jules1

Did we feel like returning our puppy - No, do we want to return our "juvenile" dog? Absolutely!!! Axel was a really good puppy - only cried a tiny bit the first couple of nights, toilet training was really easy and he was very well behaved, I thought we had the perfect dog!........then he got to about 6 months old and things suddenly started to change - he now barks at nothing when he's outside (and we have just moved house so our new neighbours are probably not very impressed!), he barks at me when he's inside, digs holes in the lawn, chews absolutely everything (shoes, socks, reticulation, 1 mobile phone, 2 remote controls, 3 dog beds etc) he hurls himself at the glass doors if I put him outside, and completely disregards anything I say.... I have even stopped going to obedience training as he was getting so naughty and disruptive with the other dogs, it was embarrassing and frustrating and I found myself leaving each class almost in tears. Please don't flame me for that - I know that training is exactly what he needs at the stage, but trying to control 30+ kilos leaping around uncontrollably on the end of a leash for an hour (when I don't weigh much more than him) was too hard I am thinking about getting a trainer at home though, just to get some help with this adolescent stage. He is now almost 8 months old and ask ourselves every day "why on earth did we get another dog?" and checking the "pets wanted" ads in the local paper (lol - only joking ) Then he gives me one of his gorgeous cocked-head looks or lays his head on my lap to have his ears rubbed and I remember why we love him so much.... He is still a very loving, smart dog but is definitely a "terrible teenager" at the moment and we are just patiently waiting for the time when he hopefully matures and settles down a bit.

Hi All A friend with a 6 month old mastiff is having some discipline/training problems (actually lots, she's a lovely friendly dog but completely and utterly ignores whatever her owner says!) and she is thinking about enrolling her at the "Doggiewould Training" academy at West Coast Pet Centre. Does anyone know anything about it? I had a quick look at the website and it actually looks OK in theory, but I personally would be worried that if someone else exclusively trained my dog without me there, then he wouldn't listen to me when he came home. I would imagine it's also quite expensive... Apparently a friend of hers used something similar on the East Coast and raved about it. Luckily, we are not at the stage where I want someone else to train Axel yet (although, at 5 months we are now starting to get big, bouncy and destructive so never say never ) I think I would feel like I was "cheating" if someone else trained him for me. Is it as good as it sounds? Or would she be wasting her money? I have obviously stressed to her repeatedly that whatever training someone else does for her, she will have to maintain in at home and be consistent or else it will be a waste of time. Jules

ooh- and THIS is where you have a golden opportunity to help him learn a valuable lesson!! It could also be a lifesaver one day . Get yourself a jar with a good lid.. and ,inside put yummy treats- like dried cat food- or liver treats. as you sit down to do stuff.. have a couple of treats waiting somewhere.... When boofhead slaps you with a sock - offer a treat and say "swap" .. or "give me" . if he opens his mouth - to get a treat or two.. , CALMLY get the sock - immediately give him his treat,and tell him how wonderful he is , and get back to what you were doing. If he ignores- then put the treat to one side- and wait for next time. If the treat is irresistible - he should know this game in a few minutes This is one of my all time favourite things which most of our dogs have learnt - saves me making a fool of myself trying to chase pups/dogs ... those days are well past!! and it helps pups trust you - and to realise that rewards can be easily earnt I've been trying this a bit, but without the treat - if I want him to give my anything, even his toys when we are playing fetch (he always brings them straight to me, but actually letting go of it is another matter!) then I say "thankyou" and praise and pat him...maybe that is not enough. I have a treat bumbag for training - I think I'm going to have to wear it more just around the house/yard and use it all the time as he is very food driven. I am probably missing out on a lot of training opportunities in everyday situations, rather than just have the set 5 minute little training sessions. And your "boofhead slaps you with a sock" is a perfect description - he literally does slap me with it!! Hopefully one day I can look back at this and laugh....but had better go as it looks like he has torn a hole in one of his soft toys and is pulling all the filling out all over the carpet

Someone else is living my life. I'm so so familiar with these exact events at least 700 times a day ...... (slight exaggeration) And this is just the puppy stage....have got to go though adolescence yet... We are just starting the full-on "destroy everything" stage too - have noticed just in the last few days that he has become much more destructive. Before, if he found something to chew on (a stick/bit of cardboard etc) then he would just lie down and chew it a bit - now it's absolutely destroyed into a million pieces and scattered as far as the eye can see....and despite having many toys that we rotate (activity balls, chew toys, soft toys, tugs etc) - he seems to be constantly on the lookout for anything within reach (ie taken off the kitchen bench) that he can destroy. Oh well, I guess it will make us be tidier ! Just have to be careful that it's not anything that can harm him.

