I would just like to say a big THANKYOU for your replies to my Ralph's problem (or mine come to think of it!!!!) I will definatly take your advice on getting some help with his behaviour, but with funds being low but I am going to try and get the money together....Also, iv spoken to (well damn well told him!) my OH on helping me, as he was quick enough to moan about him so he is going to now start coming with me on the walks and to the classes. I have got my kids now to give him his food in the mornings and evenings and I have started to get them to take the food away half way through his feeds, only for a time so he know who is feeding him.  He is crated now whilst we eat.  He has always not liked his head stroked so I will give him treats on our walks and stroke him with my other hand and keep praising him.....I don't know about the classes tho' he's great in the classes but he so different when we get home, but im now working on that, im making him work for EVERYTHING he gets.

I so love my Ralph and so do all of us, he's our 3rd one and this one is more dominent!! (or maybe im just getting old in the teeth - 40 ishhhhhhhhhh) I do not want to let him go and I will not let him go.....The breeder is not really helpful, he just says 'send him to me and ill teach him!!' I think he needs another dominent dog to put him in his place as I cant walk with anyone with their dogs as he just wont leave them alone so im working on that one now....

I hear you all saying  "what is this mad person doing with a mad dog" but I LOVE newfs and I know they are wonderful dogs they truly are, but at 7 months I think he's just taking the p... (so sorry about that!) and I WILL follow through with all your advice, honesly I will, and I WONT let him beat me.

Thank you all again so much, no doubt ill have other 'little' problems cropping up !!!

with the kindest regards

Debi
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> I have got my kids now to give him his food in the mornings and evenings and I have started to get them to take the food away half way through his feeds, only for a time so he know who is feeding him

Debi, whatever else you do with this pup the part highlighted is nothing short of madness - sorry but it needs saying.  If your pup is already food defensive/possessive then this move is a sure fire way to instill in him that his worst fears were realised - he was worried before that someone MIGHT take his food and now, low and behold, you've PROVEN him to be right :( 

Worse still, you're putting your children at risk and for completely unsound reasons.

IME food should never be taken from a dog - I'd be none too chuffed at someone trying to take my meal away from me and I have the ability to be reasoned with (but not a lot ;) ).  There is NO good reason for this practice and many dangerous consequences.

To train dogs out of possessive behaviours we should 'swap' something of high value (food!) for something of even higher value - better/tastier food.  Your kids, if of an age to be handling this pup at all around food, should at best be dropping some added goodies INTO his bowl, NEVER removing anything from him.

I'm sorry I haven't had time to catch up on what your post follows on from but this jumped out at me and I felt that it needed to be addressed a.s.a.p.  Hopefully you've been enjoying good advice about appropriate husbandry and training with this dog on the other thread as there are many very experienced folks on here who should be able to guide you

regards Teri

Teri

Debi,
It's great you have such a positive attitude now and getting the whole family involved will make it much easier. It's a great idea to get your kids involved with giving the dog food, but please don't get them to take the bowl off him. Also be very carefull about making sure you supervise your kids while they are feeding him, you should make sure he is sat down and while the kids put the bowl down and make sure he doesn't go to the bowl before being told he can, he's allready shown to display food-guarding it is possible for him to think the kids have no right to be any where near his bowl, they definately should not take it away from him.

I will get moaned at for this, but I have taught my dog to trust me enough to take his food away (long story but it has been done with the 'swap' techniqe tied in with 'wait'), however, I would never let anybody other than me attempt to take his food bowl away or even touch it - the bond of trust I have with him is HUGE it has taken a lot of work and it would be silly to think he can be like this with everybody else in my family (even though he probably would be - 'probably' just isn't good enough when it comes to my kids safety), he has NEVER shown even the slightest of hints of food guarding but I still insist the kids do not go near his bowl when he eats - you just can't take the chance with your children, even a 'warning snap' from such a large dog could do serious damage.

