So, I will start the New Year with a dog to foster. Seems like a good idea.

Should be interesting. A young Doberman to introduce to four socialized and trained GSDs. He needs some training and socialization.

He'll be here about two or so months. I'll try to get him ready to pass the AKC CGC certification course. Should easily be enough time if I'm worth my salt.

But who knows?

He has a forever home waiting for him.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Pics or it didn't happen I know I'm looking forward to reading about it!

Interesting challenge. 1 year old Doberman. Skitish. Crate territorial.

The four GSDs seem unimpressed. Heck, the GSDs aren't that impressed with me.

Training will have to include a lot of marker work, with gentle touching. I hope he adapts to the environment quickly but it will be what it will be.

He is unused to being able to run around in a fenced in yard. He stays close, so I'll have to work on some retrieval games. Then too, I hope he will follow the example of the GSDs and be relaxed in his new temporary world.

He's got a good appetite. A nice dog. Not as confident as the GSDs. Gotta work on that.

Wonderful that he has a home waiting already.

You're doing a good thing, Mike. It sounds like this dog's luck has turned around. He got into rescue, he's got a forever home lined up already, and he got you for a foster home!

It does sounds like he's got some issues to overcome, but he's in good hands. I hope you'll let us know how it goes.

The saga continues.

Good dog. This Doberman has a more active nature than my GSDs. Maybe just more the state of being a puppy.

We are revisiting the semi tether stage. I'm conflicted in that the training approach the dog has been exposed to has much reliance on treat reinforcement, reward, and I use treats very sparingly but profuse praise.

I also use the other dogs as role models, an approach that has worked very well in the past but this dog, though he has only been here a short time, seems to want to do things his way.

Also, he has tried the dominance stuff on each of the dogs with little success. So far I've intervened but I'm beginning to think he needs to experience the outcome of attempting to dominate the wrong dog. Probably not.

So, we are working on climbing and descending stairs without jeopardizing the stability of the handler. He is a bounder. But in his forever home he can not be pulling or jerking his owner. Up and down and up.

He is learning that down means down until released, and that is a big deal for a dog with lots of puppy and easy distraction tendencies.

We are working on all of the basic commands because his attention span is episodic, in that he is responsive about 70 percent of the time.

Ah well. A lot of energy, like the energizer bunny.

But he has to be command reliable in his new home, and know when he is working.

 Quote: Mike Arnold

Also, he has tried the dominance stuff on each of the dogs with little success. So far I've intervened but I'm beginning to think he needs to experience the outcome of attempting to dominate the wrong dog. Probably not.

I'd be interested in how this works out for you. I'm always uncertain, when introducing a new dog, whether it's best to be the strong leader and be the one controlling the behavior of the new dog or is it better to let the resident dog do some of the correcting. I've always been the one controlling the situations but you can't always be in the perfect place at the perfect time to do so.

Looks like a fun project.

Mr. Meyer,

It starts with my vision that I am the leader and there is no room for negotiation or casual collaboration. It is my responsibility to be in control.

Usually there isn't much to stopping the behavior, with other fosters that have come through here. My mutts are well tuned in to my likes and dislikes or rules. The new foster usually adapts rather quickly by being in the bunch.

I don't leave a new dog alone with the dogs unless I am well confident the group has a balance. Wouldn't be fair to mine to introduce a new dog, a visitor really, and experiment with them. And by alone I mean being proximate or close enough to intervene quickly.

The Doberman is on a short leash literally and figuratively. He is learning the rules but he is a bit hard headed. We have to come to an understanding with regard to him understanding when it is play time and when it is work time and who determines which is which.

Well, almost three weeks with the 'foster' dog. I've given him a lot of room to adapt to the pack, and generally speaking, there are no dog v dog issues. A bit of his attempted dominance got resolved, at least apparently.

This week starts his work. He has to be conditioned to not jerk or bound when working. His on lead behavior has to be pretty solid because his owner has physical limitations that could be exacerbated by a sudden lunge and resulting torque.

This Doberman really loves to bound and launch up the stairs. We are working with one step and delay at a time. He is about a year old and his prior training was successful in that he is a nice dog but he has the command attention span of a gnat. He does know his name.

He has to learn to sit or down until released. And the occasional jump up has to stop period.

So, he has to learn the difference between working behavior and playing behavior. Ah well.

It is sunny, not snowing, and 19 F.

Mike, this dog has no idea how lucky he is to have landed with you. Best of luck with his continued training--and thanks for sharing your expertise with this dog and his owner.