Raising Big Paws

The podcast episode of Fluff Pups, Raising Big Paws, offers insight and strategies for walking big dogs. Walking is an important part of a dog's day and also becomes important for the owner. The hosts share their experiences of walking their own big dogs, including the challenges of socializing them with other dogs and people. They discuss the importance of patience and training, as big dogs grow fast and become strong. They also mention their dogs' tendencies to bark or react to certain situations. Overall, walking big dogs can be a fun and rewarding experience with the right approach. Welcome back dog lovers. Have you ever considered raising a big dog but not sure of what to expect? Then you've come to the right place. On today's episode of Fluff Pups, Walking Big Paws, Talia and I will be offering some insight and strategies into the joys and challenges of walking big dogs with the help of our own dogs Koda and Eddie. On this podcast, we define a big dog as any dog that weighs around 60 pounds or more, because in our world, size does matter. From playing to cuddling, having a dog in your life can be a wonderful and rewarding experience filled with love, laughter and joy. Having a big dog means enjoying this love, laughter and joy on an even grander scale. Their size may be big, but so is their heart as these jumbo giants offer a friendship that will last a lifetime. Whether you're a proud owner or simply curious about these oversized creatures, join us as we offer some insight into the unique experiences that come with sharing your life with a larger than life canine companion. Sharing your home with a dog is a big task, but don't worry, we got you covered. So grab your headphones and get ready for a pawsome journey into the world of raising big dogs. So our first talking point to help future dog owners is in regards to walking dogs. So depending on the age you could get them and if they have previous walking experience or not, walking with a dog is a very important part of the dog's day. It also becomes an important part of your day. Now I don't know how it was for you, Talia, but walking Koda when he was only a puppy was a very new experience. It was a wonderful experience because you get to see him explore all the new surroundings. You get to see him chasing leaves that are going by. You get to see him chasing squirrels. But you also get to interact with other dogs and socialize. So that was a really important part in his development. Yeah, we had a similar experience. Our dog was a bit scared for a couple of weeks to go outside and he didn't want to go for walks. He was scared of the cars coming by. It took him a while to get used to it. Did he get used to walking on the sidewalks or how would you know when you take him walking? From the beginning it was the sidewalks because he didn't want to rush into going into the fields. So we just took him out for regular walks but he was scared of the cars. How old was he again when you walked him? We first walked him a few weeks after we got him so at that point he was a month old. So he must have been really small. Yeah, he was really small and he was really scared to walk. He would just run after everything but now he still does that. He pulls a lot. I don't know about you guys, but my dog pulls a lot. Yeah, that's one of the biggest things I noticed. The thing with big dogs is that they grow so fast and they develop like crazy. One day you're picking them up because they're so small they can't get up the stairs and the next day they're able to jump one step and the next month they're able to jump all the steps. So it's like the rate of growth is just at a very, very fast pace and they become very, very strong. So you have to always be a bit careful with that. Pugging on the leash, that's definitely one of the things you have to train with them. Getting a lot of patience is better for both you and the dog because obviously you don't want to be inadvertently abusing your dog if you're just dragging the leash or trying to force them against their own will because it's just going to be a challenge. Walking your dog honestly is a fun experience. It's a part of the day I always enjoy. So you don't want to diminish that by trying to shove him. It's very important to just be patient, to teach him listening very early on. And yeah, like I said, I think socializing the dog with other dogs and other people is very important in the development process and it's something you need to do. As a dog owner, I think you have a responsibility to try to teach other people, or excuse me, try to teach your dog to interact with other dogs because I've encountered other dogs that are very aggressive. You have to walk across the street with them because they're not very friendly and stuff. They may bite. You don't know how they're going to react. So especially when he was really small, that was always a very important consideration. How was it like for you? I mean, my dog is pretty calm with other dogs. Even if the dog like barks at him or is really aggressive towards him, he'll back away and he'll be fine. But he doesn't really socialize that much with dogs. I don't know about you guys. We don't really take him to dog parks very much because dogs can be a lot towards my dog. Especially the male because they feel like he's more, they have a dominant... hierarchy. Yeah. I know. So when I got to Koda, we had another dog already who was also a Bernese Mountain dog named Cooper. Cooper sadly passed away last year. But Koda got pretty much used to being around other dogs. Now, Cooper is a very different expert. Cooper, we got off of Animatch, wasn't socialized, was never that great with dogs. Whereas Koda, you can notice immediately, he's extremely playful. Like he'll usually do that thing where he'll jump his two paws down, go side to side. I've gotten leashes all tangled up, especially with other dogs like him, like other Newfies especially. He goes absolutely crazy. He loves seeing other dogs. So like, if it's possible, I'll always try to get him to see another dog. He's so great with dogs. I'm not worried about him. Especially once he got big enough, I don't have to think about other dogs hurting him because he's still big enough. Yeah. So it's kind of like, it's a good thing. Is he about good with other people too? Like he's more anxious. I feel like he doesn't want to like, people have to like be careful how they interact with him. Yeah. He's not like sure if he can trust people. Does he have a tendency to bark? Like if you're walking with dogs, does he have a tendency to bark at people or will he just ignore them? No, like he'll like pull and like