I have never taken Savage to any obedience or puppy kindergarten because we live so far from any town that offers those. Now, however, I'm starting to think that it might be necessary. Better late than never. I do realize that he still is a puppy and wants to push all his boundaries, but sometimes I need him to obey, for his own safety and my sanity. Summer gets pretty busy up here, and I haven't got a lot of time for intense training with him, but it's going to have to happen if I want a mutually trusting relationship with my puppy.
I left the ear-tape off for a few weeks and since they were pretty good looking I've been allowing myself to get lazy about that, too. Finally started taping again a week or so ago because though they look almost finished, the little tips still get floppy. So back to weekly taping, which both Savvy and I get tired of. But this is one of those things that you can't just give up on because it's time-consuming. And when his ears are erect and alert I know I would go through it all again. All danes are beautiful, but in my humble opinion cropped ears add so much to the regal appearance.
Savvy and I just spent a couple of days at the lake earlier this week. (The pics are of Savage licking a walleye I caught, and giving my grandma a kiss.) He's been an absolute nightmare around the resort guests, disrupting picnics, begging food, and generally running wild. But since he's a big lovable puppy people (yes, even me at times) unintentionally reinforce his behavior by petting him and giving him treats when he does stuff like that. So it's hard for me to not accidentally reward him, anyway, and I have to stop myself from constantly correcting well-meaning dog lovers when they're giving him all sorts of attention during dinnertime, etc. It's exhausting, and makes me sound absolutely obsessive. However, you know what they say; it takes a village to raise a child. Why should a puppy be any different? Or maybe that's too much to ask...?