I don't think your mad!! You have a big boy with a big attitude, you just need to show him, through absolute consistency, that what you says goes - every single time and he'll get there :)

Keep this in your mind - you can control him in class with the distraction of all the other dogs - that is a good achievement, the reason you can't control him at home is because he has learned how to control you - he has learnt he can use his weight and size to itimidate you all, you can change this around, especially with your OH on your side :)

I tried explaining on your other post how you need to gain controll with your will, rather than your strength, people suggested the NILF programme which is great, but it doesn't help if he's jumping all over you and chewing your hair/clothes while your sat on the floor!
In situations like this:
stay calm - you can be in control but you must believe it,
be firm but don't shout - I'll bet my bottom dollar that if you shout he'll get worse ;) ,
you could say 'no' - 'toy' and offer him a toy, if he ignores the toy you can hold his collar - don't push or pull him, just hold the collar firmly, stand up and move toward a different room (I always use the kitchen as a 'time out' area) and say 'kitchen' eg., - however if he plays with the toy praise him up :)
if he is really playfull/full-on he may try to mouth your arm, if this worries you, use a lead so you can keep your hands/arms out of reach of his chops, either way ignore his protest and walk toward the other room withotu pulling him - he has to give in and follow, if he pulls/flails around like an idiot- stand still and wait for him to finish his tantrum -he is trying to use his weight against you - don't give in to it!
It may take 5 mins to get him to the other room, it doesn't matter, what's important is that you make him go to the other room without pulling/pushing him about, this way he will learn that his weight & strength are not somthing he can use to his advantage (this is important as he will get bigger and stonger).
Once you finally get to the other room say 'kitchen' again and leave him in there for a few minutes to calm down, then let him out, if he jumps all over you again - back to the kitchen.

I'm sorry for the long ramble, I never seem to be able to explain what I mean very well/concisely :( but I hope you understand what I mean and find it helpfull. Buster was a 'little' monster that took ages to stop play-biting, he would dive on my OH and try to drag him off the sofa by his sleeves, this technique worked a treat. Now if he is having a funny 5 mins he knows he has to beat up a toy and not my OH!! He's also learnt that 'kitchen' means he must go to the kitchen - that's soooo usefull :) - now I just have to get him that reliable with the cat !

Just quickly scanned your earlier thread Debi and see you've already been advised against your children touching the dog when it's eating so perhaps you somehow missed that advice before embarking, unknowingly, on potentially escallating the problem.

Re not liking his head being touched - that's common in all dogs, across all breeds and ages unless trained and coerced into it.  A hand hovering over the top of the head is a dominant sign to the dog and a fearful, slightly insecure or over bolshy dog will often show an unwelcome reaction if not, as Marianne has suggested, having this introduced ad nauseum in the early stages of puppyhood and kept up for some time after.

Personally I don't usually pat my dogs on the head - and I encourage anyone wishing to meet and greet them to tickle them under the chin or rub their chest - they like that!  It's also how I prefer to stroke and show them affection (as well as having them belly up across my knee and trying to see the TV screen through pointy ears :-p ) because that's what they, instinctively, find relaxing or friendly and inviting rather than too forceful.

With such a large dog it's much easier for folks to reach under the chin too :)

HTH, Teri

For young puppies, use a buckle collar. The chain slip collar comes in two-inch increments and has a ring at each end. The clip-on nylon slip collar comes in one-inch increments. Do not use the nylon slip collar that fits over the dog's head like the chain slip collar; effective corrections are almost impossible with this collar. An ugly contraption, the prong collar is actually both humane and effective. Do not use an electronic collar to teach basic manners; these collars are for expert trainers to correct mistakes when the dog cannot be controlled otherwise. At the same time you purchases a collar, invest in a narrow, six-foot leather leash (nylon or other fabric can slide through the hands and cause friction burns on tender skin) with a loop at one end and a sturdy clip at the other. To fit the slip collar properly put the slip collar on the dog so that the live ring can be used to tighten the collar. Be sure to remove flea collars and buckle collars; they can interfere with the action of the training collar. To fit the nylon slip collar, place it around the dog's neck and fasten the clip to the loose ring. To put the prong collar on the dog, separate two links by pinching the prongs together and place the collar around the dog's neck just behind his ears. The head collar fits like a pony halter with a loop across the dog's muzzle and another behind his ears. The method used to teach leash manners depends on the dog and on you. You can begin by teaching the dog to be aware of your body. If he tightens the leash by getting too far ahead, stop walking. If this strategy doesn't bear fruit in a couple of days, try something a bit tougher - the collar tug. If two or three such tugs on a slip collar do not get his attention, do not increase the strength of your jerks; switch to a prong collar. To teach walking manners to a puppy, clip leash to buckle collar, put toys or treats in your pocket, and coax the pup to remain near your side as you walk. Teaching submissive, fearful dogs is a lot like teaching puppies - you have to keep things low-key, use plenty of rewards, coax correct behavior, and avoid harsh corrections. The keys to success are persistence and consistency.  You have to out-stubborn the dog, even if he is big and strong. If you cannot win the battle by yourself, contact a dog training club or school.

