momtoarmani

Okay guys,
We've always had dobes, but since we moved 4 years ago we started helping out at local rescues. We've aquired 3 smaller dogs. Then..... Armani the 13 mo old pup came along.
I've trained many of them, although I'm FAR from being a pro. My dilemma is this. Armani is soooo rough with one of our smaller dogs who loves to play with him. He gets out in our fenced in back yard and goes at her 90 mph and rolls her. It's bad enough that she's having stress diarreah which is bloody.
I'm in the process of doing clicker training with him, and he is catching on fabulously. He is very bright and does exactly what I want him to do; think about what he could do next to get a click then treat. The problem is, that when he's in "play mode" he will not listen when I call for him to stop his negative behavior. I do not want to start negative issues with him. But I also need him to learn acceptable/unacceptable behavior so that he can play with all of them appropriately.
He was so rough this afternoon that the only way to catch his attention before he hurt the smaller one was to give him a slap on the rump. I've never had to raise a hand with my dogs, nor do I want to.
I'm being very selective with who I let out to potty, at what time etc, but the ultimate goal is to get him to learn acceptable behavior so that all can play and exercise together.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks

aquaholic

i rescue boston terriers, and speaking from personal experience some dogs just can't play together.
big or small.

keep armani on a lead. and keep him in control at all times. It only takes a moment for a large dog to cling onto a small dog and kill them. it can also take them only a split second to flick into that 'mode' where you can't control them anymore.

I encourage you to keep them playing, but the moment you see him getting too rough, separate.


One of my bostons' was attacked at an off the leash dog park by a large dog with three legs - and out of instinct, the large dog went directly for his neck, and threw him around. it was one of the most horrible things i've ever seen.
i wouldn't wish this upon anyone. you've been warned by what happened today

slapping armani's bum will not teach him that rough-housing is bad. it's difficult for dogs to link one thing to another, such as 'i was too rough, so mom hurt me' - chances are, he'll just fear you, which may turn into aggression.

my 2cents/

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DreamDoby

I would let them out seperately. It only takes an instant for something to go wrong.

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dobesanddragons

Don’t slap him. It can up his level of excitement and play mode. Or it can confuse him. Or make him avoid you even more. Or other things that you don’t want. This is not a good short or long term solution to your issue.

Keep this bully in leash around your smaller dogs so you will have some type of control. It is not acceptable and dangerous the little ones are getting rolled on and having stress reactions.

What is your Doberman’s age and how long have you had this Doberman? What types of formal training do you do with him?

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Patches Mom

Know what you are talking about Buddy will be 2 yrs old this April. I'm just now letting Patches & Buddy out together more. Patches is my Tweenie Dachshund I still keep close tabs on them. Found out it really helps to play fetch with Buddy for about 20 minutes to get the edge off before letting Patches loose with him. I also had a tie out so I could tie Buddy out with Patches so Patches could get away from him if she wanted too. I never left Buddy tied out for very long no longer than 30 minutes or so, that was when he did not listen as you say.If you wear
Armani out before letting the little dogs out it helps allot.

voodoolizard

zeus does that to missy and they are both dobe but i still dont alow it as she is a lot smaller than him.

i taught his the "leave" command and if he starts to play too ruff i tell him to leave her and he does and then gets lots of praise,
if he gets too bad and does not listen, we grab his scruff and push him to the ground and make him stay till he has calmed down, it works really well, i read that the mother dogs grab the scruff of a puppy to tell it off and to do this ans it does get the message across !!

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momtoarmani

dobesanddragons......
Please don't take this offensively, as I don't mean it to be okay? I'm not sure that you read my post in it's entirety, but rather skimmed it. Armani is not a bully, he's a puppy. He's a rescue that we've had for 6 days. I also said that I did it once, and the entire post was about NOT wanting to slap him. I realize that it is not a good solution that is why I posted.

On a side note, last night after I posted, I got to thinking. I do his training of walking on lead, so what was stopping me from doing this with his play? I took him out after I posted and put his gentle leader on, and attatched it to a 15ft lead. I took my clicker out there, his treats, and Libby. When he was playing acceptably I clicked then treated. Almost instantly I had a working dobie who played nicely then looked to see if he was graded on that positive behavior. It is going well this morning as well!

DobieOwner

I know there are many on here that don't like Koehler method of dog training, but his training does address this issue. First requirement is a good foundation of obedience basics.
Then he uses what is called a "light line" to teach "off leash" controls. The problem most people have is the dog misbehaves and gets away with it when they are out of reach. The modern day shock collar has taken the place of the "light line" but if you - like me don't like using a shock colloar, a light light is made of heavy duty fishing line with a handle made from a rubber hose. Realistically the only thing he should feel on his collar is the "hook".

Let him get out where he doesn't think you can make him stop (this will happen using the leash) and you can correct him. He can't run - he can't avoid a correction.

While many of his training methods are too harsh to many people's standards - he had some really good ideas on teaching off leash controls.

Julie W

I've always had an italian greyhound in my household mix. If my doberman couldn't be gentle at all times with my IG then they simply wouldn't ever be turned out together.

One of my clients was asking about this same thing about her brothers doberman and pug. His doberman played very rough with the pug and I told her that he should not turn them out together. He did anyway and now the pug has three legs after suffering a bad break from being rolled by the doberman.

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2gooddobes

I have two rescued little mutts as well as my two Dobes. With lots of training they are all allowed out in the yard together without incidence. The key is taking it slow and lots of supervision. When Bella was younger she used to get excited when my little guys where running around, when she got in this mindframe she would not listen to any commands and would chase. My solution was she was not allowed in the yard with the little guys unless on a leash. After awhile I would let her loose with them if she first acted calm, with lots of supervision she now is loose with Beetle and the little dogs. Once in awhile she will still start pawing or roughhousing with them but all it takes is a correction and she immediatly stops.