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May 18, 2011

My 7 month old Doberman is really smart but she can’t focus for any length of time. She gets plenty of exercise. Do you have any suggestions?

Full Question:
I have a 7 month old, female, Doberman puppy. We purchased her at 5 months from a breeder, so she has been in our home for approx. 2 mnths. She is smart and seems to train fairly easily as far as basic commands. My problem is getting her to focus for any length of time because she is extremely active and has a very high prey drive. Maybe i'm expecting too much too soon...?

I've just recently (in the last few days) begun to keep her leashed and at my side at all times when she is indoors. She is crated when we are not home and for meals twice a day, and I was crating her when she became too rambunctious in the house, but this only seemed to aggravate the problem. Plus, she would scream at the top of her lungs for hours, she knows when we are still in the house and won't quiet down. When we leave the house, she is quiet in the crate. She is given "play time" twice a day for at least 30 minutes, with a toy, tennis ball, frisbee, that we throw for her. Also, she gets to go out at least once a day to play with our other Doberman who is 2 yrs old, male, neutered,... and they run, play and chase each other all over our yard. So I don't think it's a lack of exercise.

Should I continue with the leash indoors and out, or crate more often? Or some other suggestion?...Thanks so much!
Meredith
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
Along with controlling the dog with a leash (which I totally agree with) I’d also begin teaching her how to “learn.” This is a skill that most people don’t even realize the dog needs to know. Once dogs learn how to learn, they become more focused as a by product of that new skill.

I’d recommend marker training.

The Power of Training Dogs with Markers
The Power of Training Dogs with Food
The Power of Playing Tug with Your Dog

Realize that the activities you are doing with her now are actually teaching her to NOT focus on you. Playing with other dogs and chasing toys that are thrown away from the handler reinforce NOT focusing on you. She’s learning through her activities to focus on other things besides YOU.

I’d make sure the screaming in the crate isn’t being reinforced in some way (i.e. you yelling at the dog or going near the crate). You may need to go to an aversive like a bark collar to teach her to be quiet and settle in the crate.

You may want to take some time to check out our streaming video section, we have a lot of marker training footage with dogs of various breeds and ages.

I hope this helps.

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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