Thanks for your very informative reply.
I would like to apologize in advance for not quoting your replies individually. I don't see any option to do that on my android phone.
It seems to me that I've heard from other people that you can't do the quote method I'm using on a mobile device but that's OK--I know what I said.
1. The vet pulled his ears over the head and taped them.
Well even though it was the vet who taped them that way--the raw edge of a newly cropped ear should not be covered with tape, bandages or anything else and I can hardly count on the number of puppies I've seen over the years that have been posted immediately after cropping, have had tape slapped over newly cropped areas--it still doesn't make it the right thing to do. I am NOT a vet--I've worked at a vet clinic now for 16 years but I came with a lot of experience with Dobermans and cropped ears and have assisted vets with cropping. Covering a raw edge like that is often how infections start.
2. He does not even like leash. He does not even like collar with no leash. He bites the leash and pulls it.
Other strange thing I noticed is that he does not pee or poo when I take him outside. He always does it inside. And he is very afraid of other people and even friendly dogs outside.
Your expectation for behavior on this puppy are way out of line for his age. He is a BABY--he knows nothing--your job is to teach him. I use a flat collar on puppies and i leave it on them--all the time. I take an old short leash and clip it on the collar and let him drag it around for few days. Then I take a handful of treats and walk--I call the puppy--I show him the treats--I give him one when he comes along with he. If he bites the leash I hold it up so he can't bite it and don't let him--it's a bad habit. It takes days to a few weeks to get a puppy who will trot along with me. It doesn't happen overnight or in a few days.
Ditto for training a puppy to go potty outside. I put them on a leash--I go outside with them--I take them out when I'm pretty sure they'll need to go potty--when they first wake up or when they've had a meal or when they've been playing--when I take them out to go potty I don't play with with them--and i STAY out with them until they have done something. If they don't I take them inside (you have a crate for him?) I put him in the crate for five or ten minutes--then I take him back outside. I don't let him loose in the house to go away where I can't watch him like a hawk and get somewhere and poop or pee because no one was watching. Sometimes a use a leash and attach it to me so he can't go away and potty--I want him to know,absolutely that the house is not a bathroom. But it takes time and it takes someone watching him all the time at first.
And I'll remind you--he is a BABY--for wild canines being wary around stange thing is a survival factor. Strange dogs might kill and eat him--he doesn't know much about people yet. So it's not surprising that a puppy may be shy or fearful around other dogs and strange people. Socialization will help that and I wouldn't worry much about socializing him around other dogs--adult Dobes don't always get along with other adult dogs--that's no big deal--they don't need to. Since you have no other dogs in the house there is no real reason for him to need to have dog friends.
3. Backer rod method is the best method from what I have heard but I don't know whether I can post him for a year or more since it's a long crop. My dog does not stay still. He does not listen to me. I have to use force to put a collar and leash on him. So is there a painful effective method which requires less duration. I assume you are an experienced vet since your doing this since 1959. There must have different methods back then.
The backer rod method of posting ears and practically every other method that is just a modification of that method is by far and away the best method I've ever seen or used. And even in 1959 with the first dog it was a very similar way of posting ears--for ears that turned out well every time--the only big difference was the brand of tape used and the the post material itself was usually things like rolled paper towels or dental cotton dam material..
He doesn't listen to you because he doesn't speak your language and chances are poor that he actually knows what you want. You need to teach him everything. Leave a flat, well fitted collar on him at this point of his life--then you don't have to fight to get the collar on--give him a treat when you snap the leash on. You know after you described the clamp--I'm pretty sure that I saw the end result of a posting method like that--it was good many years ago and the ears were on an imported dog--from Europe somewhere--they ears looked like bear ears and in talking to the owner he described something that sounds like the clamps--but the end result was that the ears died from being clamped too hard--became infection so badly they had to be recropped very short to take off all the dead and dying tissue. So NO I would not even consider trying a method that is painful, needs the pup to be tranquilized and could result in ears like I saw on that dog.
As I said earlier--I am NOT a vet but I am a very experience Doberman owner and have been posting ears on my own dogs and teaching other people to post ears on their dogs for many years.
4. I have heard on other forums that quality Vitamin C like Ester C accelerates the healing process. For now I have been giving him cheap vitamin C. No digestion issues so far.
You will hear all kinds of things on forums, lists and just general data on the internet. Doesn't mean that it's accurate or even true or that the information isn't dated and found to be invalid. So I can only tell you that I do not give addition Vitamin C in any form to my puppies and I never would recommend that anyone else do so.
