[Toby'shuman]

Not sure how to deal with this problem guys so I am hoping some of you will be able to help me out.

How do you stop your Dobe from running full tilt into another dog and bowling it over.
Toby has this very annoying habit of literally playing hit and run with my other dogs to the point of his hurting them.

I have tried calming him down, I have tried taking him away from the other dogs, I have tried chastising him (voice) and whilst this works to make him look sorry and stop right at that very moment he soon forgets the telling off and starts up again and bowls over as it happens more often than not my old Boxer Bitch. She is old, overweight, with dodgy eyesight (in bad/poor light) topped off with sore paws and just simply cannot get out of his way fast enough.
Thing is, this is whilst he is out in the garden, not out on a walk as I no longer walk all my dogs together. Short from permanently removing him from my other dogs company, do any of you guys know how I might stop him playing hit and run?

 

[dobienut]

sounds like ours need to get together so they know how it feels lol

 

[thea2003]

Ive found the only thing to do is not run an old and young dog together, Saph sends Jed tumbling so now they dont get to play off leash together.

 

[KCFilley]

Sounds like mine as well. Good luck with that one and let me know the answers. It's either a race to the door with yelping and screaming to be first or it's clashing in mid air and great gnashing of teeth.

How old and how large are your other dogs? Sorry if I missed that.

 

[ggrogers]

I'll be interested to see how people handle this also.

 

[Beaumont67]

Re Quote:
- I no longer walk all my dogs together. Short from permanently removing him from my other dogs company,...

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Hi Toby'shuman - read in another post / in Spain, its a sunny day.
In Canada, we had frost last night / sun is out...just now warm outside.

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Bully dobe Toby is winning and now starting to have you rapped around his little finger/paw...so to speak.
The human, is being conditioned by the dog to compromise...and make you his B-Atch.

Correcting your dobes bad manners, takes human leadership / and should be easy enough to correct.
- mindset #1 / owners of good dogs don't have to compromise, period
(take the "bull" by the horns approach, and attack problem head on)
- 100% outside supervision, during retraining period
- your voice & physical sternness ramps up by 50%
- dobe wears a choke chain with a 6" short leash
- watch the 2 dogs play, the absolute very first second...you can see bullying, dobe gets a harsh voice + collar jerked several times (much under a harming level)
- dog is put in a down position for 5 minutes, several feet from were the old dog is standing
- after a 5 minute down-stay, dobe is free to play again / and above procedure is repeated...until Toby gets the sparky idea...that YOU will NO longer tolerate rough-housing.
- dobe get the idea, there is a new leader in the family pack...YOU
(so be firmer, consistent, and use perfect timing to correct unwanted behavior)
No ramie dog of mine, would be hurting another and old dog
- it would quickly figure out the consequences are not as much fun, anymore
- and dog learns rules & boundaries, clearly & quickly now / from the new "leader", commanding "respect"

 

[Toby'shuman]

I have recently ramped up my Alpha role, but I hadnt extended to have to carry it on during playtime as well. I guess I thought, (don't shoot me) this was one time that I could let him be a pup and have fun. But the fun isn't fun anymore for my Boxer. Don't get me wrong, she sometimes starts the rough housing herself, but then he carries it on long after she wants to stop. (she is 9 now and not in good health).
My 2 Terriers don't play like this with him, the smallest sometimes chases round but gets quite cross if Toby gets too bullish, so for the most part they just hang out. My big Terrier is off all their christmas card lists, he is now an outsider (having been attacked by the Dobe with the others joining in). But again before the attacks he never played at fighting.
I will let you know how I get on with regards if it works for me.

By the way, he hates it if another dog does it to him, my friend has a Malinois bitch who plays hit and run with him and he hides behind me when she does it, so you would think he would learn from it, or am I thinking too linear.

 

[brw1982]

He'll play how you allow him to play. My two know what "easy" and "knock it off" means. When they get too ramped up during play "easy" means chill out a little and "knock it off" (or "ENOUGH" if one of them has really pushed it) means full stop.

I play rough and wrestle a lot with my girls though and they learned those terms in relation to playing rough with me. It was pretty easy to apply those terms to their play as well.

 

[DogsR4Life]

Ive been reading articles that humans are misreading 'dog play'. While most see it as bullying, aggressive play, rude, and hurtful, it is really just two dogs playing rough.

Chase is very vocal and LOVES to steam roll his husky playmate over. If a passerby watched they would have thought those two were in a real fight. The husky does sometimes complain of the rough body checks, he will yelp and tell chase to back off. Chase will back off but only to be steam rolled by the husky!

IMO set up play dates with your dog with other dogs that enjoy the rough n' tumble. Keep an eye on both, if one retreats to the owner, the tail still or tucked, its time to calm down your dog. Otherwise, just sit back and enjoy some canine playtime

This photo cracks me up

 

[Toby'shuman]

Ive been reading articles that humans are misreading 'dog play'. While most see it as bullying, aggressive play, rude, and hurtful, it is really just two dogs playing rough.

Chase is very vocal and LOVES to steam roll his husky playmate over. If a passerby watched they would have thought those two were in a real fight. The husky does sometimes complain of the rough body checks, he will yelp and tell chase to back off. Chase will back off but only to be steam rolled by the husky!

IMO set up play dates with your dog with other dogs that enjoy the rough n' tumble. Keep an eye on both, if one retreats to the owner, the tail still or tucked, its time to calm down your dog. Otherwise, just sit back and enjoy some canine playtime

This photo cracks me up

If you hadn't told me that was playing I too would have thought it was a for real fight. Yee gods.

