Bixby is 9 months old today. I was going to have him write a diary entry, but I was afraid it would be filled with profanity, drinking, smoking and graffiti. In other words, we’ve hit the terrible teen weeks.
The photo above is him basically telling me I suck because I have banned him from the couch. Why you ask? Is it because dogs shouldn’t be on the couch (true, but no), because he’s too big (almost true, but still no) or because I just washed the cover, blankets and pillow (again, true, but nope)?
No, he’s banned from the couch because no matter how many times I correct him, he thinks it’s a playground. Digs, scratches, rolls around, tries to take the cushions off, and brings all his toys up on the couch. He’s allowed to nap on the couch, nothing else. So no more couch.
He’s 120.5 lbs, still only 32 inches at his shoulders, but much longer now – it’s hard to measure a moving target – but he towers over me when standing up on my shoulders. His neck is 24″ around and he’s almost out of the largest collar I can find. That’s larger than the Great Dane next door. And while our neighbor is much taller and much heavier (he comes in at a hefty 210 lbs and is svelte, so you can imagine how tall he is), Bixby’s neck is bigger, he definitely has his dad’s build there, a more European style. I may have to buy his collars in the men’s belt section.
That dog is still here?
He is generally a good dog, but the last three weeks have been challenging. And I am being kind here. This morning he started his ninth month out by refusing to get out of bed, chasing Zander, challenging Emma – who never backs down, the only reason Bixby’s nose doesn’t look like coleslaw is that Emma is secure in her alpha, queen of the house, status – so she just hisses at him and stands her ground – and refusing to sit and hold while I opened the door for him to go outside. Basically he bowled me over like the ten pin. And that was all before breakfast. More importantly, that was before my first cup of coffee.
He continued his misbehavior on our walk by throwing his weight around. When he doesn’t want to stop sniffing something he crouches down and digs his feet in. If he doesn’t come when I request it, he has to walk at heel, no sniffing, no stopping. We spent most of the walk at heel.
But the good news is, he has stopped grabbing the leash from my hand and running away. It took him a bit of detective work to figure out that it was this behavior that was getting him in big trouble. It was fun watching him work it out. He has three or four behaviors lately on leash that I’ve been discouraging, but only the grabbing the leash and running away got him in big trouble. He didn’t quite get it at first, so he would test out each behavior and watch and listen. It only took him twice grabbing the leash before he got it. He’s pretty much over that now, though every once in a while, he turns, starts to grab it, looks at me, and decides it’s not worth it.
I am confident we’ll work the rest out. A lot of it is challenging me, to see if he can get away with something. He’s learning that if he wants to get scritches from other people he meets, sitting gets him the attention he is seeking, instead of charging at them, jumping on them or generally cornering them at the door. I get all the “make me” behaviors. Some days he’s a perfect gentleman, others he just wants to do it his way and I’m an obstacle.
Suddenly I have an understanding why two of my four Danes came to me at just under a year. I can see how people not familiar with how sweet these dogs are as adults would be overwhelmed by the power of their rebellion. I am confident Bixby will be a charming adult dog. Even if at the moment he is completely exhausting me. Luckily, he’s cute and gives great hugs.







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Speaking from my “parenthood” of a 10-lb Pom who came to me (at 10ish months) via being dumped for not being show-quality, WOW. I just cannot wrap my mind around Bixby’s size!! It makes me understand more why our groomer says that small dogs are the most ill-trained dogs out there. We can just pick them up & stick them under an arm. (Though I’ve tried to be a better pet parent than that)
All power to you!!
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Thanks..yeah, when they outweigh you and out muscle you, you really have to stay on top of training. But so sweet, they make it easy.
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Gorgeous pup and great pics, but that third picture from the bottom – zomg, especially stunning!
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Thanks!
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