Hi all - I read posts on this forum all the time - but this is the first time I've posted anything!
I have a 14 month old dobe girl. I got her when she was 14 weeks old and I purchased her from a PNW breeder who is highly recommended on this forum. We also have an almost 4 year old Airedale as well, they get along great. I grew up with dobermans in my extended family - but this is my first time training my own.
The current challenge - she is so over the top excited about everything. It seems like she is barely ever under-threshold, and taking her for walks is really challenging. We have worked everyday since I got her to work on loose leash walking - if she is calm she does great. If she is over excited then she is snapping to the end of the leash and darting around, lunging at dogs and whining because she wants to play. When this happens I stop every time the leash is tight or turn right in the opposite direction. She gets an hour of off-leashing running in the morning, training and play at lunch, and another 45-minute walk in the evening. She is great in the house and is able to mellow out there.
Sometimes she calms down and we have a good walk, but if we see lots of people, dogs, birds, cars, etc. it's almost like she just can't handle it and short circuits. She seems stressed and starts grabbing grass, sticks, or whatever is on the ground and eating it. If our other dog is also on the walk she really can't calm down - so we do separate walks with them if she already seems really amped up.
I play lots games with her - she is great at finding hidden objects and playing hide and go seek. She is smart as a whip and is great with all her commands unless she is over stimulated and then it gets tough to get her attention. We've been to puppy training and just completed Rally 1, she does great when working on the course - but although she will sit and wait her turn or lie down, she isn't relaxed, and without constant treating and instruction she would lunge at other dogs - she has no problems with other dogs, she just wants to play.
I've been playing "Look at that" from Control Unleashed and it's really helpful - but sometimes things just seem so tough and frustrating and I though maybe you all could give me some suggestions, or just tell me it's fairly normal for a doberman her age and it will get better!
14 months is still fairly young but she does sound pretty excitable. While I love LAT, it doesn't work for all dogs. You might try the exercises in Grisha Stewart's "BAT" instead and see if you get better results - "Behavioral Adjustment Training." It's been really successful, too. I also really like the book, "Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out." It's very simple exercises and the trainer had a very excitable Dobe. Not "nervous" just really over the top. It's on Amazon and I highly recommended.
In addition to LAT, I would really work on the "on/off" switch games in Control Unleashed, where they need to learn to get "up" and then turn the energy down. It helps them learn to regulate their own excitement levels. There are a lot of games in CU that help with that over the top excitement. She may also benefit from just a lot of self control exercises - games like "It's Yer Choice."
Just my two cents. Others probably have some other good ideas.
Have you tried working on lots of games like finding hidden objects, hide and seek, or nose work to really get her brain a work out before you go for a walk? I find it helpful for my crazy dog to work on things that give his brain a bit of a workout like that before I ask him to focus on something like loose leash walking, or else he's too "fresh" and it's a disaster.
Do you have a flirt pole? It's a great way to wear out the dog without leaving your yard.
Also, is she treat driven? If so you could walk her before her evening meal and take a high value treat like Chicken to get her to look at you instead of what is getting her attention.
High intelligence + lots of energy + very few outlets to really blow off that ebullient energy = frustrated puppy who needs a job! More SHORT training sessions of fun learning such as nose work, focused fetch with obedience tricks trained to earn the "throw", frisbee, dock diving, barn hunt, etc.
There are so many things to work on with your brilliant over-achiever and you've just been treating her like an ordinary dog!!
It's brilliant fun to engage your dog in mental training which is also very tiring. Just please don't add more loose leash walking to try and drain that puppy's energy; it should only be worked on after she is pretty tired because it requires a huge amount of concentration and control of energy; it is also a puppy's all time least favorite thing to work on. You know, B-O-R-I-N-G! ;-)
You're really lucky that you have such a motivated dog and it wouldn't surprise me if it was a Foxfire pup. Every one of those I've met has the most amazing and wonderful drive; you can have a blast doing any dog sports.
If you don't harness and have fun with some of that energy, you're just going to push your dog to develop some undesirable habits. So, I hope you get out and investigate some fun things to do with her and also remember that she's just a teenager. There's nothing more boring to a teenager than having to WALK with their human through an intensely exciting and rich neighborhood while constantly being asked to ignore all the stimulation and act like a geriatric has-been.
If you invest more time and energy in exercising and playing with your vibrant wonderful puppy, you'll not only be amazed at how much better she'll be able to focus but you also love the increased connection that you have with her through training. You will be so glad you did this in the long run and you'll have lots of fun along the way!
You're absolutely right, I've been so focused on loose leash walking that I've been allowing myself to get frustrated and neither one of us has been having very much fun! She loves hide and seek and finding hidden objects, and playing fetch, and we both have lots of fun doing those things. I'll ramp up the fun!
Sounds like my girl when she was younger but mine was reactive. On top of the above advice, i find some of the things i did that helped (not eliminate but helped). I avoid bringing her straight from boring living room to the big party outside. I spend a good 10 to 15 mins with her in the yard where she can see the party outside. I played fetch with her and sometimes it helps just by letting her out first so she can get over her first burst of excitement of the keys opening the door and strapping her for walks. Sometimes i strap her and leave her out in the yard so she gets use to middle ground i.e. boring n calm living room to the great outdoors. After that, i take her out but move back and forth the same patch of grass like 50 meters or so. She will be excited at first...like level 20 excitement with the new scent. The back and forth relaxes her as the sights n scents are old boring stuff and then i move 1 metre further n back again - rinse and repeat. I understand that at level 20 or even 8 excitement level, she is not on a learning mode. She just wants to dance with the bees. I only start training when i am done back and forth for over 15 to 20 mins into her walk. She is still at level 4 to 5 excitement level but no longer at level 20. Keeping her hungry was also key! Best of luck!!
Might get a back pack so she can carry water,treats maybe toys gives them a job, Teach tricks ,teach things to do around the hose help with laundry, help carry grocery's in , pick up her toys put them away.Flirt pole are easy to make buggy whip with a toy tied to the end. Also helps to teach Drop It & Leave It when playing with the flirt pole.Don't forget fetch., you can use two balls, throw one when she brings it back throw the other. Good Luck
I've taken all your suggestions and I'm happy to report that things are going much better. We've really ramped up the fun - and made training sessions short with play mixed in. I've been taking toys with me when we go for walks in the woods and hiding the toys and then walking a ways ahead and having her go back and find them. When we play fetch I do training in between throws. I've also been doing mat work in one of the books suggested by MeadowCat. I also ordered a flirt pole and I bet she'll love it.
We've also been working on extra tricks for fun - the new one is she can go get her leash or her coat and bring it to me when it's time for walks. She picked up on this quick and now she comes and drops the leash in my lap when it's not time to go out
She is definitely a wild child (we joke that she thinks she a comet) but with these changes and an adjusted perspective, viewing her as full of potential instead of challenging, we've been having a lot of fun! There have been less instances of over the top excitement, and when it does happen we have been able to deal with it better.
Another fun option it sounds like she'd love is signing up for agility or rally classes
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