I realise you're not in the UK, Belgian2008, but you ought to know that prong collars are generally frowned upon over here.

Hi Debi

Just scanned your post quickly as I don;t have long but just wanted to say that I agree with Teri...please do not remove his food from him while he is eating or allow your children too (in fact, teach your children to give Ralph space and time to eat in peace).  Resource guarding is a very natural behaviour in dogs and by removing his food mid-meal, you are effectively reinforcing his idea that he has to protect it.  He may have been tolerant thus far but he may not always be.  Imagine of you were enjoying your dinner and someone came and lifted your plate from in front of you before you had finished?  You'd probably not react kindly, would you?  I know I wouldn't!

Instead, work on teaching Ralph that hands near his food bowl is a good thing. I started my dogs with only giving them a small portion of their dinner to begin with in their bowl and just before they finished that, I would drop in a bit more and continue adding food to the bowl while they ate.  That way they learned that a hand near the food bowl is generally a good thing. 

Also, try to stop thinking of ralph as 'dominant' and that you must constantly do battle with him.  He is an over exhuberant pup with no concept of his size but I can guarantee that world domination is not on his agenda ;-)  He needs to be consistently shown what behaviour is expected from him and he will catch on eventually but at 7 months he really is just a puppy...as you know, it'll be another 2 years or more before he is fully mature.  I think with the giant breeds, we sometimes expect more of them because they look so big at that age but tend to forget that it's still a very young dog inside that huge package ;-)

Did you get your first 2 newfs as pups?  I only ask because my first newf was a rescue that we got aged 4.  He was such a gentleman, a calm sweet tempered angel!  When he died and I got my first new puppy, oh she was hell. I had rehomed many "behavourially challenged" dogs and done really well with them and had bought up springers and mongrels to be model citizens.  So my newf puppy was going to be easy!  I used to be in tears after walking her sometimes.  She could be so well behaved but then she could just seem to get the devil in her.  She was just constant hard work.  She is the only dog my husband wanted to get rid of.  I secretly wished someone would steal her!  but slowly after the age of 18 months she seemed to get slightly better each day.  She is 6 now and a proper, calm sweet newf, still a bit more mischievous than the average newf but as good as gold and she is lovely off lead.  I agree with Shaynlola, Ralph is still a pup.  I am sure he will turn into a sweetheart, just be consistent.  Can you walk him with other newfy owners?  I know there are a few in Liverpool.  If you want I could put you in touch with someone.

> Instead, work on teaching Ralph that hands near his food bowl is a good thing. I started my dogs with only giving them a small portion of their dinner to begin with in their bowl and just before they finished that, I would drop in a bit more and continue adding food to the bowl while they ate.  That way they learned that a hand near the food bowl is generally a good thing.

this was what i was advised to do too - I can remove my dogs bowls as neither of them particularly guard food (human food yes, dog food no :-D ), but I have also heard to add to the bowl rather than take it away - much safer

I wouldn't advocate using a prong collar on the poor dog! He(as do all puppies) needs persuasion, gentleness and guidance...he does not need to be 'punished' to walk or behave properly! one thing you cannot do with an 8-10stone dog(which he will be!) is use force and brute strength! He needs training, PROPERLY!