Do you do private lessons? I have to admit getting him to do anything when he is hyper mood - (even a 'sit') is very rewarding, but his calmness/obedience only lasts for a matter of nano-seconds! I keep telling myself he is only 5 months old and he will get better, but is still a bit exhausting at the moment.... *nods * he is training you roolly well! Yeah, I know... Who would've thought a puppy could be so devious? I was watching an episode of Supernanny the other day and the similarities between puppies and toddlers is amazing! How they both behave badly to get your attention and get what they want whilst making you think you're doing the right thing..... I know one of little tricks when he doesn't have my attention (eg when I'm on the computer or phone) is to get hold of something that he knows he shouldn't have like the TV remote, a sock from the laundry etc - he then comes right up and shows me he has got it and then charges off outside with it so I have to chase him to get it back - he thinks this is a great game! I have learnt not to chase him, as if I don't then he comes straight back in to show it to me again just in case I missed it the first time.... and that's when I try to grab it. He's definitely not stupid! Oh the joy of puppies!!

As a 3 time dobermann owner (and general dog-lover), I would like to thank you HeavyPaws for putting that book out of sight! :D I get so sick and tired of ignorant people making assumptions about any breed of dog - "all bull terriers are vicious/dobermanns and rottweillers are dangerous and should only be usd for guard dogs/small dogs never bite!!" etc etc You wouldn't believe how many people watch my beautiful 5 month old dobermann puppy very carefully when we are at the beach etc, just in case he attacks them or their dog - have had a few people pick up their small dogs or even take a wide berth with their bigger dogs when they see my "vicious dobermann" coming towards them (on his lead) when all he wants to do is say Hello and be friendly. Makes my blood boil Sorry, rant over - got a bit carried away there - it's a subject that never fails to get me going! ;) A a 3 time Dobe owner as well - yep you do get sick of it. WHen I had my brown male though many people thought he was a GSP or a WEIM. They would be giving him a big love up and I would say no he's a Dobe and they would visible shrink back. I always then asked them if they had felt threatened by him in any way? The answer was well no, so I then had a chance to educate. Bit harder when they are black though. I have had many a person cross the road so they didn't have to wallk past my CDX Dobe, who couldn't have cared if they were there or not. My Dobe was attacked by more jack Russels (many many of them down here, just ablout all BYB) with idiot owners than anything else. But no my Dobe was the vicious one! Luckily we don't seem to have those types of puppy raising books in our Bookshop, we have a small selection of books and then you have to order in others. The few we have seem to be okay. It is very sad that Dobes have this very undeserved stigma (and rotties/bull terriers of any sort - my parents always had staffies and had similar problems). I actually feel grateful if anyone stops to pat him or ask about him! How sad....for him - he's a lovely friendly puppy. I remember talking to a dog behaviourist/psychologist that a friend was using many years ago who thought dobes were great dogs, much more predictable and family orientated than a lot of other breeds. She prided herself in being able to 'fix' any dog no matter what the problem/breed, and she specialised in aggressive dogs. She said there had only been one dog in over 30 years that she had strongly recommended be PTS due to it being too vicious and no amount of training seemed to do anything - and it was a black labrador!! ;) Now who would have guessed that? (I love labradors by the way - this was obviously just a one-off!) ;)

As a 3 time dobermann owner (and general dog-lover), I would like to thank you HeavyPaws for putting that book out of sight! I get so sick and tired of ignorant people making assumptions about any breed of dog - "all bull terriers are vicious/dobermanns and rottweillers are dangerous and should only be usd for guard dogs/small dogs never bite!!" etc etc You wouldn't believe how many people watch my beautiful 5 month old dobermann puppy very carefully when we are at the beach etc, just in case he attacks them or their dog - have had a few people pick up their small dogs or even take a wide berth with their bigger dogs when they see my "vicious dobermann" coming towards them (on his lead) when all he wants to do is say Hello and be friendly. Makes my blood boil Sorry, rant over - got a bit carried away there - it's a subject that never fails to get me going!

Puppies are wonderful fun! I have to admit that just sometimes though, I wish I could find the "off" switch... We are doing the standing up and ignoring him bit at the moment, it has mixed results - if he isn't too hyper, then it works a bit after a few goes at it, but when he's in full ballistic mode - nothing seems to work. When he gets really bad, I usually take him out the back and throw the frisbee for him for a while to try and tire him out (he "fetches" really well!) But that is probably rewarding him.....I'm sure raising our son (now 15) wasn't as hard as this!! I'm also thinking that we might have to increase his walk-time after work too, as now I'm analysing the problem a bit more here on the forum, I realise he is a lot worse through the week than on the weekend. Or maybe my tolerance isn't as high after being at work all day...?

