150lbs Great Dane Is Out Of Control! | Full Episode USA

in this episode of It's mere the dog Victoria Stillwell takes on the dombroski family and they're not so great danes I have never met Woody whose instincts with dogs are so wrong wow when Jody and Rick's kids left home they were banking on a quiet life see but Harley has changed everything this 150 pound Great Dane is out of control and he's driving a wedge between husband and wife don't let him get hurt you worried about him getting hurt she's had enough of the dog's Bad Manners all right all right but he thinks it's all a joke can Victoria reign in the chaos do you think it would bite I gotta say no and save 22 years of marriage oh it says vicious my feelings don't count [Music] do I want to listen to your wife you're gonna listen to me torious Stilwell has been training problem dogs for over 13 years in the UK now she's here saving American families from their unruly dogs without boundaries or leadership bad habits can quickly develop and once those habits become ingrained in a dog's Behavior they can be very difficult to change Victoria arrives to observe the family's problems with the dog Jody and Rick's son moved away years ago but their daughter still has to deal with Harley's behavior when she comes home from college excuse using come on guys are they horses or dogs straight away when I walk through the door I saw Harley jump all over Rick but it has a big dog to be jumping up that's 150 pounds six feet tall huge more like a horse than a dog if Harley's rambunctious Victoria sees that their other dog Abby is quite the opposite she was a people person right and now and now this is it laser depressed right the whole purpose of getting him was to make her better because she was sad our other Dane died Apollo is with us for many years he was just a fantastic big beautiful Great Dane so when Apollo died broke my heart broke Abby's heart and now I'm gonna cry because so we brought in another dog to make things better he brought in another dog to make things better oh you didn't I did not I totally resent Rick for this because I did not want another dog Harley he's three three years old and he was a rescue and what from what we've been told he's lived outside all his life he's lived outside yes outside he was chained outside so the chains were too tight so every time he moved it would create where he had like chain marks put on about 25 pounds since we got him so he was very thin yes yeah some people treat dogs so badly yeah it's horrible we've always gotten dogs from Rescue so this is probably our fourth dog from rescues okay and big dogs and weren't used to big dogs yes and these big dogs have big appetites I usually keep a lot of stuff in here oh you keep food in the microwave yes if it's on the counter it's gone excuse me excuse me you did that to me last time come on so usually I have to throw a couple pieces of bread away I find out the hard way after I eat my sandwich I'm not gonna eat a meal in your house and Victoria is not the only one that feels that way I know Jody loves having people over but she's embarrassed and she's pulled between her husband and the dog and her friends and something something needs to be done Harley crowds up my cousin crowds at my friend no growling you're back go sit down and now they won't come anymore Harley's eating habits aren't the only off-putting thing about the household it's a little stinky it's a little stinky you couldn't walk one foot before stepping on another stain of poop or stain of urine it was disgusting it's not Harley's fault he spent his whole life on the end of a chain outside outside he can pee and poop wherever he wants he's never been taught the smell is one of the many things that daughter Nicole is happy to leave behind I love Harley I think he's a really cool dog but I'm happy that I'm away because like I don't have to deal with his jumping his biting you're a college now yeah yeah as you said you don't have to deal with him that much I know I love it go ahead come on come on go ahead why don't you just fill their water bowls up honey so Rick is pretty lazy when it comes to playing their water bowl so he thinks it's just easier to let them drink out of the toilet encouraging them to drink out of the toilet do you use cleaning products how do you know the bleach is gone [Music] upstairs Victoria sees who's the boss in the bedroom and it's usually a race to get in bed do you have a try and get them off yes yeah come on Harley come on oh so that's what he usually does when you try and get him off okay so this is what we deal with does he sleep with you we don't have a choice there's he he owns it it all started because the first lady came home I begged him please don't hold the dog on the bed so what does he do oh let's just let him sleep on here one night and so from the one night this is where we're at well it looks very comfortable it is very comfortable so where do you sleep we sleep in little balls and around Harley if you touch them with your feet at night it's her you know he doesn't bite you but he's just uh so