Hello. I had some questions that I was hoping you guys could help me with. My dog has always been a nervous dog. When I first brought him home and I tried to pick him up and take him back inside he made the most horable noise(he didnt do this at the breeders). This experience also led me to the discovery of the anal gland. Anyway a few people I met who owned dobermans told me that young dobermans are always a little nervous (he really didnt like strnagers at all). Well he is a year and half now and he still seems nervous to me. He is real jumpy sometimes like he will be smelling something intently and then he hit a branch and he will jump out of his skin. He is still wary of strangers but does not run in the other direction(which I think is a good thing). Do you view any of this as a problem and will he grow out of it. I have done a lot of socialization and confidence building stuff. My second problem is with his stomach. My vet told me he has a problem with acid in his stomach. Basically if he doesnt have any food in it and builds up acid he throughs it up. Well it has become a problem now because his appetite has fallen of. Sometimes he vomits even after feeding. She told me of an antacid that is good for dogs but I cant remeber. I was using a military vet but now Im out and vet bills are more expensive now. I was hoping that you might know the name of one I could use. Sorry about the long post and thanks in advance for any help.

What do you mean by "wary of strangers"? Does he bark, growl, or raise his hackles? How long does it take him to calm down? What happens if strangers ignore him? Does he behave the same way away from home as he does at home? What kind of socialization and confidence building stuff have you been doing?

There are several over the counter stomach remedies that can be safely administered to dogs, but I don't feel qualified to recommend them, not knowing anything about your dog. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I'd suggest that you find a vet that you feel comfortable with, both price wise and philosophically, and have your dog in for a checkup. Vets can be spendy, but that's what credit cards are for! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Wecome aboard.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, nervous, fearful dogs respond best to obedience training. There is no better way to put it. I'm no expert on Dobie's but I think that for someone to tell you that all Dobie's are that way when young, is someone just trying to make you feel better or they really have no clue as to what they are talking about. When you consider the dog's nerves along with it's stomach problems it would seem to me that your dog certainly has less than desirable genetics. You can turn the dog into a nice pet by obedience training him. I recommen Ed's "Basic Dog Obedience" tape.

As far as the stomach problems go, you can do your dog a world of good by feeding a high quality diet. There are many on this board who would say only a raw all natural diet is a high quality diet but I can tell you that the Innova's, Solid Golds or Wellness's of the world sure are a lot better than the Purina's of the world. You need a vet to check for major stomach conditions. Be wary though....when it comes to diet, many Vets will try to sell you on Hills' Science diet foods and IMO this is garbage.

AND, a high quality diet will save you in veterinary costs in the long run!

Due to prolonged use of anti-inflammatories for arthritis and a bout of GDV, my vet recommended plain old Tagamet (200 mg.) morning and nite with meals. It's sold at Walmart under the generic name "Cimetidine" and it's cheap.

As far as the wary of starngers part when he was young he would run from them. Now he stands and looks at them maybe give a low sort of a woof not a full bark. I have noticed that people that have more experience with larger dogs or are not nervous themselves he usually warms up to them quicker. Usually if Im calm about the people he gets curious within a minute or two. When he was a little fella I brought him to work. I worked in a mental health clinic on Ft Campbell. We were always busy and everybody wanted to meet him but we took it slow and he didint usuually go up to people but it got him more used to being around lots of people and he had his own area to retreat to. At home he will alert and bark whenever he hears someone around but he really doesnt over do it. The confidence building stuff is just my novice attempts at obedience training which I feel I have been farly successful. Also we have been playing with pulling toys like his rope and I let him win fairly often and honestly sometimes its not a matter of me letting him but he has to be in what (again in my novice opinion) I assume is prey drive. The food thing I was fooled on at first with the science diet but when I was in TN I switched to a brand called pro pac in which the first three ingriedients were meat and then rice. Im up norteast now and have switched to nutro max which I dont like as much but havent been able to find anything better. I will however now be on the lookout for those brands that Chuck mentioned. Do you have a good idea of where i could find these. I think you maybe correct about the genetics I was thinking the same thing. When I bought the dog I knew precious little about the finer points of dobermans and dog training. I knew the generic breed characteristics but that was all. He (the dog) has opened the door to all this stuff for me.Sch3FH2 was that 200mg per day or per feeding. Again thanks for the help.

Well I got Innova and its working great. I even have a human friend of mine who thinks its not that bad. Hasnt vomited since and feeds like he did when he was 6 months. Thanks guys.