New to forum and New Dobie owner

[kimy]

Hello

I have been fostering a 10 week old doberman mix puppy for past 2 weeks. I have 3 other dogs as well. A golden retriever and 2 silky terriers. My golden absolutely adores the doberman as he lost his best friend 2 years ago and hes been a nervous reck since then. Since the puppy has come in hes not so nervous actually more confidence and loves her. She can climb all over him and bite him but if she bites too hard he knows enough to tell her to stop. He's not really my concern. My concern is my 2 silky terriers. They dont stick around when we have her out playing. We usually keep the doberman puppy in the kitchen so at certain intervals we let her out to play for like 40 min to an hr at a clip but the 2 silkys stay to their bedroom. They just want nothing to do with her and when they are near her the doberman puppy will jump on them and they dont like it. I know the puppy is young but I am just wondering will they get along or is this an accident waiting to happen.

Btw I also heard that dobermans can have same sex aggression is any of that true? I know a few people with dobermans of same sex and they have never had that problem. Any help with this and anything about the breed itself would be much helpful. Thank you.

Kim

[PorschaLei]

Welcome to DT. Same sex aggression is a big thing for dobermans as is for most breeds but that doesnt mean its impossible for a dobe to coexist with one of the same gender. Congrats on your pup! As for the silkys sometimes to smaller dogs, a bigger more active pup may seem a bit overwhelming thus thy will tend to drift away. Try introducing them when the pup is calm (it will be harder than it seems). Have the pup on a leash around them correct any hyper and scary behaviors


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[kimy]

Thanks for the reply I really appreciate it. I will definitely try that. I also thought of trying taking one of the silkys for a walk with her at a time to get them acquainted. I havent officially adopted her yet. She is a foster from a high kill shelter from down south somewhere. Her and 50 other dogs were due to be euthanized when the shelter I volunteer for asked me to foster her. She came to be very thin and hungry and thirsty. She still cries when I get her food out and she used to go crazy for water. Both of them seem to be much better now. I cant understand how she was to be put down. She is one of the most adorable and smart pups next to my current ones. Here is a picture of my emma. By the way I feel alot better posting in this forum about same sex aggression, The other one I posted to really said some nasty stuff to me and told me NOT to adopt her and let her go to another home just because I currently have 3 dogs. I think I'll still around here instead. Thanks for the nice welcoming.

[Sam1491]

Here's a few links on same sex aggression, it's more common in males but CAN happen in females.
Male on Male Aggression

As for the silkies, like suggested above, a crazy wild biting dober pup that is already their size or bigger is a lot to be presented with, try having everyone out for a group quiet time (everyone goes to "their spot" and gets a bone or chew toy) take them for walks, and overall do things where they are together but you can control the amount of energy the puppy is sending their way. You'll also want to be teaching the puppy not to play to rough with them as she grows or she could easily and unintentionally hurt them.

You also have the option of encouraging each to coexist with minimal interaction. When I brought mabel home we had a small pug mix dog who was old and not up for her antics (she was 9 months old) mabel and her never really clicked but they learned by their own and my signals to exist but ignore each other. Mabel would walk right past her and vice versa. If your silkies really don't like her/your afraid they'll get hurt you can always encourage their behavior to go where they feel comfortable(which may not be so far away as a whole different room once the puppy starts leaving them alone) and encourage the puppy to not care about them. Just another option.

Good luck and bless you for fostering/potentially adopting this little girl.

[SamK]

I have a dobie puppy and an old chihuahua and forest cat and have asked for similar advice. In my case, though, the chihuahua is really quite fragile (onset of heart failure, prone to disk damage in her neck) but she insists on being around the puppy, snarling and snapping when he gets too close. Which he does alot, and he gives her a cuff or noses her. His presence has cheered her up alot (her buddy also died in the last year) but the risk of injury and stress to her is high so we only allow them together supervised and and have a baby playpen (folding gates) which we use to separate the bedrooms. The cat and the chihuahua are allowed in the bedrooms and sleep there, so that's their safe place when they don't want to be around the puppy.
The cat has avoided the puppy but over time (and I mean weeks here) we have let the puppy into the bedroom when he's calm, made him stay on his blanket, and occasionally walk around and sniff the cat. The cat is calmer and he is less boisterous now, so slowly slowly it seems to be coming right.

