I think you're on the right track. We socialized Biff with all the big dogs in the neighborhood (his girlfriend is a chocolate lab named Chloe) as well as our niece who was just over 1 when we got him. We knew we wanted him to be a well rounded, grounded and not nervous dog. The one thing that we really stuck to our guns about that might seem like babying was that we trained him not to jump. He won't jump off the couch or the bed I mean. He has a few t-shirts and sweaters, but honestly I've always had big dogs and we take him on walks, he plays with tennis balls and chew toys...we don't carry him all over the place and honestly most of the time when we take him places I put his leash on and make him walk. We take him to the park. The only thing I have to say is that they're terribly smart, terribly sneaky and very stubborn so you may think that your "tough love" training isn't working, but keep it up. There were times training made me want to cry, but with time and some sleepless nights he came around. |