My 5 month old Doberman lunged at someone walking
#97764 - 02/11/2006 04:39 AM |
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Hello all. My dobe an I were taking a walk around the block at about 730pm last night. When we got to one area, he stopped and became alert of something. I looked around trying to see what he did, (I didn't see or hear anything..I was impressed). A man (holding a liquor bottle)came walking around the corner toward us about 30 feet away, and he let out a very low growl and watched him, as did I. He looked a little funny, and I kept my eye on him because we've had some muggings recently in the area. As he got closer (about 10-15 feet), he barked twice, and I had to get a tighter hold of him. He didn't pull or anything, mainly stood his ground while the man intentionally walked around us. The man locked eyes with me, and at the last second, my dobe took a small lunge at the guy. He barked once more and watched the man walk away. I didn't know what to do at that moment after it was all done. I wasn't too sure if I should praise him for doing a good job, or correct him for being aggressive. He's normally great with people both in and out of the house. I've got 2 kids, 5 and 6 years, and he's never done anything to them or anyone else. He gets lots of community interaction with kids and other dogs. No problems at all. Was he just being protective of me because he suspected this guy? This is the first time this as ever happened, I've had him for about 2 months now. Any tips would be great.
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Re: My 5 month old Doberman lunged at someone walking
[Re: David Cruz ]
#97765 - 02/11/2006 08:24 AM |
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You should have corrected him.
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Re: My 5 month old Doberman lunged at someone walking
[Re: Ed Frawley ]
#97766 - 02/11/2006 11:34 AM |
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Thanks for the simple help. I wasn't too sure what to do, but I'll keep him in check from now on.
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Re: My 5 month old Doberman lunged at someone walking
[Re: David Cruz ]
#97767 - 02/11/2006 12:29 PM |
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David,
I'm going to diagree with Ed here. Your Dobermann did what he was bred to do, protect you. What you need to do is train him to turn on and turn off, when you direct him.
Alerting to a suspicious stranger was exactly what you wanted. What you needed was an "easy" command to tell him its OK, I see the stranger, thanks for the warning. You don't correct a dog for doing what it is bred to do, you train it. Where are you located? You need to get in contact with other Dobermann people through the United Doberman Club or the American Dobermann Association you can find the
websites for both with a google search. Have you had Dobermanns before? Where is yours from, what dennel what lines?
Regards
Thomas Barriano |
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Re: My 5 month old Doberman lunged at someone walking
[Re: Thomas Barriano ]
#97768 - 02/11/2006 01:42 PM |
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I'm stationed in the UK right now, and he is a UK Kennel Club pedigree. I've never owned a dobermann before, my wife suprised me with him while I was away. We've had him for about 2 months now (me for about 2 weeks), and I've been doing a majority of the training. He can sit,stay,come,fetch,and he can heel when he wants to,hehe. A very good puller and loves to nip.
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Re: My 5 month old Doberman lunged at someone walking
[Re: David Cruz ]
#97769 - 02/11/2006 01:51 PM |
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Hi David
There are a few Schutzhund clubs in the UK. I'd suggest hooking up with one of them. Get on the Working Doberman Forum. You will be able to find some fellow Doberman people there. I'm guessing your Dobermann is Natural? Jago has his ears and tail. I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Regards
Thomas Barriano |
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Re: My 5 month old Doberman lunged at someone walking
[Re: Thomas Barriano ]
#97770 - 02/11/2006 02:05 PM |
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Buster got his tail snipped, he's still got the ears. The UK considers it wrong to clip the ears. You can do the tail though, go figure, hehe. The say the cropped ears are an American tradition. I was wondering about your suggestion about the working dog, how much training goes into that? I was curious about it, I would like to be able to turn it on and off, even if it's not like the pros.
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Re: My 5 month old Doberman lunged at someone walking
[Re: David Cruz ]
#97771 - 02/11/2006 02:19 PM |
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HI Dave
Dobermanns are too smart for their (or your:-) own good.
They need a job to give them something to do. Some sort of
protection sport is the best outlet and it can be a lot of fun. The working Doberman Forum can be reached through
USADoberman.com
The obedience you are doing is a good start. Get a nice tug to play with your boy, as an outlet for the nipping. Since you have young kids, you need to make sure your boy learns
that all play starts and stops with you. He only rough houses when you initiate it. Advice over the internet is always a less than ideal choice, The best thing I can suggest is to get involved with a group of Dobermann or
Schutzhund people.
Regards
Thomas Barriano |
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Re: My 5 month old Doberman lunged at someone walking
[Re: David Cruz ]
#97772 - 02/11/2006 02:30 PM |
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David,
It sounds like your pup is showing a stable temperament in normal situations. I would work on socializing him a lot and getting him comfortable in as many situations as you can think of. I wouldn't have corrected the pup either. It doesn't sound like he went berserk. He was growling at a person who was drinking out of a liquor bottle on the street. Sounds like the pup's instincts would good. It doesn't make any sense to me to have corrected the dog. I might have offered some calm praise. If you start doing some protection training, balance it out with keeping the dog calm when you want him calm. It would be easy to start teaching your dog to approach people in different situations with the dog remaining alert, but not aggressive.
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Re: My 5 month old Doberman lunged at someone walking
[Re: Chip Blasiole ]
#97773 - 02/11/2006 02:59 PM |
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Yeah, afterward I did give him to soft praise to let him know that everything was alright. And your right, he wasn't beserk or anything, his lunge looked more like a warning than anything else. I haven't done any kind of protection training with him, I'm still learning about all this. I've done his basic commands, alond with some smelling games with him that I read about. I'd take some treats and hide them so he can find them, so far he's done well with that.
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