| •Did you take formal obedience classes or train yourself. How many classes did you take? Do you still continue to train when not in class?
Jeddah & I take a private obedience class, with one-on-one instruction lasting for around an hour to an hour and a half. We met with the trainer weekly for the first three weeks, and have now gone to a fortnightly lesson. We try and train daily, depending on the weather. Most of my daily interaction with Jeddah does involve some sort of training anyway. Usually reinforcing commands and hand signals to keep her "thinking".
• How important/beneficial is obedience training to you for this breed?
In my view extremely important. Owning a fear agressive dobe to me has been a test of stamina and strength. I want the public to look at my dog and appreciate a beautiful breed. I feel that I would be letting down the breed by not training Jeddah. I think she is also a much happier dobe, by reading her body language. Another benefit is the physcial control aspect, so much easier to control a trained dog.
• Where do you train outside of classes? (backyard, walks, public places)
Everywhere - backyard, every walk we take involves training and then she gets some free time.
• How much time do you spend in a training session? Do you find it easy to train a male or a female? Do you think a doberman is easy to train compared to other breeds? Time spent, can be as little as ten minutes or up to a hour. Just depends on Jeddah's attitude and how much free time we have. I have found Jeddah to be the most intelligent dog that I've ever owned. Very easy to train - when it suits her! I've never owned a male, so cannot make comparisons.
• What type of rewards do you use, if any? (food, toy, praise) Do you use any special training aids? (leashes, clickers, etc) What methods of training do you use?
Rewards - lots and lots of praise. We also use food and toys from time to time, but the praise is the winner in my eyes.
Special Training Aids - My only success has been with a prong collar. Have tried every other product on the market, until I got to the prong. I combine this with a 6 foot sturdy leather leash, one that I can trust!
• What have the rewards/accomplishments been since you started training your doberman?
Jeddah does not have any formal accomplishments, as we left her very first obedience club at week 6 and didn't return! Rewards have been vast..... Firstly, to learn to come to her own name, every time. Then to be able to be in the same room as a cat or two, without treating them as prey. Learning to trust another dog and just to play. But most of all, the look on her face when she's achieved something new and you tell her "good dog". |