5. I stepped on his leg thrice. My brother did that too once. 66 year old highly experienced vet saw a problem in that same leg. It was a visual observation. My earlier vets found no problem with it. He told me to give him calcium supplements.
Again this is an area in which sometimes even vets can give advice that isn't the best. Foods have changed a lot over the years and there was a time when you did need to give added calcium to puppies but the formulations of even some very poor brands of kibble have sufficient calcium that you should not be supplementing it further.
6. Smart Heart is a Thai company. Less know. But better reviews than Royal Canine and Purina. My facebook Doberman owning friends too ditched royal canine and Purina for Smart heart. They good very good results.
https://smartheart.my/about-us/
Thank you for the link to Smart Heart--this appears to be a well designed complete food manufactured and tested properly so it looks like a reasonable alternative to the foods that I am familiar with and would feed.
7. When I got him he was very thin. Only 4 weeks old. Quality of Indian Doberman is very poor compared what you find in west. From my observation even American Doberman puppies in USA have thicker bones and a bigger frame and much more muscular.
When I bought him and he got friendly with us in a week. I noticed he had anxiety issues too. I thought about selling him and buying an expensive better quality Doberman puppy which was 5 times expensive than him. But it felt wrong to me and my brother. So we kept him. All the Pampering caused him to bite me aggressively. Every time he bit me there was blood. I even took 3 rabies shots and tetanus injection. But I thought of resolving his issues. The main reason I decided to crop him is because I read it disciplines them.
That picture you posted was excellent for showing body condition. Your puppy is very thin. How many times a day are feeding him and how much kibble is he getting at each meal? You do need to feed him more. His spine and hips should be well covered you shouldn't see any of the boney structure there and his ribs should be well covered too--if you see ribs at all in should only by the last couple of ribs.
Anxiety issues? What kind of anxiety issues. Getting accustomed to you in a week is about what I'd expect for a puppy as young as he was when you got him--4 or 4.5 weeks didn't you say? Also he was removed from the only thing he'd known at that point--his mother and his litter mates--he was probably scared to death.
And by the way--even if the American Dobes you've seen (in person or in pictures?) look heavier boned and bigger and more muscular--they were all probably much older and puppies as they grow do get bigger, and there is bone development and they definitely get more muscular. So don't expect to see a very young puppy who looks like a grown dog. Males typically don't reach full maturity until sometime between 2 and 3 years.
He bites you because that's how puppies play with other puppies--there is a post (I think it's also in the beginning of the puppy forum called something like "My puppy is biting me" Find that and read it--it's very informative as to why puppies bite and how to stop it. At his age it isn't aggression--it's how he'd play with his litter mates and his mother--for a dog it's a means of communication.
Oh dear! Cropping doesn't discipline a puppy--how these things get started amazes me. You teach the puppy discipline and when you start posting your puppy they learn (quickly if you have treats and patience) that the posting not only doesn't hurt it will get things like pets, praise and yummy treats And one of our forum members has always said that it is the most important and best of the bonding experiences he has with his puppies.
If you reply and guide me further, I would be indebted to you.
Look, we had pets like birds, guinea pigs, fishes and a tortoise. But we knew nothing about dogs. I decided to buy a dog due because I diagnosed with clinical depression and still undergoing treatment.
I was never attracted to friendly dogs like labradors, golden retrievers or toy dogs like pugs. My 1st choice was pitbull. But my brother said no. So I bought a less aggressive and more healthy and easy to train Doberman.
Thanks again for your precious time.
Your puppy will in the long run be what you make him. For the record, pitbulls are really only aggressive toward other dogs and that is what they were bred for--dog to dog fighting in pits. Most pits are pretty friendly dogs and those that are not are generally conditioned and trained not to be. Dobermans on the other hand were bred to be personal protectors--they generally aren't particularly dog friendly either and as adults (adults--most puppies and teenage dogs--even Dobes, are pretty friendly)-the adults are more protective and even the look of a Doberman is a pretty good scary appearance. Doberman are smart dogs--they are easy to train but smart dogs also are apt to train you as well so you don't have to be violent about it but just keep in mind who is training who. For a lot of the training it works best in short intervals several times a day and Dobes don't take well to rote training in long periods of time. Often a Dobe once they have learned something you want them to do (or not do) don't want nor need to keep repeating it over and over. Short brush ups work fine.
Good luck--keep asking question from these forums there are many very knowlegable people here who will help as you go along.
Just don't expect behavior of an adult trained dog from your puppy--he's just a puppy and will learn as much as you are willing to train him. But that all takes time and the training should be done with treat, patience and love.
dobebug
we cross-posted.