That's my experience - a behaviorist or trainer might have more effective solutions. The thing that has astounded me with the dobie puppy is how quickly he changes - what is a behavior challenge today suddenly disappears and something new crops up. I do believe that if they understand what is desired they do it, they are not deliberately naughty. That said, the smaller dogs do run a risk of getting injured and all efforts must be made to avoid this while the puppy learns his to behave around them.

Hope this helps anyway.

Welcome to the forum! People are very helpful here. Sometimes they test you but it's usually with good intention

[Dobs4ever]

Welcome from Missouri and cngrats on your new puppy

[kimy]

Thanks everyone!!! Everyone is getting alone great now. My little guys are actually kissing my little dobie now. I put the puppy on a retractable leash and took her outside with one of my silkies. Worked out great. They seem to adore her now. So looks like it is going to work out. This is a picture of my Emma.

Thanks again.

[Rouleaux]

She is too cute!

Welcome to DT!

If you don't mind me asking, what do you think she is mixed with?

Congrats on your newest addition and I am pleased to hear that everyone is getting along well! This will help the puppy as well to know her boundaries, should she get to or be over normal dobie standards...

[kimy]

Not sure what shes mixed with. I do have a question maybe someone can tell me. Is it true that dobermans can injure their tails when they are left long? Also she has been pulling on her collar so now she gagging every few hours she will have a fit. I put a harness on it and seems some better. I'm going to call the vet tech at spca tomorrow to ask for some advice but thought I'd ask here also. Thanks.

Kim

[Sam1491]

Originally Posted by kimy

Not sure what shes mixed with. I do have a question maybe someone can tell me. Is it true that dobermans can injure their tails when they are left long? Also she has been pulling on her collar so now she gagging every few hours she will have a fit. I put a harness on it and seems some better. I'm going to call the vet tech at spca tomorrow to ask for some advice but thought I'd ask here also. Thanks.

Kim

Unlike with danes, pits, and whippets and etc.. it is not as common for a dobe to injure their tail, they carry it higher and more up in the air than straight down or out from their body. This reduces the risk of it repeatedly hitting hard surfaces like walls and breaking open

It can happen, don't get me wrong, but the instances of it are slim.

[kimy]

Originally Posted by Sam1491

Unlike with danes, pits, and whippets and etc.. it is not as common for a dobe to injure their tail, they carry it higher and more up in the air than straight down or out from their body. This reduces the risk of it repeatedly hitting hard surfaces like walls and breaking open

It can happen, don't get me wrong, but the instances of it are slim.

Okay so why would she keep gagging from pulling???

[Sam1491]

Originally Posted by kimy

Okay so why would she keep gagging from pulling???

The gagging from pulling is because she's irritating her throat with the neck collar. If she is still doing it tomorrow I'd visit the vet, better safe than sorry in case anything got injured, but my bet is she just has an irritated throat from the pulling.

Many puppy owners here start off using a harness to teach not to pull and some prefer them in general for the life of the dog just as personal preference as well as for health issues with the dogs neck and back.

I'd work with her manners in the harness and progress to a flat buckle collar

[Rouleaux]

Yes, also make an appointment with the vet, should she have brought along some bordetella from where she came from.

Where are you located?

Also, I highly recommend the Easy Walk harness by Preimer to start! It actually helps with puppy pulling and redirects. Depending on her manners when she is older, I would go from there.

[kimy]

Originally Posted by Sam1491

The gagging from pulling is because she's irritating her throat with the neck collar. If she is still doing it tomorrow I'd visit the vet, better safe than sorry in case anything got injured, but my bet is she just has an irritated throat from the pulling.

