Rouleaux

Has anyone else experienced this with their doberpup?

Also, does anyone have any experience and tips regarding over dominant behavior in puppies? Will this level out? He plays well with the non-dobe playmates at home, but they are females, and smaller (1 terrier mix and 1 small pit bull) This is my first male, and I was wondering if this is something that will pass,or something I can nip in the bud NOW! ASAP!

We really enjoy spending time with our new dobefreind whom we met through this forum! He plays well, but it is almost like a "Dr. Jekyl meets Mr. Hyde" type of behavior. One minute he is darting and playing fine, and the next minute he backs off and bares his teeth (his adult canines haven't come in yet) and the vocalizing starts...

My concern is for the future and ensuring that he gets along with his friend in the coming months as they grow together. Hopefully this isn't just wishful thinking, but it has been on my mind for while.

Thanks!

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falnfenix

how old was he when he left Momma?

Rouleaux

7 weeks. I KNOW I KNOW. Terrible!!!

I have a cat who does this too and he was bottle fed and found very young... so I guess there is a connection right there.

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jdd

Lots of dobes are blanket suckers. A friends litter of 12 I just went to see all do it. They weren't taken away from mom early. It runs in our line. Alex did it and lots of his kids and grandkids.do it.
It was so funny to watch those 12 puppies all run in from outside and jump on the big stuffed toys and start sucking.

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Shawnessy

My dobie is 11 months and he still does it! It's the only thin that calms him down and he will fall asleep with his blanket in his mouth.

vivienne00

My Kelpie does it and runs in the line one of my dobes is from. I try to discourage it because it can easily switch into blanket chewing and that costs big money to fix (or sadly not be able to fix) if they get an obstruction as a result. No soft toys, no access to blankets.

I just had to trim the edge of my living room mat (about 10 min ago) because 2 of them were sucking on it, it produced a thread and the next step would be to start sucking on the thread and that leads to eating the carpet. So stay alert and try to stop the behavior by removing access to such objects. With one dog, I covered his crate pad with a heavy canvas so that he would get comfortable, but not really want to suck on it. No soft toys allowed - only cuz toys and other hard rubber or hard plastic toys and tugs.

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Cato, Emerald's Black Onyx, Emerald's Black Quartz (r.i.p.)
Owned by Enid, Jill (kelpie) and Lana.

Sherryh

My dobe if she gets an old towel still sucks it and she is going on 7 years old...she does that with some of her toys also.........

Matt Vandart

Its stress relief.

kpal4978

Mariano doesn't mind Rou's rough play... and for now, it just makes him sleep better!

Boys will be boys though lol.

Maybe he just needs someone to play with who is going to kick his butt like he does to Mariano?

You should come on a walk with Bender and I... Big old lady Teagan will put him in his place lol.

kwhite30

My boy has done it since the time I brought him home at 9 weeks. It calms him and it helps him fall asleep. He doesn't always need it but he would prefer to have it, especially in the evening.

As far as playing, when I first met Diesel's after sister Hera who we still to this day play with almost weekly, they could only play for about 45 minutes before they were done with each other. They were 11 weeks old when they first met. This phase probably lasted til they were 6ish months. Now at 11 months and 11 1/2 they can play for hours and hours and never once get angry with each other.

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vivienne00

I beg to differ knowing what these dogs do actually do for stress relief.

This is known to be something being researched genetically since it runs in lines and is related to OCD issues. I can't imagine that 12 puppies running inside after a lot of play all simultaneously need "stress relief".

My Kelpie has OCD issues with making sure every sound is accounted for and every human/animal is in its place and the blanket has to be sucked. I don't fear her eating the blanket but it is a real issue for Dobermans.

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Cato, Emerald's Black Onyx, Emerald's Black Quartz (r.i.p.)
Owned by Enid, Jill (kelpie) and Lana.

Matt Vandart

I'll rephrase then.

If it isn't the above then it's stress relief.

RedDogRosa

My girl was a blanket sucker from the time I got her at 9 weeks old until she passed away at 12 years. Pillows, blankets, stuffed toys; she always carried her blankies around. Once I gave her her very own blankets, she stopped stealing my pillows. I have read that it is truly a Doberman thing too, and it is OCD related like vivienne00 said. I submitted blood samples from my girl a few years back to help research on Dobie specific behaviors and medical conditions, and blanket sucking was one specific question they asked about. Interesting stuff.

Rouleaux

I know but it bugs me. I want him to be good like Mariano. He isn't a grandpa dog. He acts like a crotchety little goon. :/ I just don't want it to escalate.

