Hi there is recently have been having issues with my adult male Doberman. He has been snapping at people in the house and at my other dog. After some reflecting i realized that there was more than a few warning signs i let slip or just didn't notice. After trying to treat the symptoms i realized that i should probably start from the ground up with the groundwork program. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

- he is on leash, unless he is in his crate
- I take him out for training OB and bathroom brakes every few hours, as well as grooming once a day
- He runs on the treadmill for 30-45min @4.5mph 2x a day (he has tons of energy)
- One 45min-1hr pack walk with myself and my other dog
- He always works in some way before being feed
- i have halted all affection and praise except for during training sessions

Any advice or criticisms are welcome.

As well he does do Schutzhund with my 1-2 times a week. he loves it and it seems to be a good release for him as well it is a structured activity that puts me in charge of his favorite object the sleeve. I was wondering whether it would be prudent for me to continue or cease this training.

thanks in advance,

Rob

How old is the dog?

I think it sounds like a good schedule.

His phyisical exercise needs sound like they are being met, I would make sure that mentally, his needs are being met also.

New challenges every week, with review of what he already knows is an awesome way to work the mind. I started with writing out all the commands I wanted my dog to know, then I teach her a few new ones a week plus review what she knows.

Also, you can take your dog downtown and use that as a distraction. You can start a few streets away from a busier part of town and slowly work your way over making sure that your dog is comfortable and able to work under the lower stresses before introducing new ones.

Think like jumping onto benches, half walls, doing OB (heel, sit, down etc.), tugging, going to an empty park and teaching him to climb the jungle gym or go down the slide....

Are you training ScH with a club? If so, I would absolutely continue this. It is another outlet for his energy as well as allowing you to control him in his highest drive state. I would make sure it is structured and you control him and the environment.

So now to the snapping...

When he snaps, what is the situation going on around him? Is he resource guarding a high value item from a person or dog?

What is his behavior when someone comes over? Is he panting, hiding, barking?

How do you let him greet people in your home? Is he allowed to run over to him on his own? Or do you make him lay down until the person is in and situated before you allow him to greet them? Or do you allow no greeting at all, but the ppl aren't listening and it results in snapping (this happens more often then you think)?

Thanks for all your help everyone, sorry in advance for the short novel i have written here.

My Dobe is 2.5 years old, started ScH around 1.5 years. I have discussed my issues with my trainer but not at length and video taping is good idea, but it can be really unexpected.

what they all seem to have in common is somebody going near him, at first it was resting places, but the other night my girlfriend offered him a few treats after he approached her while she was sitting at her desk and i was on the couch behind, as she pulled her hand back and looked back at the screen he went into a fit and actually broke the skin on her arm. i grabbed him by the scruff pulled him back a safe distance and gave him a verbal correction and told him "down", made sure my girlfriend was fine and lead him down to his crate.

(i don't know if that's the right thing to do, so any advice on how to handle a future conflict would be very much appreciated)

He has fought with my other dog over things like food, chews, and even once just over my affection. I know my other dog (the non-aggressive) can be a bit pushy at times and i try to stay on top of it but she does try to steal things from him and in the past he has just cried and barked a bit. I stopped having the objects mentioned earlier when they are in the same room and I'm only giving praise affection during structured activities like training.

His bite work is done largely in prey drive with really gradual challenges with the helper staring or making stick gestures, before the dog wins the sleeve, and we go again 5ish times. i will ask him however if that could be a factor.

these months we do our training all at the indoor club, so i dont think we will be tracking for a couple months when the snow melts.

When he is at the club he doesn't display a single behavioral issue. He can be right next to another loud dog, strange people and all sorts of distractions with out conflict, things that at home i know would send him into frenzy. I've started doing lots of his OB in the kitchen and and living room not only cause its really really cold out, but also in the hopes that it will foster the schools state of mind at home.

My other thought i had was that recently in an effort to curb his excessive barking i had him wear a bark collar in certain situations like in the yard, when i left to go to work and such. I fear that he may have learned some superstitious reactions that maybe contributing to this situation. i'm sure it's not the source because when i look at it objectively there were some warning signs before that i should have heeded, but some of these scenario's where he has lashed out i feel like he may have grumbled or barked in the past. perhaps the stress of the correction caused him to react more severely, IDK just a theory. obviously i stopped using the collar for the time being.

Thanks again for all the great insight and advice, and of course any further thoughts on the subject are welcome

Rob

 Quote:

The breed suffered greatly from poor breeding in the 80s, and tends toward the "sharp" end of the temperament, so while the NILIF program is terrific, you should also approach this with the understanding that this may be a lifelong management issue, and not a temporary pack structure problem.

I'm only commenting on this thread (no advice) because my girl sounds quite a bit like your dobe. She's sharp, and does not have the most solid of temperments. I think what Aaron stated above is key; if this quote describes your dog, then you have to be realistic in what to expect out of him. Good management on your part can eliminate (or greatly reduce the chances)of something like this happening again. In my case, unfortunately, it's kids. No room for error...

You know you can track in the snow, right?

Sorry Aaron i didn't fully answer you there. My training director in the past has told me for dealing with people coming in the house to leash the dog have him in a sit by me when somebody came in the house correct him being aggressive or breaking OB, and reward him for being relaxed or looking to me with either a toy or food, then allow him to be around on leash for a few minutes and then crate him. That has worked well for strangers or guests coming in the house, but this problem of being aggressive to other members of the household is very recent and obviously troubling I haven't yet had the opportunity to discuss this with him yet. He owns this Dobes litter mate and they are very similar so he might have some insight into temperament defects or the like maybe i should ask him about that.

Hi Lynne good to hear from you... I do need to be realistic. He is a sharp dog and can be unpredictable because of it. I had made some great strides with him in getting him okay with things he wasn't okay with before, but then i think i got too comfortable and i gave him too much freedom to soon. he is getting more daily exercise now, and that coupled with the always on leash is really seeming to change his demeanor. Though i understand what you guys are saying i should probably think about this as the new way of being not a means to an end.

thanks again

Rob

I know you can track in the snow but i wasn't sure if that it was good for a dog who is just learning the ropes. The field where we do our tracking is far and hard for me to get to so i unfortunately haven't done tons in the way of tracking.During the winter all the classes are in the indoor school so we just do OB and bite work. I think its more that the people don't want to drive out to a country field and stand in 4 feet of snow.

I'll ask my trainer, but if you think tracking in the snow would be fine for a novice dog (and handler) then i could easily find a field that nobody had trekked on for a while and lay a few tracks.

Unless your trainer objects, I don't see why not.

Tracking in the snow is easier, not harder. The dog can see the footsteps too.