but remember the ER that's a warning he he pees on us like a little baby so he doesn't he doesn't bite hard I don't know if he's got a mean bun in his body he's gonna I do excuse me what do you think that was and and that's what he is he you know it's like a big joke to him oh he's not gonna hurt you that was vicious okay Rick do you think he would bite I gotta say no oh Rick doesn't think that his dog's behavior is that serious Jody does um I I think Rick is a little blind and I think he needs to wake up have you asked Rick to get him out of the bed oh my God it's a fight every night um can you show me how you would get him off the bed come on don't don't growl me come on come on come on no no so that didn't scare you you didn't think he bites you if you didn't jump let's let's back back away from him back away from him back away I'm gonna listen to you all right yeah because your dog just snapped at you right his best buddy his dog the next level of snap is bite we're not talking play biting here we're talking about fight then you're really gonna know about it about it you're really gonna know what a bite feels like Harley's guarding the bedroom location at the moment but I have no doubt that it's going to translate to other areas of the house too if they don't nip this in the bud but despite Harley snapping Rick thinks Jody is overreacting maybe she's a little bit more afraid of the dog than I am I I again I don't feel that he's got a a bad bone in his body I just can't see him really hurting anybody I can't and Rick still just thinks he's playing he stopped before he growls and he puts his mouth over your hand and that's all he does has he snarled and had his lips up like that before maybe I don't know what do you mean maybe I don't know no no I don't know no he's never had his lips up t-showing like that the only time he's bit harder is trying to play with him definitely time he just doesn't get it it's really weird to see them fight because they usually they haven't fought a lot when I was growing up or anything I guess but like seeing them fight over like such a stupid thing like a dog it's just really weird well that's the third time I've seen him viciously lunge at me in bed in two days yeah it's crazy it's the only place he does it Rick is in complete denial I mean what he's actually doing is enabling Harley's negative behaviors goodness me if Harley suffers from really bad aggressive response and he bites somebody that could be curtains for Harley this is serious I have no doubt that that dog will bite if pushed too far he gave you a very clear warning that's your serious opinion yeah really really 1 000 trillion million percent I have no doubt he is gonna bite he will make contact with your skin and this time it will not be play he will mean business because he's never broken skin well actually your arm have broken skin well you caught me once this is serious and if you don't want to listen to your wife you're gonna listen to me coming up Rick is in denial but how will he deal with Victoria's burden oh dog expert Victoria Stillwell has been observing the chaos caused by Great Dane Harley dad Rick constantly defends the dog but everyone else has had enough it's really important to me that like my family gets help with this dog because I know that will help my family and that we will be like back to like a normal regular family that we used to be Cole heading back to college the Victoria gives Jody and Rick her assessment of where they've gone wrong I spent a day observing you with your dogs and there are a lot of issues here that need addressing and until you understand those issues things are never going to get better and I'm looking at you Rick a major enabler of negative behavior wow I have to say I have never met anybody whose instincts with dogs are so wrong it just it seems to me that you're not listening you're not listening to your family you're not listening to your dog Jody told you I don't want another dog yes she did Jody what did Apollo mean to you everything how was my life do you feel like you have have had enough time to mourn no him no Rick just doesn't get it Rick how do you feel when you hear Jody saying that she doesn't think you understand true I look at things differently I get past things a lot quicker and I thought that coming into the house and everybody's so sad that if you bring another dog in it would cheer the house back up we need your help big time it's a problem okay [Music] this is obviously very emotional for you why are you feeling such emotional because I try to do everything I can for my family and that's why I try to fix things and it backfired I can see how you just wanted everything to be okay and you wanted your family to feel better and you wanted Abby to feel better I'm gonna help you to improve Harley's life with you to make him a happy adult because I don't think he's that happy at the moment poor dog his life was on a chain most likely on concrete you've got a dog that has been damaged that has suffered and you can't enable the suffering you can't Pander to the suffering you have to go