Have you and your dog been through an obedience class? it sounds like she would benefit greatly from the process if you haven't tried that, yet. A Dane is far too large a dog to be unused to being on a leash. And she needs the opportunity to be socialized with other dogs in a controlled environment.

Definitely time for an obedience class or personal training.

Once you know how to control her, life with her will be enjoyable. I've owned and been around Danes and never saw any problem dogs. My experience is they're very easy to train..........and very sensitive to corrections.

I've had better luck with the Gentle Walker harness with my Huskies. They all hate having a collar on their face, but the harness works really well for them. My problem is that they would run after every critter they saw- squirrels, birds, cats, bunnies, etc and just about pull me off my feet doing it.

I would also suggest training classes. It sounds as though she wasn't socialized to other dogs.

Agreed about classes. If you dont have the money, You need to be able to take control of your dog on and off the leash - how much basic training in the home do you do? Does your dog understand and obey the commands - sit, stay, down, and leave it? This is a clear case of your dog taking advantage of you. Your dog should come to you when leash him up, and be putin a sit stay position BEFORE you get out the door, you go out first. Place the collar high up around your dogs neck ,like they do at the show ring and have your dog walk at your side, not pulling or pugging you. Relax when walking your dog and the very second your dog starts in front of you or sees another dog your dog should be corrected. A sharp tug and release on the collar should do it. As soon as you see another dog put your dog on a sit and stay, and correct him when he even tries to react to the other dog. Dont let your dog push you around.

I have been recommitting myself to Cocoa. I purchased a pinch collar today and it seems to work much better as fars as the training is concerned because I can give clear corrections. She is not pulling me around on it at all and doesn't fight with it like she did her Gentle Leader so the pinch is really working for me much better. I am actually getting to the training where as before, I couldn't get past the fight with the gentle leader. She follows simple commands both in the house and in the back yard, but throw another person or more importantly, dog, into the mix and she completely ignores me. She gets anxious and tunes me out completely.

While on our walk today, there were some workers on the street and she immediately goes into defense mode. No barking, but picks up her walking pace, ignores all attempts at correction and ignores me.

One other thing is that I wonder if she finds it hard to walk beside me since she is so big? Maybe her stride makes her walk faster?

About 10 years ago I had a golden retriever(rescue) like this. We have a large fenced in yard so in the house and the yard she was fine. What I did was put her on the leash when ever she was with me in the house or the yard. I started walking her around the yard with her between me and the fence. It took a while but she finally got it. She would sit, down and stay as long as she was confined(in the house or yard) but as soon as she got out of the yard she was gone! I could walk her on a leash but she was NEVER to be trusted off leash out side of the house or yard.

You're trying to progress to fast. Work in areas of very low distraction with her at first. When she gets really good there then very slowly introduce a distraction. And don't be afraid to back up a step from that if she has too much trouble staying focased at that point. It just means she doesn't completly understand yet.

Lisa

Please be careful with the pinch collar. My first Rottie was equally insane, and we thought the pinch collar was the bee's knees when it came to gaining control. That thought was dashed in a very dramatic way, when he went after a puppy across the street. Within seconds, I was holding a leash connected to nothing but a pile of separated prongs, while Kang was making a mad dash for the puppy (he wanted to be friends, but it isn't worth convincing people of that when a Rottie is chasing their dog). Luckily, despite his insanity, he liked the "Down" command, and in true form, when I came to my senses and actually thought to utter that command, he did so immediately.

A Dane could just as easily break the prong collar. Kang did OK with the gentle leader, but as I mentioned before my Huskies responded better to the easy walker harness. If you are going to use the prong collar, have some sort of backup control as well, such as connecting the leash also to a choker or buckle collar, in case of emergency.

Use what works for you, it sounds like you are making steps in the right direction. Let me ask you about her diet. Do you feed her often or just once a day, Does she get snacks? Is she food oriented? The thing with dogs is to determine individual quirks (just like people) and be creative about dealing with them. It sounds like you really need to take charge. She is a big dog and dogs are opportunists and will sense weakness and will take advantage of it in a heartbeat. I have two recommendations for you. One is to bring some food with you on your walk. As soon as she alerts to something stand between her and the thing she is alerting to, put her in a sit position and reward her with food if she is being good. The other suggestion I have is if you can find a relatively deserted place where you can walk her really really fast and for about 45 minutes before having her in public, if you have no place like this nearby, try playing really hard with her for a good hour before taking her on a walk - a tired dog is easier to train. Last resort, dose her every morning with a little rescue remedy about an hour before taking her out - it does not take much to calm them half a dropper should do it. Keep up with training and dont let her take advantage of you. I have a mastiff mix - very stubborn fellow, and if he had his way, we would never go for a walk, he would only be driven around in the car all day (unless of course it snowed) that is the only acceptable time to go out in his book. If I dont test his self imposed limitations, or correct his crankiness he would be living a boring life and is personality defects would get worse. Be strong use your warrior self and dont baby your dog. Be the alpha and take charge. good luck

