I have a 7 month old 90+ lb european dobe named Patimus (lol, kids named him). I got him at 10 weeks old and hes just started the behavior. Hes awesome...most the time. Inside the house or on leash hes perfect. He already knows sit, wait (laydown), stay, speak, potty, hush, Kennel, etc. both verbal and hand-signals. He walks on a leash great, and is good with other dogs and people. Hes super smart and sweet 90% of the time. Then we go outside. On leash he is fine, but as soon as i let him off leash (we have a in-ground fence) he turns into a different dog. Even if we are standing still he runs circles around us and darts in for bites to the legs, genitals, and breasts. Ive tried ignoring him, he starts barking, growling and bites harder. I've tried using a long-line, he knows he still on leash, and doesn't do the bad behavior. He still obeys his verbal and hand signals off leash, but as soon as you break eye contact he starts again. Ive tried an E Collar. (After he tackled my 8 year old and took him to the ground. I had to pull the dog off my son.) I only keep it at an irritating level (3 out of 8) because I cant bring myself to actually shock him, and usually just use the beeper. I've trained labs and such for handicapped individuals, but this is my first dobe. I don't think its aggression. More excitement.... I just don't know how to calm this part of him. He gets exercised regularly. We go weekday mornings to the local nature trails and run, and evenings and weekends we go for about an hour walk around our neighborhood and on rainy days runs on our treadmill. He has a regular schedule as far as potty time, eating, drinking. I feel like this excitement will eventually lead to aggression if not corrected though.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.