Hi my fiance and I rescused a gorgeous boy, Ridgeback X Mastiff, approx 3 years old, about 8 months ago. Not an "official" rescue but more like "Hi we think we can take better care of your dog than you, would you like to give it to us?" situation (the dog was underfed, kept in a drug den pretty much, never taken to the vets etc).
Now he is a big boy, about 50kg, and i'm not much more than that! He's actually very willing to please, sits stays and drops in the house, not agressive towards us, will tolerate us taking his bones from him etc. But obviously, being a big dog, I (or my fiance) need to walk him everyday, and while its not a "nightmare" its quite difficult! He will pull quite hard, and god help me if he see's a cat cause I'm lucky to be able to hold onto him. I can't trust him off the leash if other dogs are around because he will fight male dogs that bark or growl at him (he plays well with other female dogs or dogs that are submissive to him). Obviously that's quite scary - though it always seems more bark than bite.
We don't have much experience training dogs or anything, would we be right to take him to a dog training school ? Or is that only for well behaved dogs already? We're in Alexandria so I have considered Eastern Suburbs Dog training school...
i guess i'm worried about the following:
1. him starting a fight with another dog
2. Him being generally very naughty - at him 50kg and me being 60kg, he generally goes where he wants to go
Also, he's not desexed :-( Is this a problem? I would like for him to be desexed but cost is an issue (and so is the fiance who seems attached to his balls).
thanks guys!