Welcome to the forum, James. I'm just reading this thread for the first time. I'm a long-time Doberman owner, too, and your puppy sounds just like my youngest, who is going on three now.

I wish I had discovered this forum back then, because I had no idea that was "drive." Honestly, at the time, I thought it was mischievous behavior that had to be corrected. I would have been redirecting him onto a tug or toy or ball if I had known better.

Fortunately, I don't think I did too much damage as he is still a nice dog with a good amount of drive, though I don't think he is or ever was a Schutzhund candidate. He is extremely food-motivated and kind of tug-motivated but not as much as food.

Anyway, I would really encourage you to study up on marker training. Watch all the free vids here that you can, especially the Michael Ellis ones. Buy some of the full-length ones if you can.

What are your plans for this guy? Even if you're not interested in Schutzhund, there are lots of other outlets for his energy that you can pursue.

Edited by Cheri Grissom (05/01/2011 04:25 PM)
Edit reason: reword something