Quote: Justine Crichton

I can say we get enough exercise everyday that I have lost to clothes sizes in a month lol

That's one benefit to having a high energy dog!

OK, re the chewing, you could try two things:
1) Bitter apple spray, which you can buy here or your pet store. You would soak the tether in the bitter apple, and your pup should dislike the taste enough that it will deter him from chewing. If you do a search on bitter apple here, you can find some info.
2) Buy a light guage chain that you can use as a tether in the house

Lauren's suggestion of a trainer is a good one, but in the meantime perhaps you could work on sensitizing him to staying in the crate, using positive reinforcement (marker training). (not sure what to tell you about the crate, but you might be able to find a metal crate on ebay, craig's list or freecycle)

Start by leaving him for very small time increments, while you are in another room. If he is quiet, mark the behavior, reward, and let him out. You will need to do this many times.

You must not let him out of the crate if he is whining/barking. If you do this even once, you will reinforce to him that making noise is the way to get out of the crate.

Do you leave him with a kong or other food-stuffable toy that can keep him occupied?

Six hours per day is a LOT of exercise and training...quite possibly too much, and your dog is still quite young. Dogs can be a bit like toddlers: they can wind right up when they are overtired and act ridiculous. Too much exercise can look a lot like not enough sometimes. There's a happy medium here somewhere.

I know this dog has been rather hyperactive anyway though, so I would suggest alternating active exercise with some impulse control work. Maybe keep the "fast and furious" stuff to a minimum for now, and teach the dog how to be calm and reinforce calm all that you can. It sounds like he really needs your help to learn this!

I would definitely not use the electric collar at this point either on this dog.

My "dirty" trick with leash-chewing puppies has always been this: Get a cheap cotton lead and soak it in bitter-apple, then let it dry, and use this for your tether. It usually works pretty well as a chewing deterrent (though I have had one puppy that liked the taste) and it translates well to leash training later, eliminating the dog turning around and grabbing at the leash.

What kind of exercise are you giving him?
I know its a lot, but what kind?

I have a friend who is a trainer that specializes in fear aggression (not that your dog is aggressive) he has worked with many dogs rescued from the worst possible circumstances. Former fighting pitbulls, hoarders, puppy mills ect.

One time I was asking him about a dog my family had a long time ago who had severe separation anxiety, just like what you describe. My dog was a rescued weimaraner that somebody had abandoned in the woods as a young puppy. His separation anxiety was terrible, we ended up rehoming him to someone who was around 24/7.

Anyway, my friend said that there is a way to crate train using a combination of positive reinforcement, desensitization techniques and mild prescription sedatives.

I'm not sure if this is the best way for your dog, but it might be an option worth checking out. Maybe someone here has done it and can give you more info.

He has three treat toys that go into the crate with him and a bone. He won't touch them even with fresh hamburger in it.

That weight loss is a good thing That and I have been all over town and found stuff I didn't even see before lol

We go for walks around the neighborhood, he gets to go to the fair grounds and play/ run once a day and we do training and tug play twice a day.

I will talk to my vet, made a appointment for tomorrow. I think I may be making it worse because I'm with him 24/7. Going to try leaving him small amounts of times to see if that helps

I tried my son giving him treats for being good when I am out of sight but that doesn't work. He just eats it and starts all over.

Trying to get in touch with the local Doberman club and see if they can find a trainer closer. I tried a few training places in Austin but they want to keep him for 6 weeks or they say it is too far for me to drive. There is a Petco 30 miles from me but that is my last resort. I really don't want a group class in a store enviroment, way too many distractions. Not to mention he loves going everywhere BUT that Petco. If he goes to the vet he drags me all the way in and is wagging his little tail so hard he is shaking his whole body hehe Now Petco I have to drag him into the door. If I go close to there I'll take him in then turn around and walk back out hoping he will get over his fear. I have done that 8 times and still no change.

I have to say Mr Boudreau has been keeping my brain busy trying to learn how he learns and exercising him is a blast.

Ok the club said this is a good training place. I called them and they use a electric collar but guarantee their training.

Can someone tell me if this sounds good plz ?

http://www.alldogsunleashed.com/

It looks decent... I would ask to audit one of there classes, to make sure they don't use any methods that you feel are disrespectful to the dog. The E collar is a great tool when used properly. Though there are methods some employ (that get results) but i and many others think they are disrespectful to the dog and can damage the sensitive balance of trust and respect that is needed for a good canine human relationship.

Something like escape training i feel is one of these methods. They with a high level stim on constant setting, stim the dog till he responds. So the dog learns how to turn the stim off as opposed to using it as a means of communication.

i think a good method is. where you teach the dog to sit (positive methods)... once he knows sit from lots of positions and in many different locations. you start to give him a nick for not responding at the lowest level possible to get compliance (this level may change depending on distraction level.)

Good luck, i hope you found a good place to train.

Rob

Eeeekkkss that trainer is 362 miles from me

Thank you for all the posts and advice. I need all the help I can get and having everyone responsed so fast is wonderful

Your all the greatest!!!!