Duke

I have a dog named Duke who is wonderful and yet too difficult to manage in our household. We purchased him from Sylvia's Pets last summer when he was just 8 weeks old. Now he is 1 year old and 100 lbs. of puppy.

Duke is neutered, house trained, and current with all shots. He completed basic obedience class at Love on a Leash this winter and knows basic commands. He eats 1.5 cups of dog food morning and again at night with .5 can of green beans with each meal. He is on this "diet" to guard against becoming overweight given his already large size. We do not know his breed but he appears to be part lab and part great dane - again, we are not sure. I have attached his picture fyi. Duke has epilepsy and takes one pill consistently morning and night to prevent seizures. The pills are very inexpensive at about $12 for 100 pills. The key is consistency - he has had NO seizures while taking his medicine.

Duke loves everyone, including other dogs. Often times, others are intimidated by his size and puppy behavior and so he may or may not "fit in" immediately. He lives with an elderly dog now who tolerates him most of the time. However, the other dog is very cautious (and sometimes aggressive) because Duke tends to bump his arthritic hips, etc. We have two boys who play with Duke, too.

Duke is primarily a house dog and when outside he responds well to his gentle leader. He stays in his crate when we are gone for short periods of time, and stays unsupervised in the backyard when we are gone for long periods of time. When unsupervised for long periods of time he has become destructive of the things around him. It appears he is playing and chewing as a puppy would - for fun - but he is large enough to create a mess. We know that this puppy behavior will likely disappear eventually but we have been fighting it for about a year and it has created a tremendous amount of tension in our home. We live in town and have "all day" jobs that prevent us from keeping him in a crate on a consistent basis. We have tried training, play dates with the dog down the road, walks, etc. If I cannot find a home for him through friends I am concerned that he will be "forced out" after a chewing incident, without a good home.

We are relatively new to the area and so any advice or assistance finding a good home for Duke would be deeply appreciated.
Thanks, Michele Estes
Please contact me at my office 540-568-4311 or by email at estesmd@jmu.edu