[Ann23]

Hi, I'm a new member & I signed up to get an opinion from the dobie lovers on this forum. It won't let me post in the "doberman related chat" section so hopefully it's ok that I post it here.
I have a 3yr old male doberman. I adopted him a little over 1yr ago. His previous home had another male doberman who was the Alpha. But now he is the Alpha since he lives with another small 30lb male dog, and they get along great. However, I really wanted to get my Doberman a female friend who is more his size to play with. So today I took him to meet a female pup that was 5 months old, but he showed his teeth at her and snapped at her. I don't think he wanted to hurt her, but was letting her know to stay away from him. The breeder had 2 female pups out in the yard with my doberman and he was friendly at first when he was sniffing them so I let him run free with them. But then shortly after that he would snap & bark at them if they got close to him, which made them very scared since they were only 5 months old, so they wouldn't come near him again. I was trying to do the right thing and make sure they got along before I got the female, but do you think I did the wrong thing bringing him to their turf? Should I have just brought the female pup home?
I didn't feel comfortable putting them in the car together, so I didn't purchase the female. I think my male may have been scared that I might leave him there, since he could smell all of the dogs at the breeders property and he's been given away before. He felt threatened for some reason and was very rude. He's usually very nice to other dogs as I take him to visit my family and they have 4 little dogs, one of which is a girl, and I've had no problems with him being aggressive or snapping. Does anyone have any advice? Should I just give up on getting him a friend? Or perhaps I went about it in the wrong way? Thank you! -Ann

 

[Dobejazz]

Hi and welcome to Doberman Talk.

Some dogs just don't like puppies - my Pete is fine with all dogs with the exception of puppies that jump at his face - one was a 6 month old american bull dog and the other he had issues with (only when they were being rude puppies) was a 5 pound chihuahua miix.

 

[Patches Mom]

You need to read up on male aggression a male Doberman usually never gets along with another male of any breed.If you get a 3rd dog it becomes a pack situation which can sometimes be a problem if you get another dog make sure it is a female. When introducing dogs they should be introduced on neutral territory. Read the SPCA recommends meeting at a park,out on the street,walk around the block each dog on the outside if it looks favorable walk behind one dog then the other so they can smell each other. Go slow let them get use to each other never leave the two males alone together go up to the search and put male aggression.
Good luck

 

[Paladin]

Welcome!

 

[Ann23]

Thanks for the replies! Dobejazz has a good point, maybe he just finds puppies annoying. Dobejazz, it looks like your dobie & chihuahua get along now in your pic. Is that the same one he didn't like as a puppy? Did you just keep them separate for awhile?

Patches mom, I've heard about male aggression, which is why I was trying to introduce him to a female pup, but whats strange is that he gets along with my other male dog perfectly. It's the female that he didn't like...that's why it's so weird.

 

[Dobejazz]

That is Pete in my avatar with Frosti. I also have another Chi and a dobe and an 8# foster dog right now. I do keep fosters separate for a while to make sure everyone gets along.

 

[Darkevs]

Hello and Welcome to Dobermnan Talk......if i have already welcomed you then ........oh well..

so confused lately with the new secret regulations and all........

If you have a happy family of humans and dogs already......just leave it that way.

Hugz to you and yours!