[illnacord]

Hello Dobermantalk. Got my first dob at 11 weeks old, female, black & rust. Her parents are from Livermore, California. Her name is, Stella.

Here's a photo of her in Oakland, California, after Valentines Day, right before I took her to the vet for ear cropping. She's with my step-dad.

This is my 3rd dog, previous two were free, adopted between 8-12 weeks old, and mixed breed (Labrador Husky, Rottweiler Shepherd). That said, my dob pup has been the most demanding thus far.

I am currently working on her healing ears, house-training, and walking her on lead. Oddly enough, she follows off-leash, but is stubborn on. I am finding this tedious as the ideal traits I find in a dog are activity and running partner. I am against giving "treats" by way of food. Any suggestions on walking her on lead would be appreciated.

 

[brumwolf]

Hi and welcome to DT from me and my girls here in the U.K.

 

[mariposa692001]

Welcome from Sabot (2 year old red dobe) and Paris (Standard Poodle pup) from KY....why are you against giving "treats"?

 

[Okie-dobie]

Welcome to the forum, she is a real cutie pie. You could use some of her daily ration of food instead of treats. And try not to find it tedious, she is just a baby...so take baby steps with her. She will come around, and soon she will be outlasting you on your jog!! Short little walks, short training sessions work best. And no running on leash just "free" running at this point...but I'm sure you already knew this.

 

[DreamDoby]

Welcome to DT. She is a cute girl.

 

[ReDobie4Kev]

Welcome, I live about 20 minutes from Oakland and Livermore, small world. My red boy was the same way on walks, they are still learning about everything in their new world, and are cautious at this young age, they need to me comfotable before they will walk in unfamiliar places. If you force them to walk by pulling it will only make them more scared. When I started walking my pup i could see he was very cautious about everything and almost scared, if he heard someone, he would just sit and not come until that person was gone never taking his eyes off them, if he heard a dog barking, he would stop and sit until i coaxed him to come. When he stopped to smell, that to me is different, i would let him smell for a few seconds, then give a pull on his collar and he would just come and leave the smell. But it seemed like he got more confident everyday, after a few days he knew the smell of the way home, and would start to run towards home when we would get closer. If your optimistic with her and keep telling her shes a good girl (assuming she knows what good girl means, thats where rewards/treats come in) she will start to trust that your not going to let her be in any danger when on walks. Give her a couple weeks and she'll be walking fine. Also, shes not going to follow you off leash for too much longer, so enjoy it now, it seems at about 13 or 14 weeks my boy prefered to roam, this can be bad in public places, because if they get away from you and are not yet trained to come back they are probably fast enough to get away. My boy is just 14 weeks, and hes almost faster than me. Just be patient and she will get a lot better.

 

[alwayshadpets]

Welcome, she is a cutie. What fun times you will have.I too was wondering why you are against treats.

 

[Acooper]

Welcome from Indiana

I don't understand what you mean by stubborn? Does she refuse to walk on the leash or does she pull you?

Orson did not like the idea of a leash at first and refused to budge at all. I hit the books (because I had never had a dog which minded a leash) which told me to attach the leash and just let him get used to it being on while he pulled it around the house. (supervised of course) That worked. Once he felt comfortable playing inside with it on, (a few short times) I took hold of the other end inside the house. When he was fine with that we moved it outside.......no problems.

 

[frznbuns]

Welcome from Indiana

I don't understand what you mean by stubborn? Does she refuse to walk on the leash or does she pull you?

Orson did not like the idea of a leash at first and refused to budge at all. I hit the books (because I had never had a dog which minded a leash) which told me to attach the leash and just let him get used to it being on while he pulled it around the house. (supervised of course) That worked. Once he felt comfortable playing inside with it on, (a few short times) I took hold of the other end inside the house. When he was fine with that we moved it outside.......no problems.

Hello and welcome to the forum.. I agree with what was done with Orson.. I did the same thing with all my dogs.. the only difference is I would also attach it to me while inside the house and let them follow me around.. Outside started just in the yard.. then to more room...She is just a puppy and it will come.. another thing is when they start to go one way to pull you, you turn and go the other way and call them.. you may only get 2 feet but it works.. Well good luck and I look forward to all the puppy stories..

 

[elly]

Welcome from the netherlands!

 

[LTH]

Welcome and Stella is such a cutie pie!!!!! It seems that Stella and Lukas could become great pals since ya'll are so close to each other.

 

[illnacord]

Feedback Appreciated!

Thank you for your feedback. This site is really excellent for knowledge from experienced owners.

Okie-dobie: Yes, I have been using her meal food as "treats" for training such as sit, come here, and stay. Those three, I have been working on all week. It seems she improves her temperament, patience, confidence, daily.

ReDobie4Kev: That is almost exactly describing it. If I pause with her, she sniffs, looks around, then continues with a quick tug. At this time, she's alert to voices (softball game) and cars and especially attracted to lights at night. 14 weeks? That's really close to the age of Stella! Maybe we'll have a Doberman meetup over at Isabel Point in the near future.

Acooper: Thanks for the tip!

frznbuns: I look forward to the day she pulls forward with enthusiasm. Her running gallop is opening longer and her speed seems to increase daily.

 

[Codysmom]

welcome to the forum, enjoy these puppy days, she'll be a teenager soon enough!

cc

 

[tjmom]

Welcome from Florida. With time and patience she will be a good little girl before you know it.

 

[Wegs813]

Welcome from MN.

 

[shaishai]

welcome from florida. your baby is so cute! my pup is now almost 14 weeks old. we brought her home at 11 weeks and she was the same way with the leash. she wouldn't budge. what we did was get her accustomed to the sound of a "treat cup" (just a plastic container, half-filled with treats). everytime we shook it she would forget the leash was there and would come running. now she pulls ahead! and we don't even have to use the treat cup for that anymore.

 

[phoenixphyre]

Welcome!! What a cute pup!!

 

[illnacord]

Update photography of the first 3 weeks of raising Stella:

WK 11-12: After cropping, I put her in an E-Collar. It didn't prevent the habitual scratching habit, but prevented any damage. The ears were taped back and allowed to heal.

After two weeks, returned to the local vet to remove the suchers. The ears had some scabs left and I was instructed to come back in one week for posting. The next day, the scabs came off after the twice daily application of cotton balls and iodine solution (wine red in color)

WK 13: Dr. Freitas posted Stella's ears! He suggested a "4 days on, 2 days off" schedule for the posting. Stella this morning:

 

[Jenny]

Wow - she seem to have grown from the first pictures. Isabelle wasn't fan of the leash at first either. She would just sit and not budge. It's been a long time, but I think we used treats to coax her onward. After a bit she was pulling and that is a whole other issue. Especially since she grew up to be over 100 lbs! She doesn't pull now unless we are at the vets - she knows how to push doors open and tries to escape - or she spots the feral cat in her neighborhood. Welcome.

 

[Okie-dobie]

I never left *******'s ears not posted for longer than a couple of hours in the beginnning. The longer you leave them down, the longer you will have to keep posting.