5 Ways To Reduce That Smelly Great Dane Dog Odor In The House

No matter how often our Great Danes wash themselves or we wash them, sometimes just having a dog in the house can leave a smell. Long after the stain is lifted, dog odors can linger. Follow some of these suggestions to keep from being entrenched in stench.

1. Bathing your Great Dane regularly will help cut down dog odors. If it’s too cold to bathe him, use a dry shampoo or massage some baking soda into your dog’s coat and brush it out to remove odors.

2. Purchase an electronic air-cleaning system designed to remove dog odors from the air.

3. Make your own carpet freshener by combining one box of baking soda with one tablespoon of orris root (available in herb stores) that has been saturated in your favorite scented oil. Place the mixture in a glass jar and cover with a metal lid in which you’ve punched holes. Let it sit for a few days so that the baking soda picks up the oil scent then sprinkle it onto the carpet before vacuuming.

4. Use a window fan set on exhaust to make odor elimination a breeze.

5. Odors and stains from feces or urine are protein-based and require an odor neutralizer containing bacterial enzymes to completely eliminate them. Purchase enzyme products at dis- count department stores, health stores, or pet stores.

5 Ways To Make Your New Great Dane Puppy Comfortable

The first nights in a new home for a Great Dane puppy are much like a baby’s first few nights at home. The best way to get your new puppy to sleep through the night quietly is to:

1. Make sure his last play period is a good, hearty one that ends about one hour before you feed him his last meal, which should be about an hour before your bedtime.

2. Take him out to potty as soon as he is done eating and about fifteen minutes before you go to bed.

3. Leave a very small quantity of water with him when you put him to bed.

4. Try to make your bedtime and his getting-up time no more than six hours apart until he is four to five months old. With this schedule and proper containment, a healthy puppy should both sleep and housebreak easily.

5. Make him a proper bed. The Great Dane puppy’s “bed” can be a rug at the end of your bed (tie him to the bedpost), a box or crate or pen, or any other small area that restricts his movement. You want him sleeping while you are sleeping!

5 Ways Of Keeping Your Great Dane Puppy Busy

All of the games and skills discussed below are designed to contribute to both the fun and the positive upbringing of your Great Dane puppy. These energy-producing exercises act as building blocks that make advanced training easier and enhance the bond between owner and puppy.

Grooming Practice: Starting grooming procedures at an early age teaches the puppy acceptance of hands-on treatment over all parts of his body and emphasizes relaxed “stays.” Grooming also assures the owner of dominance as nails are cut and teeth are cleaned, as the puppy learns to be quiet and tolerate-these “house-cleaning” techniques.

Hide & Seek: Hide and seek is fun for owners and puppies alike and helps teach your puppy how to come.

1. Put your Great Dane puppy on a sit-stay or have someone else hold his leash.
2. Hide behind a nearby tree or, if inside, a piece of furniture.
3. Wait five seconds, then call him excitedly.
4. When he “finds” you, praise him with lots of love and a tidbit or ball.
5. Make each hiding place a little harder and a little farther away. Sometimes return to your puppy and end the game at that point so he will not think he always has to leave to get you near him.

Find The Toy: Find The Toy teaches early discrimination by smell.

1. Tie your Great Dane puppy to a chair or have someone hold his leash.
2. Let him watch you put several objects on the floor: a can, bottle, box, telephone. Use a glove or just barely touch these articles when placing them on the floor.
3. Go back to your puppy, take his favorite toy and hold it in your hands for several seconds, and let him watch as you throw it in with the other objects.
4. Release him and tell him “Fetch!”
5. When he does, praise him lavishly.
6. As he gets good at selecting his toy, use one of your well-scented gloves or socks and put it with similar objects that are unscented. Pretty soon scent discrimination will be an understood part of his life from your viewpoint, not just from his viewpoint.

High Jump: At first, try just walking over the jump with the puppy at your side. If that works, fine; if not, put your Great Dane puppy on one side of the jump and get on the other side. Use a piece of food to coax him over. If you have a leash on the puppy be sure to keep it loose when he jumps. You never pull a puppy (or a dog) over a jump.