okay I'm your new family and I'm going to help you succeed I'm going to take you onto my wing Harley and I'm gonna show you now how people can love dogs how you can be taken care of is there anything that you want to say to Jody Rick I I'm sorry because I just never felt the way that you've been feeling and I'm sorry you're afraid and I know how upset you are and frustrated you are I don't know what to say I love you sorry the training starts now are you ready I am ready absolutely yes the following day Victoria gets to work I wanted to show you this because I think it perfectly illustrates your family I'm thinking oh no what does she have in store for us we're in trouble it's going to be little check marks of all the things we're doing wrong Rick and Jody very happy and here are your two children relaxed and then you have some dogs added to that Abby just lying your feet hanging out and then Along Comes Charlie it is like Holly has become that really annoying friend that just will not leave you alone yes you wanna be together but Holly's there keeping you apart especially in the bed you want to cook a meal but Harley's right there in the kitchen you want to have friends over but Harley's right there trying to steal the food and growling Victoria you hit it right on the nose I mean just just the way his face is right there with us and his arms are flying he's just a crazy guy you got it that's exactly Harley's got to be there on our backs all the time center of attention the training that we're going to be doing is gonna help change this Dynamic from the dog that is coming between you to the dog that can live alongside you that would be great doesn't that sound great yes yeah that would be great Rick and Jody laughed when they saw the picture of Harley between them but it underlines a point he is coming between them he is causing arguments and he is being a pain and how are you changing Harley's position in the family begins with new restrictions on his movement around the house first thing I'm gonna do he's no longer allowed in the carpeted areas of the house this door is going to be closed follow me those carpets are saturated in urine and feces however well they're cleaned also Harley is very happy with the carpet underneath his feet it is more comfortable for him to go to the toilet on that kind of ground so we need to keep him away from there Harley especially is not allowed into any of those rooms with the carpet unless he's being supervised let's go downstairs closing doors and restricting Harley's access to the house has another important purpose it's got my face currently Rick and Jody are mauled by an over-excited Harley whenever they return home from work so Victoria wants to change the Rules of Engagement for greetings I want Harley to know that the only way that he's going to be able to greet Jody and Rick when they come in from work at the end of the day is when he's calm the door training is going to be incredibly important to teach that I have a pouch of food and I have this great rubber toy and in it I put peanut butter when you both come back Harley's so excited and all of that excitement is on you his main focus is to say hello to you what we need him to do is to a be calmer but B to refocus that attention on this I want to say hi to you but all of my um not going to be on you it's going to be on this all right I'm going to show you what I mean I want him to back away from the door before I go through it this is called catching a behavior I'm not asking him to do anything I'm just waiting for a behavior that I like and when I see that behavior I'll reward it Harley's reward is for the door to open I'm going to catch any head turns body turns backing up anything that takes him slightly away from the door [Music] this dog is very motivated by attention and praise good boy the method of training that I use doesn't impose a person's will upon the dog it actually gets the dog to think for itself see how he's working out good boy it's a real test of patience but after what seems like an eternity Victoria's message gets through good boy good boy back back back good boy now I'm just teaching him if you back up you get more um now it's Rick's turn thank you it's very important for you when you go in tell them to back up make him sit for his treat okay [Music] good boy good boy back up back back back good boy it's very different to the greeting Rick usually gets I am so excited you know what it's better than winning the lottery Harley was actually backing away from the door to let them enter us the first time that's ever happened and I think Rick was very proud of his dog good boy good boy dog expert Victoria Stillwell has started to train Harley the Wayward Great Dane you're biting me hard he learned some impulse control when he sees Rick good but Victoria's next rule may prove harder to adjust to every looking in the kitchen or there's food out in the kitchen the dogs are out currently both dogs steal food at will it's unhygienic and it needs to change I'm now going to teach your dogs to stay out of the kitchen so I'm just going