Many puppy owners here start off using a harness to teach not to pull and some prefer them in general for the life of the dog just as personal preference as well as for health issues with the dogs neck and back.

I'd work with her manners in the harness and progress to a flat buckle collar

Yes I plan on enrolling her in puppy kindergarten & AKC puppy class as soon as shes adopted. Meanwhile I will work with her at home. As soon as shes spayed I can officially adopt her. Thank you.

[kimy]

Originally Posted by Rouleaux

Yes, also make an appointment with the vet, should she have brought along some bordetella from where she came from.

Where are you located?

Also, I highly recommend the Easy Walk harness by Preimer to start! It actually helps with puppy pulling and redirects. Depending on her manners when she is older, I would go from there.

I'm in NJ. I can only take her to spca until I adopt her. Yes they did suspect a touch of kennel couch which I was given meds for that and she seems to be over that as she stopped coughing.

[Sam1491]

Originally Posted by kimy

I'm in NJ. I can only take her to spca until I adopt her. Yes they did suspect a touch of kennel couch which I was given meds for that and she seems to be over that as she stopped coughing.

If that's the case the pulling may have irritated kennel cough she still has OR the coughing may just be a residual side effect that was irritated again by the pulling.

I'd have them double check her just to be sure, it can be a pain to get rid of sometimes.

[Rouleaux]

I second that the persistent kennel cough is a nuisance!

Rou was vaccinated and picked up a strain at the dog park... which he gave to the other 2 dogs in the house (who are also vaccinated). Needless to say everyone had to be treated... ugh!

He would wake up in the middle of the night with what sounded like the croup!

As many times as I have seen it in practice, having this stuff happen at home is always a different story...

[kimy]

Well we had a real bad night last night. Emma kept us up cause we were so worried about her. She was wheezing and sounded like she was going to cough up a lung. Took her to vet turns out its kennel cough and that I should just continue on the meds they gave me as it does not go away overnight. I never had experience with kennel cough so I didnt know. Anyway she will be spayed after this is over.

[ellenm]

What a cutie!

Sounds like you are on the right track with her as far as the Silkies are concerned.

Kennel cough is contagious so your other dogs may/may not get it. Keep water and food dishes apart, and limit nose to nose interaction. I've had a youngster get it from a dog show but my older dogs never came down with it.

[kimy]

Originally Posted by ellenm

What a cutie!

Sounds like you are on the right track with her as far as the Silkies are concerned.

Kennel cough is contagious so your other dogs may/may not get it. Keep water and food dishes apart, and limit nose to nose interaction. I've had a youngster get it from a dog show but my older dogs never came down with it.

I keep the doberman in the kitchen which is gated and she has her own food and water bowl. I do not allow her in the other dogs bowls. Dont seem like the other guys have got it. A sneeze here and there but no coughing. I dont really bring her out to play with the other dogs much as I was told just to keep her from running around too much as that will just aggravate it. When my dogs go the vet next month I will tell him that the foster pup had kennel cough and he can take a look at my dogs. A friend told me its contagious but eventually goes away without medication also. Its too cold outside to take the dogs out. The only time the puppy is nose to nose with my dogs is if I have her on my lap and they jump up too which is very minimum. Thanks.

[Rouleaux]

Originally Posted by kimy

A friend told me its contagious but eventually goes away without medication also.

