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Can I get some tips on associating my Doberman with people?

2K views 15 replies 11 participants last post by  Jaydog1717 
#1 ·
Hey everyone sorry if there has been a post on this. If there has please point me in the right direction. I got my first Doberman about a month ago. She's currently 7 months, so I got her right at 6 months. It seems that she wasn't around a whole lot of people and is very skiddish. I've been reading a ton of articles of how Dobermans need to be associated, so that's what I started doing.

A few weekends ago I took her to a farmer's market and she was around a bunch of people but there will be times she starts barking at them. For example I was sitting down with my wife and a little kid walked by. She was fine and for some reason when the kid walked away she jumped and started barking at him. I stopped taking her places like this until I feel that's she's doing better. I now take her to dog parks where she can run off leash and interact with people. She does really good and will let people play with her and she'll also play with other dogs. When I take her around my neighborhood she'll let people touch her but sometimes there will be a person and she just seems agressive and wants to jump and bark at them.

I also took her to a soccer game where there's a bunch of adults and kids running around, so she gets use to the noises. My younger nephew was there and she did great with him. But there was another kid that wanted to pet her and as she walked up she started barking.

Then there was tonight when my buddy came over. She started barking at him, so I made her sit and I let my buddy give her some treats. When he tried to walk in the rest of the house she started barking at him again. I went ahead and put her in my room as I didn't want my friend to feel uncomfortable.

I can already see how she's being protective of my wife and I. I do like how she's protective but I would like to teach her that if a friend comes over it's okay. I want her to know when there's a friend and when there's a threat.

I've signed her up for an obedience class this weekend. I was just curious if anyone else had any problem likes this. I know this can be corrected but i'm just looking for some extra reinforcement and constructive crticism. If you have any questions at all, just let me know. She is definitely the coolest dog i've ever had and I love her to death. I take her on 30-45 minute walks every day and we do tricks every day as well. So she gets mental and physical stimulation every day. Any help would be great. Thanks a bunch.
 
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#2 ·
Mila is a barker as well... new objects, people, dogs, cats, etc will get at least one woof. Her trainer actually encourages me to let her "warn" us about things, but to teach her that when the command is issued for her to stop, she better stop barking jack (Si voice, lol). Have you tried a flirt pole with her? They're supposed to really help with obedience training, they're great for teaching. I'm building one this week for Mila!
 
#4 ·
Hey I haven't tried the flirt pole but I will definitely look into that. It's totally random when she barks. I carry treats with me and encourage people to give her a treat. Sometimes she's receptive and sometimes she's not. I just don't want her to snap at someone one day until I know she's 100%. I'll even just sit there with her and it seems that the tension just builds up. I'm in the process of trying to get her to calm down. I take her out of the situation if she gets overly aggressive.
 
#5 ·
is there something necessarily wrong with barking? what kind of bark? dog's can't verbalize "hi" in enlish, so a good bark maybe ? a bossy bark? like, hey, you get back here and give me more treats? unless the dog is snarling and trying to eat people, keep up the socializing. Try learn to earn... have the people wait until your dog is sitting nicely to give her a treat or a pet. Tell people not to approach until the dog is behaved. Some people want to run up and start patting.
 
#6 ·
Hey I agree I don't mind barking at all. To me it seems like an aggressive bark like she wants to eat the person. I've got a trainer that I'm meeting with this weekend. I just can't get her to stay seated when I don't like the behavior. I know this just comes with consistency. I have her sit when before she eats her food. She responds without hesitation. She even sits now most of the time without me having to tell her.

I'm only saying this because she understands the queue. I'll just keep reinforcing it.
 
#7 ·
I'd take a different approach. You are "flooding" her and forcing her to cope. If possible, the best advice I can give is to hire a good trainer. For me IF a dog is barking, there BETTER be dang good reason. Someone wanting to pet you or walking through the house is NOT good reason. The man slinking out front by the bushes, ok good reason.

She's scared and you are forcing her to cope. Why not back off and let her go at her own pace. Stay far enough away she isn't barking. Go to lower level traffic places. Don't have people pet or feed her yet. If you were scared of say spiders and someone said too bad, I' putting one at you feet shut up and cope? What would you do? I'd scream and run anyway :) Her way of communicating is her barking. She's uncomfortable.
 
#8 ·
A bark alone does not say much. My girl barks her head off when new people come over. I know it is not the best but her whole butt is moving side to side. I also am not working at stopping that barking because it will stop someone in their tracks from coming in. She also acts like she wants to kill other dogs when she is on leash. I know it is not the case because we have tested it a few times and it is just her way of wanted to say she wants to play. It does look really bad though. I have been working on it and she is not as crazy all the time now but still bad. Read the dog not just the bark.
 
#10 ·
Look for stress signals too because chances are, she is giving plenty before barking.

This is one of my favorite references: Do You Recognize These 6 Signs of a Stressed Out Dog?. I think #5 will be the most applicable to your situation. My experience is that tongue flicks and lip licking are the most common, but it varies from dog to dog. Watch the videos too because stress signals are often very subtle or mistaken for other things.
 
#11 ·
By all means talk with your trainer and start off in small populated areas and build up to more when your puppy is comfortable. Never force her toward an object she fears. Treatment like that could turn a little trepidation into total terror. Just curious, when and how do you praise/correct your puppy under these circumstances?
 
#12 ·
Start small, that is my advice. You have only had her for a month, she is getting to know you and vice versa as well as having to get used to all these new things happening around her.

Even today at 2 and a half years old I often take my boy to just sit and watch people from afar. Granted my boy is fear reactive, so I just cannot go barging into a farmers market, even at his age. But what I can do, by taking things 'softly, softly' I can 'catchey monkey' as they say and he is less likely to go off on one if he sees a kid on a bike having just watched them from afar and become comfortable with them being there than if I just walked into a kids playground where they are up close.

They have a saying here in Spain, 'Poco y Poco' which means 'little by little' and I am a firm believer in this no matter what age a dog is or indeed what breed.

Good luck and do keep us posted.
 
#14 ·
I'd want to know what methods the trainer is going to use before I worked with them. In your situation, I would really look for a trainer that will use positive reinforcement methods, even better if they use Control Unleashed methods or Behavioral Adjustment Training (BAT). I would definitely avoid trainers who use compulsion, correction, or flooding. This is a good starting place for finding trainers: Search for Professionals
 
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