Adolescence.....I've been reading about that - and it scares the living daylights out of me!! Axel is actually our 3rd doberman - but first male, and first puppy which is why we are a bit unfamiliar with the whole puppy thing - our last 2 dobes were females that we got as semi-mature adults. First one Lana was 18 months old that we adopted from the pound (she started our doberman obsession) but she passed away at 4 with bone cancer and our last beautiful girl (Piper) we got when she was 11 months old and she was an ex-show dog who was beautifully trained when we got her - Piper went to the rainbow bridge in January at almost 12 years old and now we have the bouncy Axel !! He is a big sook, just a bit hyper and not familiar with the whole "personal space" thing yet. VJB - your photo at the computer is exactly like Axel on the lounge!!

Hi Jules1 You sound like you have yourself a completely normal puppy! There is nothing quite like a Doberman pup! Can I ask if you are attending training with your puppy, with a reputable training organisation/trainer? The reason I ask is that you should be able to access good advice on dealing with this issue from your trainer if you are. Please be selective with the advice you may receive here as training is not a one size fits all thing, and consistency is really, really important. That is, if you try one suggestion and it "doesn't work", then you try another, and so on and so on, you may end up with a very confused puppy, who's behaviour may actually get worse......or in the worst case scenario, an anxious one who is starting to think you are a bit strange, with no clue what you are trying to teach it. Now for some advice from me, that you can choose to take or leave :D . Basic dog behaviour dictates that the dog will do what is most rewarding to the dog. If jumping in your lap ensues into a game of push and shove and hand shaking etc, it may well become a really rewarding game for your puppy. So your job is to figure out a way to make, for example, sitting calmly on a mat at your feet the most rewarding experience in the room. I personally do not agree with tugging leashes, yelling and forcing puppies onto mats (again, we could end up with a dog who just thinks we are a psycho and the mat doesn't become a rewarding place to be). Your puppy will choose the mat just as soon as you make it a rewarding place. That may mean toys, tugs, long lasting chews, treats, pats, belly rubs etc .......you will need to figure out what your dog will be most rewarded by. What will not be rewarding to your dog is forcing him/her onto the mat, tethering him/her onto the mat without something rewarding occuring at the same time (pats, long lasting chew etc), scolding the pup and sending it to the mat, dragging it onto the mat by it's leash (in fact, this one the dog is more likely to resist and fight you on). And of course, a mat is only an example....you may have some other alternative to jumping in your lap that you want to teach. In my experience dogs learn quickest if we actually teach them appropriate, alternative behaviours to adopt and be rewarded for, rather than trying to "stop" behaviours with aversive measures.....particularly with puppies. To me, there seems little point in repeatedly telling a dog not to do something if you aren't going to then show them what they should be doing instead. Ie. Jumping on me on the couch ends with me standing up and ignoring you, while sitting on your mat calmly gets you a pigs ear, treat, belly rub etc. This is just one suggestion that seems to work for the majority of dogs I see, I still suggest the best way to go though is through your own trainer if you have one. If not, you may want to consider joining a class, as this will most probably not be the last thing you will want training advice on with a new puppy. It is an investment in your relationship with your dog, money well spent in my opinion. We are going to basic obedience class, but to be honest they don't really cover individual problems and it's mainly the sit/stay/walk on lead type things. He is doing really well with his lessons and learns quickly (very food/treat driven), except the occasional week where he seems to just want to bounce around and ignore everything I say (but the trainers assure me that's normal for most puppies to be like that occasionally). You're right about trying to drag him on the lead anywhere - if we try to pull him anywhere he doesn't want to go with the lead - he just digs his heels in and fights the whole way....making it sound fun with encouraging words and gestures works much better to get him to go somewhere he is initially not sure of.. So it looks like I have to try and reduce the hyper levels, stop confusing the poor boy and make his own bed the most rewarding place he can be....that all sounds so easy...I must be a really bad puppy mum to have let it get to the stage we are at now.

I know what you mean about the verbal reprimands - sometimes when he is is hyper-mode, it does seem to make things worse, not better. Have been considering the spray bottle - is there a particular way to use it to maximise it's effect? Should he not see that it's me spraying him etc? And I can really relate to how Heidi thought being held on the floor was great fun - Axel just thinks it's a great game too. That is the perfect way to describe him - "a bouncer" - in fact when people at work ask me how he is going - I usually just say "Big and Bouncy"! I obviously need to try and reduce his excitement levels - like you suggested, put on his lead at random times during the day when he is not actually going anywhere until it stops being a trigger for going hyper. He is a lovely dog, but very excitable and hard to calm at the moment - the soft speaking and gentle stroking does work sometimes - will just need to be more persistant with it I think. I really want to fix this hyper/excited problem as we seem to be spending more time reprimanding him at the moment than enjoying spending time with him, which is a shame and I fully appreciate is our fault not his....it's almost a vicious circle as the more hyper he gets, the less attention/cuddles he gets which makes him more hyper to get our attention.....I try and reward his good behaviour, lots of cuddles when he is calm and if he's jumping up and responds to 'sit' he gets his favourite ear rub etc, but need to work on reducing the excitement levels too.

