Looking for a Starting Point?

Question

Alright, this is a bit of a long story but I'll try and keep it short.

So for a very long time, mys sister had always wanted a dog. In her spare time, she'd be looking up all sorts of information and saving up money in preparation for the day when our mom would give her the go-ahead to get one. Last year, that day came and so we went out in search of a dog. The problem was, my sister over-shot her abilities to work with dogs and felt she could handle a doberman. On top of that, the one she deemed "perfect" was also a rescue at the age of 9 months. 
Within the first few days of ownership, we had all realized the mistake we had made. The doberman was very reactive, barking madly at anybody he didn't recognize, pulling like crazy during walks and barking at the top of his lungs at anything that happened to move. This was very hard time for our family, dealing with a dog we simply couldn't handle. On top of that, it tore us a part because my mom and dad felt my sister had made a reasonable mistake while I couldn't help but blame her and be upset with her for making the decision to buy this dog, especially since I didn't like the plan from the start and was the only person who felt that way.
Now, a year later, things have gotten better, but we still have a very, very long way to go to having a good dog. Problem is, my sister is now leaving for college (which only adds to the anger I feel towards her, considering she decided to get a dog the year before going to college) which means that I'm now in charge of the dog. But I have little to no experience in training, so I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to do this. So far, I've accomplished a bit with walking and training, but his reactivity is still a huge, huge issue. We've tried several different trainers, but nothing has worked. We have to lock him up when people come over and avoid both people and dogs on all of our walks. Now that my sister is leaving, it's up to me to figure out how to train him out of it. But with all this information on dogs out there, I'm not exactly sure as to were to start looking for a solution, so I thought I'd ask the people of Yahoo! Answers to help me find somewhere to look to help me learn how to train him.
Thanks for reading!

Sky · Accepted Answer

I do agree that it was very irrisponsible of your sister! Maybe she should leave you a bit of money at least to help with the training stuff you may need...
I would look into the breed history and they are very good guard dogs, that's why he's so reactive. So your not gonna get rid of that instict that it has been bred for, but you can channel his energy and ancestory into an activity. Dobermans are very energetic, intelligent but dominering dog, so they need a firm and experienced handler...so it shouldn't have been a first dog, that's probably how he ended up in the shelter in the first place, but regardless you have him now :) and they can be lovely dogs.
He MUST see you as his leader, and there's loads of books out there with steps that you must take to become one so look into them or look on google just type in 'how to be the pack leader'.
Once you are the pack leader you will have more control over him and when people visit etc.
Doing activities such as agility is great because he'll love it and it'll strengthen your bond whilst keeping you both fit, also its all about not only the speed of the dog but your control over him. Also obidience because you teaching him is showing leadership.
These dogs can be quite intimidating so you must hold your own, always stand your ground and be firm. But if there is even the slightest chance that he could be dangerous, not nessecerily biting, but if a dog sences your fear or nerves they can become very boistrous so if you don't have complete confidence always have someone with you for your own saftey, this is a large and powerful breed and I wouldn't like to get on the wrong side of an unruely one that you can't control, so for your own saftey...
Take him to an agility or/and obidience course, if he is misbehaving don't worry or get embaressed everyone else will be the same on a beginner obidience course, if he's not dog friendly then there are courses for pure socialisation, he probably goes mad when he sees one because you always avoid them, and he might not be sure how to interact with them. And as for an agility course if you feel you won't be able to control him at all then start with obidience and you could get your own equipment off ebay or from the internet and practice there, however once you know he'll be okay with other dogs then I'd take him to a class, as it will teach you and he might learn off the others and hopefully give you a bit of confidence to :)

So yeah I would look into a book about leadership or online.
Try agility and or obidience.
And have a look at some courses for socialisation, beginner obidience, and into a fun agility course.

Good luck, I'm sure it'll work out, you sound very mature and a responsible person and a good dog owner, even this isn't an ideal breed I'm sure you'll both have great success in time. Maybe your sister could help pay for the cost of the course, seeing as its her dog and she's leaving him with you.

Anyways good luck any other questions email me :)

Cookiemonster · Answer

Well just a though...but you could ask the dog whisper to come and train your doberman!You could be on t.v too!=D

Trending News

Looking for a Starting Point?

2 Answers