to start like this out [Music] stay [Music] what I'm teaching them now is that out means they have to go out of the kitchen and stay out of the kitchen I'm also giving them another command to Mark the fact they're out there and that's the stay the problem with this training is that you can make a chain the dog gets to realize oh if I come in the kitchen and then she tells me to go out I get a treat they put two and two together so then they come into the kitchen you tell them to go out give them a treat so what I want to do is I want them to be out there for a while and then I will give them a treat good good stay now I want you to take food out of the fridge because this is going to make it harder for them you are now preparing food and they have to stay out once the food comes keeping the dogs at Bay gets harder stay stay dirty take over stay [Music] hey stay eventually Abby and Harley get the message today this is what you want at meal times is he okay there yeah you know what sometimes maybe the rules are bent a little bit but he's lying down in the doorway [Music] the dog's eating habits may be improving but their choice of drink needs to change too no more drinking out of toilets is that cool Rick could you go fill it up please with 1.2 gallons of water up to that line there you go encouraged by Rick both dogs only source of water was the family's toilet there you go do you want to bring Holly in Mama's dad good boy no more toilet bowls Harley [Music] next Victoria turns to the most serious issue of all Harley's presence in the marital bed she cutting off access for Harley and giving him a new raised bed to sleep on [Music] [Laughter] baby rails I've put these guard rails up because I'm hoping Harley can't jump over them okay Rick do you want to come out with Harley here I come whoa okay Rick could you go over to the bed that I've set up for Harley over there say bed give him the treat bad bad that's it good boy lots of friends boy good boy good boy Rick will you just come into this bed let's just ignore him away good boy let's just ignore him he doesn't know what to do with himself but this is going to be a little strange for him because he can't be with you anymore now if he gets clever and he decides to jump over this part then we'll just put a rail up here too so tonight I want to see what happens I think Harley's going to wander around a little bit and I'm hoping that he's going to find his place before she leaves for the night Victoria encourages Harley to try out his new bed Sid settle good boy I'm hoping and I'll see in the camera that he eventually settles down good night Harley sleep tight thank you Victoria has banned Harley from Rick and Jody's back now it's the morning after will Rick and Jody awake to a new day in paradise [Music] oh Harley you stupid dog was that door closed I don't know I don't know it smells somebody we won't point fingers broke the cardinal rule Greg left the door open so Carly left us another present nice at eight o'clock in the morning [Music] Tori is back to find out how the night went hey hi hello Hello darling it's the first night since Harley arrived that Rick and Jody have had the bed to themselves however Harley's behavior is still concerning Jody Harley growled I'm not sure they're grounded Abby he's trying to steal our blanket he paced a lot so last night was a rough night Victoria wants to see for herself if Harley is a cause for concern so isn't it interesting he's comfy and Abby's the one that's moving around [Music] and I think he just got startled there he was asleep dead asleep and Abby's movement startled him so that doesn't concern me at all in fact at this point he's been on the bed for four hours Abby's gone on to Harley's bed and he goes to Abby's bed this is good though because he's not growling at her that was a big thing we were just worried that you know when we were trying to sleep he was growling at Abby right but I was actually quite relieved because she showed us that Harley just got startled by Abby so it was really nice to see that he's not as vicious as I thought he was house training a dog can be challenging for two working people but Victoria has a strategy for Jody and Rick one of you has to be in charge and you can split it 'll be me of taking Harley and Abby about 15 minutes walk around the block in the morning because when you take a dog outside of his territory the smells that he smells will make him want to urinate more because he'll want to mark and it can also the exercise the stimulation can make him want to poop I hope that that empathies empties empties him out so that by the time you come back with all the doors closed the fact there are any wooden floors here that he will start peeing and pooping less it would be great if you could get somebody to come back here in the middle of the day and let him out you're gone eight hours I think it's too long for the stock to hold it but again I mean that's up to you [Music] and Victoria thinks more frequent walks will also help Abby because I am concerned about Abby being a little depressed it's always the more