Hi Persephone, He does have some chew toys inside, but only stays on the floor or on his bed with them for a little while - he much prefers to sit on us to chew them! Then he starts the whole pawing thing again... I like your idea with the lead though...he's pretty good with the lead outside, but haven't tried it as a training tool inside. I will have to wait for him to settle down a little bit after putting it on though - as the lead is VERY exciting! He knows it usually means the park or the beach!!

Morning All I have been following the other thread about biting as we are having some similar problems with Axel, although the biting part is not so bad with him. He is now 5 months old, and we have had him since he was 13 weeks. Our main problem is his tendency to jump all over us as soon as we sit down on the lounge in the family room with a bit of biting/nipping and lots of 'pawing' thrown in and as he is getting quite big and heavy now, it's a painful experience. The jumping/biting is not too much of a problem when we are walking or standing, (except when he is very excited) but a stamp of the foot or a "sit" usually works quite well then. The lounge is a whole different story... Before I get 'flamed', I know we made a huge mistake letting him on the lounge to start with - but he just loved to curl up and go to sleep with his head on our laps (still does now when he's tired), and for the first month we had him, there wasn't any of the behaviour we are currently experiencing. Now, as soon as we sit down - he literally charges at us - leaps up and starts climbing all over us with lots of pawing and biting. His tail is wagging the whole time, and when we push him off, he does the 'play-bow' and just jumps straight back up. He seems to think that the lounge means playtime for some reason, and rough play at that!! I've also noticed that he sleeps on the lounge through the night now and isn't interested in his bed at all, so maybe he thinks it's "his lounge" now? I've wondered about dominance as he is getting older and probably testing the boundaries a bit, but doesn't really show any other signs - eg he always waits for me to walk through the door first, sits and waits for his dinner etc. So far we've tried the obvious things - A sharp "no" followed by putting him back on the floor (not an easy task!!) - he thinks this is part of the game and just 'play-bows' and leaps straight back up. Putting him outside for a few minutes - he whines/scratches for a while and when he quietens down, I let him back in but he is so excited to come back in that it starts all over again - so then we put him back outside...and round we go.... Ignoring the behaviour...virtually impossible - a 20+ kilo doberman pawing you manically and trying to climb on your head? Not fun and very hard to ignore!! Distracting him with toys - this works occasionally for a few minutes, depending on the toy - but then he decides it's more fun to climb on us... So I guess the only thing we can do is train him to stay off the lounge completely, but not sure how to accomplish this as he has access to this room when we are at work (maybe it's time to confine him to the yard only while we are out?) Can anyone give me some tips/advice? Either for keeping a very excited dog off the lounge or good ways to calm down excited dogs? I have tried the soothing voice, gentle rubbing and it does work a little bit when he is starting to wind down anyway - but has no effect whatsoever when he is very over-excited. I know he will calm down eventually as he gets older, but all I want to do at the moment is sit down and watch TV for an hour after dinner without a doberman pawing me and trying to sit on my head!! Apart from this lounge problem he is a fabulous dog - very loving and eager to please, but he seems to just lose the plot completely when we sit down on the lounge! Jules

Thankyou! We are over the moon with him - he's getting so big already - but really healthy and happy, can't ask for more really. I'm quite a rottweiler fan too - yours is lovely

Hi, As a die-hard dobie fan, I can only highly recommend them! But if you have a family/children, then get a puppy and socialise and train them well as they can be stubborn and strong-willed if you let them get away with it. Axel (below at 4 months) is our third and is fabulous - everyone comments on his lovely temperament - he loves everyone and gets on well with other dogs. He is a very typical "velcro dog", always with you and as he is so eager to please, his training is going really well. We have not had any of the "fear-aggressive" problems at all. Our previous 2 dobies were both fabulous family dogs - our last one went to the rainbow bridge at 12 years old and we were absolutely devastated. I haven't had a GSD, but friends have them and they are also beautiful dogs, very smart and loyal, but I don't think I could cope with the hair! Both dogs need a fair bit of exercise, but I think we have been lucky with our dobies as they have been quite happy to just be lounge-lizards some days. My second choice for a breed, would be a good SBT - I was raised with staffies, and love 'em to bits - great family dogs. We got hooked on dobies after our first one, which was a spur of the moment decision when we we spotted her at the local dog-pound many years ago (aged 18 months) and they said she was going to be PTS the next day...couldn't walk out of there without her - lost her at only 4 years old to bone cancer but it was the start of our dobie-mania!! So I wish you the very best with whatever dog you choose. Jules