Do not talk to him in a very high pitched voice or that could get him hyper again. Just talk to to him calmly. Calming him down after play time could be a little hard. But do the same thing as i said before. Soon he will be less hyper. Also when you have the chance....take him for long walk....get those backpacks for dogs and put water bottles in them to make him work more during the walk. It just seems he has too much energy and nothing to burn it on. If you cant walk him...see if you can get a dog walker to do so...or a family,friends ect.
Good luck with training him!

Answer 3

awwww!! Your story made me laugh and cry at the same time. I understand your dilemma. I have 3 dogs, 2 siberian huskies and a cocker spaniel(mixed). It's funny, I adopted the cocker spaniel from a shelter and she was trained in every way. I'm assuming the previous owner did a good job with her. On the other hand, the huskies have given me a run for my money. I got them from a store. They are hard to train. They are housebroken and finally stopped chewing everything in sight. They are now 3 years old.

My advice is give the dog a chance and give him some more time. Keep taking him in for training. One day it might just pay off. good luck

Answer 4

It's never too late. Contact an obedience trainer in your area and try it again. I commend you for realizing that you haven't the time to spend with him that he deserves. Many owners are not that caring or considerate.

If you feel that you just can not keep him any longer, you can contact a Great Dane Rescue Group and they may be able to help you find a good home for him. ☺

Answer 5

It's never too late. I once adopted a 7 year old Afghan Hound who'd never had any training, a year later he earned his CD (basic obedience title).

But really, if you don't have time for the dog it's not fair to keep him. Why not try contacting a Great Dane rescue? They should be able to help you.

Answer 6

Well, part of the training process is teaching your dog to focus. I can't believe any trainer told you he wasn't ready for training. The earlier you start, the better. Note: don't use that trainer again, find a better one who actually knows what they are doing.

It's never too late for training. Seek out a good trainer to help you learn how to do it and you will be able to accomplish it just fine.

It does take time and persistance in training to see results, so don't expect it to happen to fast. Keep at it tho and you will soon begin to see good results.

Answer 7

It's never to late for your pet to be trained, but at the same time, have your 8 year old child involved in the training with the pet. Otherwise, your pet still won't obey your child. Everyone in the family needs to be involved in this process.

Answer 8

To be extreemly honest with you out of all of the dogs that we rescued, from ages 6 months to 6 years, none of them were too old to train. You just need to have a lot of time to put into training a dog especially one his size. And you can't give up too easily.
If you are serious about training him stick with it and don't give up and when you start a routine don't quit it

Good Luck!

~JP

Answer 9

Every breed has a rescue network - and yours is a fine case for re-homing.

It's not your fault for your change in circumstances. Truly it isn't. Things like this happen and it's just the way lifeis.

So please don't feel guilty about rehoming Marmaduke.


The Great Dane Rescue in Maryland/DC/Virginia is excellent - and I would imagine that there are other GD Rescue orgs. out there as well.

Good luck.

Answer 10

Oh my??

"We tried training when I first got him, but I was told he wasn't ready because he wouldn't pay attention at all."

That meant he needed his training and you couldn't do it!!

To the question he is certainly trainable by anyone with the slightest backbone. You need to get himinto a basic obedience class and FOLLOW THROUGH!!!