[cheekymontreal]

Hello
I am a proud owner of a beautiful male red doberman of 10 months. He is 28 inches tall and weighs 92 pounds. He has been easy to train so far and has proven true to the intelligence of the doberman. By the same token, so is his protective nature.
The problem is, when I take him outside to do business or for a walk, for whenever he sees someone walking in front of our property, his hair rises and he begins to bark aggressively towards that person, be it an old women, young girl or a group of people chatting while walking by.
He is over protective I find and it is starting to concern me.
When he behaves this way, I pull on the leash to hold him back, firmly say "quiet" and try to even walk away in opposite directions however he tries to pull towards them.

Now, whenever we go to the dog park, he is friendly and respectful of all other dogs and also other humans that are there. He is also fine and behaves well with any human that he knows or that I will invite to our place, he will sniff them and be perfect. It is only the poor strangers walking in front of my property that I am worried may some day be extremely frustrated by the presence of my dog.

Can anyone please let me know if you can relate with your Doberman, and what you found has worked so that they will not develop feelings of needing to protect unless otherwise told???

Thanks

 

[MeadowCat]

Do you have a trainer? I would suggest working with a professional.

 

[monicaei]

Definitely see a professional.

If it eases your mind any, I don't think he is being "protective" of your property, I think he's frustrated that he can't get to the people passing by and becoming leash aggressive. But I'm not a professional, so get someone to help you work with him

 

[Asmit]

I agree with everything above! My boy on leash had problems with 'acting aggressive' towards passerby's etc etc, but it was not aggression, he just really wanted to go sniff/play/meet the other dog or human. I would work with a trainer on this one. Also, my boy is close to 31" tall and not a hair over 95lbs, 92 may be a little much? Would love to see pics of your boy! Good luck

 

[RottenVonSpotten]

His reactions are fear based, not "protective".

Like MeadowCat mentioned, I would look for a trainer/behaviorist that has experience dealing with leash reactive dogs so they can show you the proper way to deal with these outbursts.

This is what I am doing with my fear aggressive/reactive foster dog:

Look at That! A Counterintuitive Approach to Dealing with Reactive Dogs Dog Training for Dog Lovers Blog

I've had great success with this, but I've also worked with a trainer to understand how to appropriately apply it.

 

[Incredibledobe]

You are describing fear based behavior, not protective behvior. The hackles raised are a good indication of this.
How well has your boy been socialized with people? I would suggest working with a trainer rather than trying to deal with this over the internet with folks who cannot see or read your dog. You need to learn to read him too so you can help him better. If he is only 10 months, chances are good it will get worse as he gets older.

 

[MeadowCat]

Look at That! A Counterintuitive Approach to Dealing with Reactive Dogs Dog Training for Dog Lovers Blog

Thanks for linking this! Great description of LAT. I haven't seen that online and it does a much better job than I do trying to summarize what LAT is.

OP, I've also had great success with the Control Unleashed program.