Experience and tips for a petite owner with a larger dog?

[Anonymous]

It's fine for you to get a very large dog. You will just have to invest in proper training so that the dog doesn't 1) pull on the leash and 2) jump on you and knock you over. As far as the leash goes, a front-clip harness can go a long way to stop a dog from pulling as you are working on training.

But any dog owner should be making sure a dog doesn't do these things anyway.

[Anonymous]

How large are we talking? Typically (hopefully?) the dog is relatively well trained by the time it reaches full size. I’m not a large person and have a large German shepherd. She doesn’t require any wrangling anymore… not since she was an older puppy really. And she was small enough where it wasn’t a size issue. But if you are talking a really giant breed type of dog then IDK…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Train the dog. Show them you are the boss.

You do know these theories of " being the bos" and alpha theory are not the current thinking?

[Anonymous]

I'm 5'2" and at one point had a Great Dane who was taller than me on her hind feet and weighed about 125lbs. She was like velcro and walked great on a leash, did not pull and would've died rather than hurt me.

A lot depends on the breed you're getting and definitely if the dog is large it needs to be very well trained so you can handle it - a large dog can definitely pull you off your feet and you can get hurt badly by that - I once fractured my ankle when a 75lb GSD mix pulled me off my feet while walking. If you fall while walking on pavement you can hit your head and it's lights out - permanently.

[Anonymous]

Get a smaller dog. Be a responsible dog owner and train it (and yourself).

[Anonymous]

I don’t have a giant breed, but I do have a 65lb leash puller and I’m short and not particularly strong. If you’re training a puller, do your back a favor and get the gentle leader leash sold on Amazon. It goes over the mouth, looks kinda like a muzzle but it’s not. They can still open their mouths just fine. No other “no-pull harness” worked. This was a godsend for my back and helped leash training go so much faster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be wary. It's not just about walking - what if they are injured and you need to lift them into a car? Or injured while youre out walking and you cant carry them home. I think it depends on how large of a dog you are considering, but this is one thing that has deterred me from getting a jumbo sized pup, because I simply wont be able to physically move the dog if I need to.

+1 to considering things like this. Also consider stuff like whether you will need to control the dog on stairways or on sidewalks with more people and dogs. Having a dog in an apartment in a busy city neighborhood will require a different kind of control than having a dog in a quiet suburb with a big yard. Also, really look into the energy levels and exercise requirements of both the breed and the specific dog before adopting. Often training a dog comes down being able to properly meet the dog's needs for exercise and stimulation -- if your large dog is under-exercised or bored, it won't matter how much energy you put into training him, he will be hard for you to control. But not all large breeds are energetic, in fact some are much more sedate than small dogs. So you have to do your research and really understand what you are getting into.

The biggest mistakes I see with people adopting dogs are (1) assuming the dog will fit into their lifestyle without considering whether their lifestyle is appropriate for the specific dog, and (2) not doing enough research beforehand to prepare themselves and their life for the changes the dog will impose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be wary. It's not just about walking - what if they are injured and you need to lift them into a car? Or injured while youre out walking and you cant carry them home. I think it depends on how large of a dog you are considering, but this is one thing that has deterred me from getting a jumbo sized pup, because I simply wont be able to physically move the dog if I need to.

This. After carrying our 55 lb dog up the stairs in her old age, I know I need a smaller dog.

Also, everybody says they're going to train their dog, but most don't and it sucks to watch a big dog run toward you with their owner stumbling behind.

[Anonymous]

I weigh 100lbs at 5'5" and my dog (Bernese) weighs 120. It's not a big deal at all because he is very well trained and generally very mellow.

[Anonymous]

Prong collar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd be wary. It's not just about walking - what if they are injured and you need to lift them into a car? Or injured while youre out walking and you cant carry them home. I think it depends on how large of a dog you are considering, but this is one thing that has deterred me from getting a jumbo sized pup, because I simply wont be able to physically move the dog if I need to.

This. After carrying our 55 lb dog up the stairs in her old age, I know I need a smaller dog.

Also, everybody says they're going to train their dog, but most don't and it sucks to watch a big dog run toward you with their owner stumbling behind.

This is 100% true and I wish more prospective dog owners would be realistic about whether they have the time and interest to do it. It's different even than people who have kids and then are lazy parents, because human children eventually become accountable in ways that dogs never are (they go to school and get in trouble, or they wind up with no friends because they are rude and unpleasant, etc.). When people don't train their dogs, the consequence is that their dogs are annoying but there is nothing, short of their dog actually attacking and hurting someone, that will ever happen to force the issue. As a result a lot of people start out with good intentions and then give up. I feel like it's happening a lot right now because a lot of people got dogs during Covid and as they've returned to the office and more socializing, have thrown in the towel on properly socializing their dogs -- they just let the dog walker deal with it, and then are kind of apologetic when their dogs jump on people and pull on leashes or are reactive during walks, but don't do anything to change it. It's very frustrating.