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vivienne00

Keep an eye on it and if it starts to escalate it should be gradual enough to manage and prevent problems - look for little holes in things. But keep watching - very hard to stop. Jill (kelpie) will not suck on the quilt that is in her crate since it is smooth and cool to the touch (but very comfy - king size heavy bed quilt cut in half and folded twice to make 4 thicknesses). She only likes blankets, mats, soft toys, fleece tug toys, fleece blankets, etc.

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Cato, Emerald's Black Onyx, Emerald's Black Quartz (r.i.p.)
Owned by Enid, Jill (kelpie) and Lana.

BeckyG

My Phin, from this litter, is a sucker. He falls asleep sucking my blanket or his big stuffed dog.

kpal4978

Mariano sucked on stuff as a puppy, but I do not think he has done it since about 10 weeks old.

I am glad because those little teeth hurt when he was sucking on my finger!

STC

My girl always did this at bedtime, like a child using a pacifier to put themselves to sleep. I gave her a small fleece-type throw (find them at Walgreens for $5 -$10) and she knew that was her blankie to use. If she didn't have her blankie nearby, she would use my down comforter (yikes!), but all I had to do was offer her her blankie, and she would happily switch and use that instead. Her blankie would eventually get holes in it, but it was cheap and easily replaceable, so I didn't mind. I just got her a new one every few years. Cheaper for me and she was happy.

brw1982

The play style - running around crazy, baring teeth, whack-o vocalizing - all sound like pretty typical Dobe pup play to me. Have you ever seen any other Dobes play? Hell, my adults still do all that when they decide to play. Tali has even earned herself the nickname Batman for how awful she can sound during play. And Fiona often sounds like some kind of dying dinosaur or angry whale when she gets worked up. It's just Dobes.

If you think the teeth baring in play is bad, I guess you haven't seen how they'll try to drag each other around by their necks for fun yet.

If he's being too rough with your other dogs then you need to step in and calm the situation or bring it to a full stop.

As for the blanket sucking, my girl Tali does it and she's 4.5 years old. But she will slowly turn her sucking into chewing and she tries to eat what she chews. So I don't let her do it. (Also, she's an Alex daughter - add her to the list of kids who inherited blanket sucking! )

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Old Drum's Crimson Crisp, "Fiona"
Old Drum's Fiery Rumors of Taliesin, "Tali"

PearlPower

At 20 months, Archie is still a sucker, lol! We've gone through stuffies & beds like crazy and have now gotten him trained to only suck on his blankies (Dollarama, $1.50 each). He won't suck anything else but he got really tense and crotchety when we tried phasing them out.

JagerDobe

LoL, YES! Jager does this too. He is only 7 months, but he has done it since he was a baby. With him, it's his small pillow, or a small stuffed bear. He sucks on it, and bites down, and sucks, and sucks, then BAM. Asleep. HAHA, it's adorable.

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-Zac
Jagermeister - my sweet Red/Rust Male
Now that I have owned a Doberman, I honestly cannot imagine living life NOT owning one. He is one of the best investments of my life.

Eqstrnathlete

My dobe does it too, has since 9 weeks of age. Except he has a pillow that bares the brunt of his sucking!


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Beaumont67

Amy had the OCD issues to, but not blanket or pillow sucking - she kind of sucked or held soft stuffy or an old sock, in her mouth.
Plus, from a puppy, she was a flank sucker, pretty much subsided, when she grew old.
- she did like a stuffy or worn sock at bed time (never destroyed them)...I would take her pacifier away (after 5 minutes), when it was time to sleep

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

spocksdad

You should check out this previous extensive thread on blanket sucking:

Blanket Sucking and OCD

Spock & Eva both still occasionally suck, but only to throw rugs, the long pile kind. We solved the problem in master bedroom by getting the flat type berber type throw rugs which they don't suck. However we still have the long pile throw rugs in the master bathroom which both dogs love to gather in their paws and suck, if given the chance!

We did let Spock suck a light blankie recently when he had two abrasions on his back left leg and was licking them excessively. We gave him the blankie to sleep with overnight (next to our bed) to divert his attention away from the injuries. It worked and he healed completely with hair regrowth in 2-weeks!

Eva & Spock did have a bout with chewing holes in stuffed dog beds but we now use Ray Allen Bitesuit Syntek beds and have one Costco stuffed bed they both love to use (when "Uber-Alfa" Lillah isn't using it) They only sleep on the large stuffed bed when under supervision.


Spock Sucking a Nice Plush Throw Rug!


Eva (bottom) & Spock on Doggie Beds This Morning
(Notice Flat Berber Type Red Throw Rug Beneath)

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madmony

We've only had Lexi for about 5 months, but she likes to hold her stuffy in her mouth while she sleeps. Sometimes she holds her ball. I make her stuffies (no stuffing or squeaker) and I stuff them with the same material. She will hold it for hours. She is always watched when she has one, she does tear them up.

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Oliver RIP
With enough thrust, pigs fly just fine.