badly behaved dog that gets most of the attention that's 100 true because he's always in our face and now she's always sitting in the corner by herself oh look at that oh no Abby that's good this is her favorite grass Great Danes are much more looking at a faster Pace can we just do a faster Pace as we're walking here [Music] come on boy that's way that's where he's getting the most that's where he's getting next exercise biting on you okay no stop don't put your hand in his mouth I push his mouth away yes exactly which is this a chew toy yeah he has been using it as a chew toy yeah when his mouth goes over your hand you're going like that come on more of it no it's an immediate stop body language is so important when you're communicating with dogs at the moment Rick is encouraging and exacerbating Harley's excited Behavior by being excitable himself you have got to be a bit more official all right a bit more leader-like she's the tough one in the house that's why he doesn't do it to me as much and I think dogs are so much more secure when they have a confident leader to follow the best leaders are the ones that lead without Force but that's what you're doing that's what I want to be I want to lead without Force to show Rick how to do this Victoria wants to address his body language all right Rick I wanted to have a little one-on-one time I knew this was going to happen sometime because I think it's time we talked a little bit about your body language I think a lot of the way you are with Harley exacerbates his crazy behavior with you oh come on come on okay all right it's time to get down you can't in one breath reward him for jumping up on your shoulders and then in another say he can't do it he either can or he can't and I think it's best for this dog not to so there has to be a no jumping Rule and that's where body language is so important now when I come through the door Harley sniffs me and he walks away at my body language is very strong and I'm calm and I think that's what you have to be to Harley and I also want when you speak to him to use one word commands rather than out out out out just say out and again the way your body is out so stand like that and just say out out that's it and your eyes focusing right on his eyes you're giving a gesture you're saying one vocal command your body is speaking volumes and he's going to understand you because you've been so confusing he doesn't speak your language we have to learn his I mean is there ever a point in time that I can go back to like kind of giving him a hug or you can give him a hug by you going down to his level okay but never never when he comes up to you no more encouraging that okay it's really important that Rick learns this body language and changes because it's going to help Harley it's also going to keep Rick and other people safer Victoria has helped Rick and Jody get a handle on Harley their Wayward Great Dane lie down for the next few days Rick and Jody will carry out the training alone before she leaves Victoria wants to remind them of the new house rules make sure the dogs are never in the kitchen when you're eating when you're preparing food keep Harley out of the bed don't let Harley jump up on your rig and Jody help him with that one more thing Victoria also has a challenge for Rick and Jody some new bedding for you when I come back I don't want to see one dog hair on that duvet not one best of luck will make you proud all right yeah okay bye bye we want to make sure we get a good grade from her so we're going to work very hard with Harley so next time she comes in to to visit either he's going to be he's gonna be a good dog you know we can actually share a comforter now really you could look but don't touch [Music] so it's so nice to have a bedspread on your bed instead of like a comfort that the dog is eating and shoot on it's so nice to come up and see your pretty bed and see your room look nice once again away the king of the bed has been dethroned [Music] let's check in on Jody and Rick and see how they're doing without being Holly [Music] Victoria sees that with Rick better able to control their dogs out out he's launching a charm offensive to woo his wife I think this will make things up you sleep that's better honey hello [Applause] I came home and he had dinner I was very surprised Rick doesn't do that too often the dogs make a last bid to turn it into dinner for four stay but Rick calmly takes charge thank you darling hit it on myself it looks beautiful I owe you big time for letting me keep this crazy guy we were able to sit down have a nice meal together talk not have to worry about the dog saying get out get out get away pushing them away what a nice change Rick's putting the effort in and it shows Jody's getting a husband back and Abby and Holly are behaving themselves hoping that this is a one step out of the doghouse Rick and Jody can now enjoy evenings together but daytime issues aren't completely resolved they're keeping up with the door training but once they get inside their home they discover that Harley has found new places to poop we know