Fifine

Hello all,

I was wondering if I do this correctly. 2 days ago my doberman decided to jump on me grab my arms and twisting and all that very bad. She would not let go. I got hurt very bad.

Sorry if I repeat myself, as I already talked about this in another post.

Bascically I got afraid of my dog and did not know what to do, as she hurted me so bad.

My question is this : when she looks like she wants to repeat this behavior, she barks, looks at me and prepare to jump. I decide to walk straight over her and say right away NO ! SIT ! looking in her eyes. She then normally stops and sit, but I am wondering if walking towards her is good, I don't want her to think I attack her but I want her to see that I am not afraid.

Yesterday she did this and I decided to walk away, going backwards, but then I think she saw I was afraid, my husband had to stand up and tell her NO!

But the thing is I am the one who need to be the boss as my husband works outside for couple days in a row. This is why I am the one going to training classes and I am the one feeding and walking her.

Any suggestions as how I should react when I think she possibly wants to grab my arm ?

I also do a lot of positive training with treats.

Thanks to all

Beaker

It's difficult to diagnose why a dog does things unless you see the dog doing it. I am certainly no trainer so I would suggest you try to find a dog trainer in your area that will help you. I have no idea if my advice or methods might help you.

Just remember an 8 month old dog is still very much a puppy, they are big but still don't have the brains of an adult dog! If you haven't had her very long then it's possible she has never been taught bite inhibition and she is trying to play with you.

When I rescued my dobe she was somewhere between 6 and 9 months old and we had to work on bite inhibition quite a bit. She's now almost 2 and I still work on bite inhibition. (Not that she would bite me now but she has a heck of a prey drive and I want the no biting thing SOLID!).

Some people make noises and squeal and turn their body when the dog goes to nip. That might work.

I use the command "no teeth" or "easy" with her. The two commands mean different things. "No teeth" is for when she is contacting skin with teeth, and "easy" is when she is doing something like taking a treat from me and I want her to be gentle.

For No teeth, I would/will play with a tug and the moment that she happens to touch skin with her teeth, I give the command, all fun stops and the tug goes away. Now she knows to bite/play with the tug (funnest game ever in her mind!) and not me or my arms! Now she will launch herself at the tug full force but always knows where my hands are and doesn't go near them.

I also have her in a sit position and run by her (treats happen if she doesn't chase me) she gets to play tag with me at my command and tag means nose pokes not teeth (again a learned skill).


For "easy" I had a closed fist treat in it until she learned that getting the treat meant licking waiting for the hand not trying to chomp it out of my hand. She will still occasionally bump the hand with the treats with her nose hoping for a treat avalanche but teeth are no longer involved.

Other better trainers may have a better method of teaching this type of behavior.

DogsR4Life

How much exercise is she getting? What training has been done?

When my dog gets excited (and yes he will jump and nip my arm), I immediately stop all interaction, fold my arms, and turn my body away. When he calms down, I turn around, pet him and continue with the activity.

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KevinK

If your dog is biting you to the point of getting hurt, and being scared, you need a knowledgable, experienced doberman behaviorist quicker than immediately. This is not the kind of thing I would feel comfortable giving advice online, personally.

Fifine

Thank you all for your response. I actually just cam back from another train center, I was there for an hour with a specialist.

Actually looks like she only wanted to play with me. The trainer gave me bakc a lot of confidence, he showed me few things how to stand and walk, what to do if it happens again, etc. She is a very good dog, just that unfortunately the girl who had it before was playing very roughly with her ... and responding to the arm grabing thing -

I usually go between 5 and 6 times a day outside, out of her asking to go pee and poop. We stay out maybe 10 - 20 minutes, but I need to go back in cause it is very cold here about -15 celcius. When the sun is out and it is towards 0 than I stay longer. I also play inside with her, with the ball and bones, and I do 20 minutes of walking with commands ....

I don't know if this is enough ?

she sleeps a lot, however

Beaumont67

New owner hi all :)
^^^^ Background info. from yesterdays post:

Personally - I would NEVER backup from your young dober girl, and show an apparent human/owner weakness - Fifine seems pushy, that can be righted IMO - but you are NOT me...so seek good training help / read & read, research & study much...I don't see a dangerous dobe, one that was just misguided from day1...but I could be wrong, on the internet.

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------------Kelly & (Amy - RIP @ 11.7 y/o)

Fifine

Thanks for all your talk Beaumont. I came back to see another trainer today, and the talk he had with me and the few things he made with my dog reassured me a lot. Actually I am much more confident now, she only wanted to play ; and NO I will never back up again. The trainer I saw today uses Cesar Milan's technique, he actually talked to me with his head, meaning it made sense. He told me my dog was very loving and easy behavior, that she needs a lot of excercise and that ''I'' need to conrol myself and the situation. He told me I need to play with the tug, giving my expectation and limits. He has a HUGE rottweiler ho man so huge I was impressed .... And this rottweiler is so so so nice and loving !


Here is his youtube channel, in French ... just look at his Rott ... lollll Vidéos Éducation Canine - YouTube

I have much more confident in him than the other trainer I saw last saturday, I will cancel the other one and go with the new one. The other one was ''marketing'' all over he made me walk 20 minutes with the dog, and did not really answered my questions .... The other one includes 10 sessions of 1 hour to begin. After that, I want to go for guard stuff, I'll see.

Beaumont67

thor_yoshi.MOV video was very cute....the old Rottie boy with the tiny dog reminded me of my past Amy girl with our sons 7 lb. Trevor (YorkiePoo).
I got to babysit him (aka Mr. T) frequently, when business meetings took son to Toronto.
- here is her YouTube: Dobe Amy controlled off-leash, walking city streets..wmv - YouTube

Glad you found a good trainer that can give you the hands-on direction needed and answer questions, for your girl...that only knew how to play rough.

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------------Kelly & (Amy - RIP @ 11.7 y/o)

Fifine

Woow !!! I love your video ! thanks for sharing.

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Fifine is a female and was born in May 2012
I have 2 sons born in 2005 and 2009

Patches Mom

Cesar Milan's technique is not a very good way to train dogs in my opinion you would do better by praise and positive reward training. Have heard of several people following Cesar Milan's technique getting bit in the face because the were told to poke or pinch the dog what ever Cesar calls it.
Staring at a dog is very poor behavior in dog language might get the book "On Talking Terms with Dogs:Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas you can learn allot.