Bar Jump: Same as above, except start with the bar on the ground. Slowly raise it after each successful jump.

5 Principles Recommended To Help Breed Hip Dysplasia Out Of Your Great Dane

While there is a hereditary disease for virtually every part of the Great Dane’s anatomy, beyond any question one of the most emotional, controversial, and expensive dog diseases of modern times is canine hip dysplasia, commonly referred to as CHD. This is an ailment in which the ball and socket joints of the hips are poorly formed - dysplasia means bad development. Severely affected animals often are crippled and must be put to sleep. The OFA certifies seven hip types: excellent, good, fair, borderline, mild, moderate, and severe.

CHD was first reported in 1935, but because it is a complex hereditary deformity caused by the interaction of many genes, it has proven maddeningly frustrating for breeders to control. Moreover, it resists the generalization that show dogs are more prone to it than field dogs. To illustrate, only about eight percent of English Cocker Spaniels examined by OFA suffer from the disease. The English Cocker is almost exclusively a show and pet dog now. Meanwhile, about forty-seven percent of the Boykin Spaniels examined proved dysplastic, and the Boykin is exclusively a sporting breed.

Canine hip dysplasia is much more of a problem for some breeds more so than others. For some breeds, in fact, it is the most common form of degenerative joint disease. OFA maintains that the only way to reduce the prevalence of hip dysplasia is to selectively breed for normal hips, and notes that scientists have repeatedly proven the effectiveness of doing this.

Canine hip dysplasia is a good example of how invisible genetic time bombs can be and how arduous they can be to defuse. The only way to accurately diagnose CHD is by X-ray. OFA requires that dogs be at least 24 months old when X-rayed in order to qualify for an OFA breed registry number. The general principles recommended by OFA for breeding away from CHD are:

1. Breed only normal dogs to normal dogs.

2. The normal Great Dane should come from normal parents and grandparents.

3. The normal Great Dane should have over seventy-five percent normal siblings.

4. A dog with excellent hips from a litter having more than twenty-five percent dysplastic Great Dane puppies is a worse breeding choice than a dog with fair hips from a litter experiencing less than twenty-five percent dysplasia.

5. Choose replacement dams that have better hips than their parents and the breed average.

Looking For Something Active To Do With Your Great Dane? Try Roller Blading Or Biking

Roller blading is a great way to exercise your Great Dane. Roller blading is a little more challenging when practicing the street commands, since you may not be able to stop with the same precision at a curb as you would when walking or jogging. Before trying to roller blade with your dog, make sure he can automatically stop and sit at streets for you.

Use the principles of street identification when roller blading - slow your dog down twenty feet before an intersection and give the heel command to bring him back to your side. Roller blading with your dog also takes a little more skill in leash handling since you are moving at a faster clip.

Your dog may have trouble adjusting to you on skates. The sound of the skates and your movement will be a little different. Take it slow with him and work on familiar sidewalks at first. But just like running, it may be easier to practice with your dog in a park or in an empty parking lot where you don’t have to worry about stopping at street corners.

Biking With Your Great Dane

Biking is more challenging than running with your Great Dane dog since there is more of a distance between you and your dog, and with that distance you will have a little less control. Biking can also be more difficult since you need to bike on the sidewalk with your dog and not on the street. Many cities have laws prohibiting riding a bike on the sidewalk.

It’s probably easier to just pack your bike and dog in the car and head to a park instead. In the park, you won’t have to worry about car traffic. If you go to the park during off-peak hours, you will have less competition for space with other bikers, skaters and runners. I prefer biking with my dogs at night in the park. I place reflectors on their harnesses as a safety measure.

Since you will want to keep your dog close to your side, you can purchase commercial devices that will keep your dog attached to your bike. Such devices can attach to your dog’s harness and have enough give for your dog to maneuver around obstacles. The disadvantage to these devices is that you can’t see what is happening with your dog, since they attach to the back wheel of your bike.

Biking your Great Dane for extended periods of time on asphalt or concrete is hard on your dog’s skeletal system. Never overdo it. Also inspect your dog’s pads from time to time for wear and tear. Make sure the weather isn’t too severe when biking or running your dog. Stop for plenty of water along the way.