May 20, 2011
I bought a doberman to show but made the decision to start working him. I quickly realized I had over
Full Question:
Hi Cindy or Ed,First I want to thank you for all the great info and products available via your website and secondly thank you for taking the time to answer the numerous emails I am sure you get.
I am pretty sure I have answered my own? but want to run it by you before moving on. I have raised quite a few young dogs, conformation, herding, and more recently a great group of sighthounds. I have only had one dog that I had wished to pursue sch. work with but I had made the decision about a yr into his developement, a male doberman from some old working lines and a mix of show lines. I bought him to show but made the decision to start working him as I have ALWAYS worked the dogs before him. I quickly realized I had over "trained" for lack of a better word, maybe manarized him? I had a hard time building drive, as he was very polite. Yes I realize that a lot of it could have been genetic, but I always wondered had I raised him differently would it had made a difference??
I am expecting a male dobe from working sch line the first part of Dec.. From what I have read and watched (your site/videos) I gather that with this puppy I need to really encourage play /prey drive and ignore/redirect some of the "pushy" behavior that I normally would not allow jumping, mouthing etc.? I plan on pursuing sch titles with this puppy and just don't want to make my job harder than necessary. I have your video Raising a Working Puppy and I am ordering Building Drive and Focus. Yes I crate my dogs etc. I get it :) But want to make sure I'am on the right track with the idea of manners (for a working dog).
Your time is greatly appreciated and I hope this email finds you and yours well.
Thanks again in advance,
Dusty
Bishop, CA
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Hi Dusty,
Thanks for the nice email.
You are right on track with your thinking about raising a working puppy. I don’t allow my puppies to be total heathens, but I don’t correct them for things like jumping up and making body contact and I always make sure I have something appropriate handy for them to bite if they get wound up and want to bite me.
It is also very important to have a safe place (kennel or crate) to put the pup when they become too much to deal with and you don’t want to correct them.
Please visit our Discussion Forum and spend some time using the search function (located in the upper left hand corner of the web site) you will find many useful articles and posts that address your questions.
I hope this helps.
Cindy
Thanks for the nice email.
You are right on track with your thinking about raising a working puppy. I don’t allow my puppies to be total heathens, but I don’t correct them for things like jumping up and making body contact and I always make sure I have something appropriate handy for them to bite if they get wound up and want to bite me.
It is also very important to have a safe place (kennel or crate) to put the pup when they become too much to deal with and you don’t want to correct them.
Please visit our Discussion Forum and spend some time using the search function (located in the upper left hand corner of the web site) you will find many useful articles and posts that address your questions.
I hope this helps.
Cindy
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