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Rescue Dobbie - when to change behavior.

Posted : 9/29/2009 11:08:26 AM

Rescue Dobbie - when to change behavior. Hello .... just joined dog.com today. Two weeks ago we , my wife and I, rescued a Doberman. We have had a Doberman before. Scarlet was described by several trainers as one of the most beautiful, wired and headstrong red dobies they had ever seen. So we know about the breed. We also raised a Shepard/Dobie mix. Both are gone now. We have never done a pound resuce; but, it sems to be going well .. so far at least. Vet says he is a little underweight, but in good health and appears to have been well cared for. Lucky is picking up commands ( sit, stay, come, fetch , give ) and seems to be adapting pretty well. He has a mellow attitude most of the time and is not showing agression, fear or any sign of abuse. I suspect it was a case of negelect. He doesn't seem to recognize ANY type of toy .... ever seen a Dobbie not chase a ball ? Our current issue. Up until two nights ago he was happy to sleep on the floor or on a dog bed in our room. Since then he has become VERY agitated (pacing in circles, barks or nips the air) if not allowed to sleep on the family couch in the living room. This is against the historical rules of the house. My wife wants to address the issue with him now, seeing this attitude change as testing both of us as "new pack leaders". I see it as his reverting to "old family rules" for conforting during adapting. I think that after a month or so, when our position is solid with him is the time to adress this.

Which is better/best ? Opinions please

BEVOLASVEGAS

Posted : 9/29/2009 7:44:34 PM

I get yourself stuck on the whole "pack leader" philosophy. Dwelling on how to get to "pack leader" status is, imo, a waste of time. My line of thinking is that if I control the dog's resources, then I can establish myself as the "'pack leader" in a nonthreatening way. NILF (Nothing In Life is Free) is a very easy method to use.

I have seven dogs of my own along with an occassional foster. My rule when establishing a new dog in my home is that they are crated until they are reliable. This means that, even if they are house trained, they will be crated during the day while I am at work, & they will sleep in their crates at night. In your situation, it would make sense to me to crate your new boy in the area where you will want him to sleep. Once he is very comfortable in the crate, you can start giving him more freedom.

If he isn't allowed on the couch, then I would stand very firm on that. If he gets up on the couch, then a tell him off, & reward him heavily for getting down. If he isn't willing to get off the couch with a simple off, then you may have to keep a leash attached to him so that you can guide him off the couch until he gets the concept of off.

Now, I have to ask....What's your boy's name? And, where are the pictures?

espencer

Posted : 9/29/2009 8:56:06 PM

I believe in pack leadership but people tend to relate dog's problems to it more than they should. A dog can see you as the pack leader aka benevolent leader, mom & dad, the one that control the resources, etc. (they are all exactly the same) and still try to see how permissive the human is.

I dont see this problem related to who is in charge whatsoever (believe me you would be having worse problems than this). Your dog is only trying to see with how much he can get away with it and what he can do to make you give up (temper tantrums)

2 weeks is too soon for him to realize the house rules from A to Z, so you will have to give him more time and he will keep trying a little bit more until he realizes that you will never give up on his temper tantrums or not.

NILIF is a good start. Just be consistent with the rules and he will learn what he is allowed to do and what is not

poodleOwned

Posted : 9/30/2009 3:08:10 AM

espencer
I dont see this problem related to who is in charge whatsoever (believe me you would be having worse problems than this). Your dog is only trying to see with how much he can get away with it and what he can do to make you give up (temper tantrums)

I think a simple quick way to understand what to do, is decide what you want. I always choose to misread cues given to me by dogs if i don't want the behaviour. Worrying about pack leadership wont fix the behaviours but these things will.

So if my dog whines or screams or has a tantrum and i don't want it, i consistently see this as a cue from the dog to go outside. Stops pretty quick.

If my dog is occupying furniture that i want, then tell them off and if that doesn't work, they get turfed nice and calmly.That is what i want

If my dogs start a bit of biffo (rough play) then both get to go outside.

If my dogs can't be calm for me when i open the door, then they can go back outside again till they are.

I really couldn't care less whether they go through the door first or last (actually they go last and it is a pain).

If i want them on the furniture then up on the furniture they come.

All of this is predicated on teaching my dogs clealy with reinforcement what behaviours i want.

It is all very simple, relaxing and works.

bandjdc

Posted : 10/1/2009 11:42:33 PM

To all .......

Thanks for setting my head straight. Your all right on, it has to be about what we ( my wife and I ) want and not what he wants. I guess I was too much into not spoiling what was an almost perfect intergration into our household. So the couch wars ( or rather headgames) have started up. He was already having to wear a trailing lead in the house .... but now only if he misbehaves or pushes the limits. Hes get a treat and parise for crashing on his couch and his toys are always there too. The issue is now only at night, after we are assleep, and only the one couch: there are two others he seem oblivious of.

B and J

P.S. More pictures will be up a I figure the posting methods out. If my kids were doing this you would have movies and a live web cam by now I'm sure.