You did the responsible thing by bringing her to the vet to be checked. I would go by what the vet says, rather than what a friend tells you. What if the description fit Bordetella, but the poor dog had swallowed something? Now that won't go away by itself as you know

[kimy]

Originally Posted by Rouleaux

You did the responsible thing by bringing her to the vet to be checked. I would go by what the vet says, rather than what a friend tells you. What if the description fit Bordetella, but the poor dog had swallowed something? Now that won't go away by itself as you know

Thank you. It really scared my husband and I. We couldnt sleep wednesday night she was wheezing so much. I never had experience with it. The vet didnt actually look at her but the tech explained to us that was the kennel cough and that she was already on the meds. That sometimes it takes awhile for the cough to go away. The vet tech said to us you didnt tell me she was on such and such meds. I had 2 types of meds do u really expect me to remember that. I figured they would look up her file before they told me to come up with her which mind you is 40 minutes away. My husband said he felt like she was talking down to us. But when you have first time fosters and we never had experience with kennel cough so we didnt know the wheezing would get that bad. We thought she was going to cough up a lung or die on us. Now we know.

Kim

[Rouleaux]

Originally Posted by kimy

Thank you. It really scared my husband and I. We couldnt sleep wednesday night she was wheezing so much. I never had experience with it. The vet didnt actually look at her but the tech explained to us that was the kennel cough and that she was already on the meds. That sometimes it takes awhile for the cough to go away. The vet tech said to us you didnt tell me she was on such and such meds. I had 2 types of meds do u really expect me to remember that. I figured they would look up her file before they told me to come up with her which mind you is 40 minutes away. My husband said he felt like she was talking down to us. But when you have first time fosters and we never had experience with kennel cough so we didnt know the wheezing would get that bad. We thought she was going to cough up a lung or die on us. Now we know.

Kim

As a Licensed Veterinary Technician I still enjoy learning as I don't know everything, but I know enough to not treat people who are fostering a dog first time like they know nothing. As with everything in life, knowledge comes with experience. Now that you have experienced raising a puppy properly and sickness like kennel cough, you probably won't forget the tell tale signs.

If you went to the shelter, I could see the tech being too lazy to look up the case chart for this pup (not trying to be "that" person, but yes I went there). But if you were to have brought her to a regular vet, and the staff treated you like that, ESPECIALLY on one of your first visits... I would say RUN! You want your pup to be treated with love... love is also expressed by looking in the record. Should an animal have an allergic reaction or special need that "The owner didn't tell you about" but a big red note was in the chart, who is to say that person wouldn't bypass something and cause harm. Just the real world. Now, how does she know your puppy doesn't have rabies or something. Things like this bug me to no end!!! Charts are very important.
**END RANT**

So you have her on the antibiotic and the cough suppressant? Good.

Hopefully your pup feels better soon

[kimy]

Originally Posted by Rouleaux

As a Licensed Veterinary Technician I still enjoy learning as I don't know everything, but I know enough to not treat people who are fostering a dog first time like they know nothing. As with everything in life, knowledge comes with experience. Now that you have experienced raising a puppy properly and sickness like kennel cough, you probably won't forget the tell tale signs.

If you went to the shelter, I could see the tech being too lazy to look up the case chart for this pup (not trying to be "that" person, but yes I went there). But if you were to have brought her to a regular vet, and the staff treated you like that, ESPECIALLY on one of your first visits... I would say RUN! You want your pup to be treated with love... love is also expressed by looking in the record. Should an animal have an allergic reaction or special need that "The owner didn't tell you about" but a big red note was in the chart, who is to say that person wouldn't bypass something and cause harm. Just the real world. Now, how does she know your puppy doesn't have rabies or something. Things like this bug me to no end!!! Charts are very important.
**END RANT**

So you have her on the antibiotic and the cough suppressant? Good.

Hopefully your pup feels better soon

Yes shes on an antibiotic, not sure if its a cough suppressant though I have notice coughing has diminished in the last day. She and we were able to sleep last night then she woke herself up at 5:30am so I took her out then she went back to bed for another hour.

She was on amoxicillin 50 mg(which she finished the other day). She is still on Doxycycline 100mg (they gave this to her as the other one didnt seem strong enough). I still have 5 days worth of pills for her on this one.

Kim

[Rouleaux]

Doxy sounds about right for the kennel cough itself.

I'm happy everything is going better