 

[Beaumont67]

This is AMY in 100% supervised play, with 2 different new dogs:
- first photo is old
- second photo is recent



This is a fully trained dobe, in the presence of a very/very sick dog...no jaw muscles flexed, by the stronger.
- old ANDY, was put down a few days later...this is Amy's last time to visit, with a dear friend & neighbor dog
(AMY mourned his death...I know, she did...she sniffed his property daily, for the following 2 weeks / searching 4 him)


This is AMY, with a little 3 legged dog (we babysit 2x/month).
- given full respect & moving friendly safe, around the much weaker dog
(even around a treat, AMY is most careful...BUT, I don't train with bribery treats...my dog gets them, for doing nothing)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[Toby'shuman]

This is AMY in 100% supervised play, with 2 different new dogs:



This is a trained dobe, in the presence of a very sick dog...no muscles flexed, by the stronger.
- old ANDY, was put down a few days later...this is Amy's last time to visit with a dear friend


This is AMY, with a little 3 legged dog (we babysit 2x/month).
- given full respect & being friendly safe, around the much weaker dog

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Can I ask, was your Dobe always like this, or did she mellow with age or did it come through training?
I really am worried for my old girl and have banned play for the moment until I feel Toby is listening to me better, trouble is I think she thinks she is in trouble, because she is trying to get him to play and I am stepping in and saying NO!

 

[Beaumont67]

Can I ask, was your Dobe always like this, or did she mellow with age or did it come through training?
I really am worried for my old girl and have banned play for the moment until I feel Toby is listening to me better, trouble is I think she thinks she is in trouble, because she is trying to get him to play and I am stepping in and saying NO!

Here, check out my personal training MISSION STATEMENT @:
Pet Perfect Express -- "Delivering human grade kibble for human pets"
[it's my part-time hobby business...and I am not promoting any sales here in DT land - I don't have internet traffics (aka. even Spain) and with almost 1000 posts here, under my belt...I do try my best, to freely help other dobe owners, with nagging problems / and most are easy to fix, with much dedication]

AMY was basically MENTORED by me, from 8 weeks old to 6.5 months of age.
Her training foundation was fully engrained (as a puppy) and we skipped the teenage phase...lol
She has been basically like this (as pictured above), her entire life.
It came from many hours of fun & mental stimulating play, teaching and a loving respect for her Dad (that I earned).
- she takes direction from me, always..."eye focus and verbal" listening is paramount
- I trained her to be both "humanized" and very "language intelligent" / that was always my GOAL
Ten years later, I still talk to her constantly & enjoy doing so (like a child)...she trusts & respects me, with her life.

Early pup training from 4-6.5 months old, was done on city streets, with many distractions.
This way she has to put her complete faith in me, to keep safe and happy.
Her early & daily learning curve, was like the slope of a rocket...going to the moon.

But for you, its still not to late, for your dobe to exercise good manners.
I could train your dog, if I lived in Spain, in very short order...but that is my frame of mind.
- so it starts with confidence and the handler taking immediate control, of the problem situation
Solve the today's problem, others are easier to fix...don't run away, from the challenge.
- you & your dobe, learns nothing then / so set your expectations & standard bar much higher

Focused & extensive quality time training...startes on Day#1.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[MeadowCat]

Dobermans do tend to play pretty rough. Like Brigette said, teaching them "easy" is a good thing, but I also think they need playmates with similar play styles.

This is Shanoa and her friend Mari - note the full body slams, etc. Dobergirls Play Date III - YouTube

From the same playdate: Dobergirls Playdate II - YouTube

I don't let them play too rough in the house, but they do play in the house, too: Doberman headlock - YouTube

A lot of people who are unfamiliar with Dobermans think they're trying to kill each other I'd say to work with your dog on an "easy" command and also try to find playmates that like to play rough and tumble.

 

[brw1982]

I completely agree about them needing a playmate with a similar play style!

My girls play really rough. They love to play together and I enjoy letting them so long as no one gets pissy.

Crazy play!

Having a friendly discussion about who gets the sofa...

I'll stop now. Good god I have a ton of pictures of these 2! LOL

 

[MeadowCat]

Awesome pics, Brigette! I love shark face Dobes!

 

[TxDobieLady]

Awesome pics I like being able to tell your two apart in photos because of fionas tipped ear i think it gives her character

 

[vivienne00]

Dobes, more than any breed I know, play rough and like the t-bone approach to close contact. My small kelpie has gotten used to this and has developed mad agility skills or doing duck & roll, jumping over incoming dobes and simply quick side-steps - she never gets t-boned no matter how much they try. She also knows how to hide behind some sturdy object - like my legs. I have a lot more shin bruises these days than I used to have.

For me, this is how it has always been and I have never done much about it. They have rarely caused any injury to each other - maybe a couple of times in several decades of dobes. I have simply accommodated this and not seen a reason to change it. Some of my less agile dobes learned ways to side-step and trip up incoming missile dobes.

 

[MeadowCat]

Awesome pics I like being able to tell your two apart in photos because of fionas tipped ear i think it gives her character

I'm not sure Fi has a tipped ear - I think you may just be seeing ears in motion in the photos.

 

[brw1982]

Awesome pics I like being able to tell your two apart in photos because of fionas tipped ear i think it gives her character

I'm not sure Fi has a tipped ear - I think you may just be seeing ears in motion in the photos.

MC is right. Fi's ear isn't tipped. She just has a super long show crop so when she plays and runs really hard, they tend to flop around some.