The large dogs in my Dog Training School all have prong/pinch collars. I resisted them at first, then the trainer explained to me that the harness was in invitation to "tug of war", and the dog did not understand the gentle lead. The manufacturer of the pinch collar recommends a back up collar. We use a process like they show in the picture. We have a chain that hangs down from the collar, but is attached to the leash. If the prong collar becomes undone, the back up collar is working. Also if you use a prong collar, unless you have very strong hands, you need to get one that has a hook, or you devise a hook. Over time the prongs can loosen, it is easy to be careless, and not hook them completely, and they can really hurt your hands. The one with the hook is very easy, and you never disrupt the hook. With this collar the dog understands you, and is not playing.

I like the Dog Training School, and think that is a very good idea for an owner of a large dog. My 80 Golden is uncomfortable when he is in front of Great Danes. Out on the sidewalk, they can become very intimidating. I always think that the handler may not be able to control that dog.

We were told in the School to walk fast with the big dogs. (They said they perform better the faster they go.)

Sammy

I'm not against prong collars, in fact I use one on one of my dogs. However, I would be careful with corrections when she reacts, because some dogs connect this with the stimulus (what they are reacting to) rather than their reaction (which is really what you are trying to correct). This can make them react more and sooner, if they are anticipating the correction ("here comes another dog, I'd better bark before it makes that thing pinch my neck"). If you are talking about a verbal correction, then disregard this, it only applies to physical ones.

My dog that I use the prong on sometimes can be reactive, and I have noticed that having the prong can make her reactivity worse. I only use it in certain situations, and have a flat collar, Halti, and regular harness also depending on the circumstance. The Halti is for something like a pet store where I want to be able to control where her head goes (i.e. not scarfing treats off the ground). The harness is for hikes in the woods on the long line. The prong is for crowded situations (like a street fair) where I need her to pay a bit more attention. But I think with any training device the key is to get to a behaviour that you can reward quickly, and as long as you focus on that instead of relying on the corrections you're on the right track.

Also, I always, always, always recommend a backup collar when you're using a head halter or prong. These collars can unclip or come off, and you don't want to end up with your dog loose. A very loose nylon slip collar is a good choice for this (clip leash to both) - as long as the primary collar doesn't come off, it will never be used, it will just hang there.

I didn't use a quick release prong because the of the dangers of it coming loose. The regular one is pretty hard to put on and take off but I am getting used to it. The first couple of times, I actually had to use plyers. I hook both the pinch and flat collar just in case. We are definitly walking more often and the walks are better. She is actually following my voice and the "sit" command while on the walk. Still not infront of other distractions, but this is a step in the right direction at least.

She is fed twice a day. She has never been a dog that is keen on treats or very motivated by food at all. I think it is sort of strange since when I'm out, all I get are the "wow, what does she eat!?" or "man, she must eat you out of house and home!" comments. She really isn't in to food. She was looking pretty skinny (actually, still is) and all her ribs show so I really don't want to step down her food intake. I know they are a thin breed, but she is ultra thin. On our walks the other day, I brought along some ham and she liked that so we'll stick with that for now. She could care less about doggy treats though.

One thing I never do is baby her. I never even refer to her as my baby. Probably since I have 2 real ones, I just look at her as my dog. I love her and enjoy her as part of the family, but I am definitly the alpha figure. Only problem is she ONLY listens to me, not my hubby and not the kids. Baby steps I guess.

I have two saints. I bought them both to obedience training. YOu need to get a chain collar (not the one with the claws) in them, just a regular chain.

You have to place it on their necks so you have one of the big loops to pull when you want them to sit, down etc. This chain works wonders on my two. Duff is up to 160 now - he had his left leg amuptated dued to bone cancer) and Daisy is aprox 140. You yank on the big loop. not that hard just enough to make them sit, stay or lie down ,just so they know when you yank on it they do what you say.

With big dogs like ours we have to have control over them. and this chain really works. A smaller dog, you wouldn't yank it so hard. But they do get the message.

Enroll in an obedience clas and you will be very surprised.

There was an episode of a show maybe called "it's me or the dog" with a similar situation but the lady had 3 Danes. The trainer started out with distractions one by one and when the dog would start to go to the distraction she simply turned the opposite direction to walk back. The dogs were not well socialized and acted crazy in public. It took very little time to have them well behaved.
I think the prong collar is excellent, we have a Rottie that responds to it very well. I have to disagree with the chain collars, they can cause serious damage to the neck if not used properly or too much force is exerted.
Good Luck to the both of you!

Sorry, I'm not a fan of the choke collar (even though I use a prong). I think it's the hardest training collar to use correctly, and many trainers don't use them anymore because of this. Here's an interesting article about it: http://www.flyingdogpress.com/prong.html

1.5 years is still pretty young for a dane, she should fill out still. Good luck with your training, sounds like it's going well!