it's you Harley we know it's you you big dogs big poops this thing weighs like 10 pounds I need to get back to written Jody because it looks like they need more training for themselves Rick and Jody are getting ready for Victoria's return visit stay foreign a little bit but he's laying down but he's laying down [Music] guys welcome [Music] stay oh it was so lovely to come back and see tea party they had set up for me a British tea party with scones and tea and Holly he stayed out the kitchen this is very impressive took control without having to be mean or nasty or yell it changed our whole world and it changed his whole world he just became a relaxed mellow dog it's like the stress has gone out of the house Abby's happier yeah Abby tried to play with him the other day yep she got around anxious with him it was awesome good good it's a real change in Harley's manners I'm not gonna eat a meal in your house but the proof of the progress is in the eating and I could eat without the fear of there being dog slobber or hair it was fantastic and when Nicole comes home from college she's also in for a treat [Music] because I think she thought be much of a change but I think she was totally surprised stay he's staying can you believe that that is crazy I cannot believe how good Harley is doing he did not jump up on me he's not attacked me nothing he's been so good I'm so happy and now when I tell him to get out most of the time I don't even need to guide him with my body anymore I'll just tell him out and he'll just turn around and get out he knows the drill it's actually a smart dog he is smart dumb owner he's a smart dog Rick I'm not saying anything Victoria is back to see Rick and Jody's progress in training Harley this is very impressive not everything has gone so well now tell me about the poop he's been pooping in the house up closer to the front door area it's very interesting to me that he's pooping by the front door and I think he's trying to tell you something he needs to go out I can say with 1 000 certainty that Harley will never ever be house trained unless somebody can come and let him out in the middle of the day I could see if I can work that out come home at lunch time morning until evening eight hours nine hours it's too long to leave him he's still learning when you're house training a dog you've got to give them ample opportunity to get out and do their business outside Harley has got some important business to attend to inside Jody's friends are coming over and in the past they were on the receiving end of Harley's Bad Manners [Music] I really hope he does well I want them to see that all our hard work is paying because I kind of have a feeling that they're doubting it yeah [Music] okay good how are you as soon as we walked in I noticed Harley wasn't jumping up on us and wasn't in our face Jay food is free of dog hair free of slobber wow if Harley can continue his good behavior Jody's friends might become regular visitors once again good boy [Music] away [Music] good boy that's a very good boy you've been working hard obviously you've been working and it's a different dog and you're smiling you're happy it is amazing how quick this dog went from this wild obnoxious aggressive dog to a very docile dog like his breed should be I'm happy for you guys I really thank you I can't wait to come back so far Harley's good boy status is intact but what's been going on upstairs when I went up there I didn't want to see one dog hair on that new quilt I gave them no don't care at all and there wasn't look you've just gone straight to his bed there absolutely he understands can you get onto your bed I just want to see what he does I wanted to take one of the bed guards down to see how Harley would react see what he does Harley's behavior is very different from Victoria's first visit the bed as his territory now he's happy to stay off it away I know that in the future Rick and Jody will be able to sleep without the bed guards but it's going to take a while I want Harley to have a habit of sleeping in his own bed set him up for success make it easy for him to do well and then when he does have a habit of steeping in his own bed the bed guards on Rick and Jody's bed can come down I am ecstatic to have my bed back you don't understand how nice it is to get into a clean bed no dog next to your husband what could be better than that thanks for watching if you love it's meal the dog and want more dog training tips and tricks visit my official site positively.com and if you're interested in learning more about becoming a dog trainer check out the Victoria Stillwell Academy links to both sites are in the description see you online

Channel: It's Me or the Dog

Views: 877,602

Keywords: It's Me Or The Dog, It's me or the dog victoria stilwell, it's me or the dog tv show, it's me or the dog watch online, victoria stilwell dog training, it's me or the dog animal planet, victoria stilwell, me or the dog, me or the dog usa, dog training, puppy training

Id: -GNXANvHh9Q

Length: 40min 56sec (2456 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 20 2023