try to like see them or maybe he'll bark. But like if he only barks, if he's sending like trouble, I don't know. Does he bark at your dog also? Yeah, my dog is strange. I would say like, I love Koda to death, but one of the things about him that was kind of weird is that once Koda, and this was after, so this was about a year after the dog, so Koda was pretty much, he was big, he was over a hundred pounds at least. So he was this big, he was like, he's very cute and fluffy, but like you said, he's a very big dog and he has a very intimidating bark. So sometimes we'd be walking him and most people he's completely fine with. People with dogs doesn't even notice the people, but for whatever reason, I don't know why this is. My dog hates old ladies. I'm not making this up. He hates them. And like, if we're walking by and some poor old lady is walking by, like I learned this the hard way and I feel so bad for the woman, but Koda just, I don't know, one day we're walking on the same sidewalk, right? We're crossing each other and Koda was just doing sniffing, doing this thing. The lady got close and Koda just started barking like crazy. And this poor lady would jump. She got super scared and stuff. And I'm like, Oh my God, what the hell is going on? I'm like, Koda, what the hell? I was like dragging him by the leashes. I was so mad at him. And like, I had to really sit him down, give him a real good talking to. So after that, that was kind of like, other than that experience, Koda for the most part is pretty good. Sometimes he'll do like a low growl, but because I know that he's going to do something like that, it's a bit unpredictable. And like, of course he didn't hurt the lady. The lady was fine. She maybe got scared. She has a new story to tell people, but like for the most part, it really wasn't. Yeah. So like that was a very important day for both me and Koda because now I know that Koda isn't always, like when it comes to walking with people by themselves, I always make sure to keep them super, super close to me because as a dog owner, I know it's my responsibility to make sure that Koda doesn't, like he's never bitten a human being ever. So that's not really the worry, but I don't want him scaring someone to the point where it's like, you just don't want them scaring people. I think that's a poor reflection on the dog owner. So like a time like that, usually like what I tend to do after that is I'll make sure if someone's walking alone and Koda seems a bit worried, I'm going to make Koda not only very close, but I'm going to try to walk on the other side of the street to avoid the person entirely. Koda doesn't do well at night for some reason. So this has a tendency, he'll sometimes bark at people at night if he doesn't like them. I don't know what it is about the people, but sometimes he'll just do that, like low growl. But like for the most part, he is great with people. I would say now today, like when I'd walk him now, I don't really think about this issue as much. Koda is much better with people. He only uses, like he'll usually, he's either super friendly, like for the most part, he is an extremely friendly dog. It's just with strangers, it can be a bit worrisome. Yeah, same thing here. Like he's a good dog and like he does not really mean to anybody, but like he'll definitely bark at night, like growl at night. And like if somebody like comes to the door, like he's a herding dog, my dog, so he's protective towards like the house and like his environment. Yes, my dog is the exact same way. People barking at the door and stuff. Like I've, some of my friends have gotten, well, they got really scared of him, but like at first it's like, it's okay. He's just going to come and sniff and like, he's a very cute and very affectionate. Much like he is great with kids. I'll say that right away. I never have to think of him being worried with kids. I've had little girls pet him and stuff. He's great with kids. Both birdies, brown dogs and newfies are renowned for being great with kids. So that's never something I have to think about. Like I said, there's a few, other than a few, a handful of instances that are really, really not what we want. But with the dog, for the most part, it's been really, really good. So how did you use treats during the training process of walking your dog? Or did you use treats at all? We did, but like my dog doesn't like care about treats. Like he doesn't, he doesn't like ever be invited by, like he's like, no, whatever, it's food. Unless it's like chicken or like some human food, but he doesn't actually like treats. So like we tried using treats, but generally it's more like if you want to go outside or if you want to do this, like you have to listen. So that's like kind of how we trained him. But also we had a trainer. Oh, you had a trainer. Okay. For like a bit. To walk him or for like just behavior? Behavior. Like we only had a trainer for like a few weeks, but like we learned some things with it. Like he more so listens to my brother because they usually go for walks more. And so like he's found his way of like making him listen. We're basically just saying like, we try to give him like independence, but also like try to like relearn back him. But for the most part, he listens really well. But like, it depends on who the person is. Yeah, who it is, let's say. Do you know what Yeah, I know. I know with Koda, like he loves treats. He'll go crazy for treats. Sometimes he goes outside just to try to get the treats. Absolutely not a good thing. But like normally we try to give, if he's a good dog and most walks, he is a good dog. We always give him a treat at the end of it. That's kind of like a reward for being a good dog. I know at the beginning we use treats a lot, especially like those type of bad barking behaviors. Treats can be really good. It's just taking their mind off of whatever it is that's making them bark. So we use treats a lot in that sort of sense. So yeah, using treats is definitely something that benefits the dog owner and it helps make the dog better. So overall, treats are really worth using. Overall, treating big dogs is a rewarding and fun experience. Walking and diverging through their behavior can be a challenge. But the important thing is to start training your dog as soon as possible. All while developing a relationship with your dog, as well as a trusting bond. To conclude today's episode, please share your experience of raising your big dog in the comment section. If you liked this episode, please check out our other episodes on Spotify. Follow us on Instagram and Spotify, @fluffpups, for other brand-new episodes. Thank you for tuning in!