While on one hand it is no great difference between puppy and puppy, no matter what race it is, it's a goddam much difference anyway. My personal opinion is that all dogs should be well-behaved and able to behave in furnished rooms, regardless of size. I think most of us agree that this is not the case.
I think rock hard on using puppy time to teach my dog most of what he needs to know, actually. I believe in exposing it to things it needs to learn to handle. It is also my firm belief that the puppy learns all the time, even when you don't “exercising”. For that reason, the puppy's entire upbringing becomes an education, you can say.
What I mean by this is not that me and my puppy should spend every waking second exercising. What I mean is that there is a big responsibility on me to be aware of what signals I give my puppy for what is ok, and what is not ok. Raising a dog – At least for me, is about more than teaching it, lie, stay, come here and so on. It is partly about developing our own relationship, partly to teach the dog to relate to its surroundings in a sensible way.
There are certain things which feel extra important when you have a large dog.
My dog needs to have a sensible energy level (unlike some others that start with E and end with lla). Happy dogs are super nice, but a really big dog who gets as hysterically happy as Ella will knock people over and tear down an entire apartment in his eagerness to greet. My dog will need to have a reasonable level of energy, and it needs to be able to exercise self-control. This should not be mistaken for “not allowed to be happy” or similar – just that it needs to control itself so as not to accidentally hurt someone. For example, I would prefer that my dog not jump on visitors or people we meet when we are out.
The question of respect Incidentally, is something I will be adamant about, in both directions. Ella became very happy as soon as someone glanced in her direction. There we can talk about dogs being at the center of their own universe – she was completely convinced that everyone wanted to visit and pet her, always. I don't know how many times I've told people who come here to completely ignore her, to get her energy down as fast as possible, so it became possible to actually greet. At least as many times, people have not listened, and Ella has become completely hysterical with pure, cut happiness.
Rudeness should not be rewarded – point. Therefore, I will require visitors to ignore my dog until the dog is at an energy level where it is beneficial for all parties to greet.
Other as well is important, is this about walking nicely on a leash. Ella always has (except for the last six months or so) lay on the leash. When she was younger, she smoked a lot, but it changed to piecemeal/periodic (before running) – if i say hang in the leash, you understand what I mean then? Like that, half a head forward, just enough for the leash to be taut, but not necessarily enough to make it difficult. With a dog as big as an Estrela, this does not feel like a good option.
I don't want either that my dog will mumble and lunge at other dogs, cats, birds, squirrels, folk, mops, cars, cyclists, toddlers and more.
Environmental training is also fucking important. I environmentally trained Ella a lot when she was a puppy, and we made a lot of money from that in the long run. For example, she has always been super good to have with her on buses and trains. We were out in the woods, we were down town, we walked along water and were out on piers, we moved in industrial environments, drove a car – you name it. My new dog will also get to accompany me to as many places as I can think of, just to get as many experiences as possible to build their security base on.
Socialization lies fairly close to environmental training, can I think – stuck with people. Throughout Ella's life, I always thought we would go away to midsummer celebrations and the like, although we never did. However, that doesn't mean she hasn't experienced a lot of people; we have been to town, at McDonalds on a payday, and other places where there were really a lot of people. She has always behaved as well as possible.
Then that's it here with handling – physical handling, in other words. Estrela has shaggy fur and needs brushing – so my dog needs to learn that it is ok to be brushed. But it is about more things; bell ringing, to be poked in the ears, in the mouth, and in general – pilled on.
As you notice There are quite a few things a dog needs to learn. It is not enough to “let the puppy be a puppy” for several months and then be surprised that it can't do anything at eight months old. Around the age of one year, they become really damn good, and then there needs to be a basis that they can be reminded of (with varied intensity, depending on race, individual and so on).