Doberman Discussions

oops  wouldnt tie toys in trees, to much chance of a major problem.  Wouldnt leave them out in the yard either.  Only in a protected locked roofed kennel run well.  Just dont trust the dog not to hurt himself or someone to hurt him.  I prefer indoor options without the very secure kennel option.

How did you teach your dog to dig on command?  That is really great!

I loosened a spot in the yard.  Pointed it out to her,  when she went to sniff, I pushed her out of the way and dug with my hands for a couple of seconds.  She pushed her way in.  I pushed her back again,  pushed the dirt around.  let her in, she put her foot in the dirt, I waited.  Said dig when she did.  A few minutes later, I pushed all the dirt back in.  Said dig.  That was about it.
 
 

Awww!  Handsome Winston!!!
 
As for the digging - my Dobe never started digging until this spring when another dog in our house showed her the joys of dirt/sand spray (see the pics of Gracie Digging to China in the Photo Share area.)  The other dog (my landlord's 13yr old Golden) tends to nose the ground and chew bits of dirt ( I wouldn't let my dog eat dirt like that.)  Then Gracie comes over and starts to dig at that spot, too.  They even tend to go back to the same spots in front of the new trees.
 
Doesn't seem to be boredom for Grace, though - she actually trains more now than in the past.  Although it does seem to be an absentminded fixation - like it's fun for a second, then becomes an obsession that she becomes fixated on unless I stop her.  She tends to do it when she's excited and happy - particularly at the beach, her FAVORITE place in the world.
 
For Gracie - I watch her and when she starts, I tell her to stop, then give her something else to do.  But that doesn't solve the problem.  I bet training to dig in certain places on command could work better.  Let us know what you get for results.

Plus 2yr old males are notorious for finding things they shouldn't be doing.  They have a knack for it.  haha!
What do you do when you catch him digging?

This sounds all very familiar, I have a 2 Yr. old Blk. Lab. and a just turning 1Yr. old dobe. The lab liked to dig alot and she dug holes that I swear you could get lost in. I asked many many people on how to cure this. For us she had 4 or 5 spots only that she dug in, and everytime we would fill the holes back in. I finally tried 1 method that had helped a good friend of mine cure his dog of digging in his yard also. He told me to go to the couple spots that she always digs in and bury a balloon. When the dog gets digging down she hits the balloon it pops and hopefully scares her out of doing it anymore. For us that was last spring that we did this and there has been no more diging in our yard since. For us it worked and for others I know it hasn't , just an idea.
Good Luck.
 
 
 
 

OOOhhh!  Now THAT sounds like a pretty interesting idea!!  I'm curious to try that, now! 
Thanks, Duffy!  And good luck with your Dobe and Lab!  []

Well, here is something hilarious.  The reason I was worried about his digging was that my roommate had called and said that he tried to dig out.  Whereas no digging is good, I was never worried before because he just dig random holes to bury his toys, nowhere near the fence.  So when my roommate called and said that he had dug a hole under the fence, I got really worried.  I found this forum on the internet and thought I would see what I could do.  So I came home from work and saw that he actually had NOT dug a hole under the fence, the neighbors dog tried to get INTO the fance---LOL!!  So I was pretty excited to see that I didn't have to worry.
 
Bowden, that's his name, has had a backyard all his life and never tried to dig out so you can see why I was so shocked and worried today.
 
But I love this forum because I can talk about him all I want and nobody will get sick of hearing it! []

Now that's good!!
And forums like this help us see things from different perspectives, and how nobody knows all the facts unless they're there!! haha!
 
Glad you don't have an escapist.  Post pics of your Dobe when you can!  []

That is so true!
 
Bowden is my first dobie, so it has been a learning experience.  He's a blue one, really tall and natural.  He's wonderful!  I have tried to post pics, but they all say the files are too large? 
 
This forum is nice because I don't know too many people that have dobie's close to me. 

Go to shrinkpictures.com and upload your pic there and resize it down to, say, the 350 option.  Works for me - I learned about it from someone else on this forum.
 
Feel free to ask Dobe questions.  I worked in Dobe rescue for a number of years and learned a LOT about the breed from the dogs and people there.

Thanks so much!!
 
Here is a pic of him:
 
 

We had some issues after my boyfriend moved to NY in October, Bowden kind of flipped and was REALLY protective of me, wouldn't let people come up to me or anything.  So I have been working with him, had a trainer start coming out to train me so I can train him.  He has gotten so much better, my landlord can actually come in the house without me there now.  He's his old self again! 
 
He's the best though---a big snuggler [].

Ohh... he's a yummy boy!!  And he still has a nice blue coat over the age of 2 - lucky you!!  Sometimes the blues start out with a nice coat, then it begins falling out on their back/sides and becomes sparse, their skin oily, etc.  There's even a condition specific to blue Dobes - Blue Doberman alopecia.
 
Glad you've got a trainer - these Dobes can get ahead of us quickly if we're not ahead of them.  And aggression is not a thing you want to get ahead of you. 
 
He's a looker!  I'd want him to cuddle with him, too!!

He is a great looking boy, sounds like you're doing all the right things. keep the updates on his progress and pics. coming. I can't get enough of those Dobe pics. They're great dogs and I definitely agree you don't want aggression to become a problem and it sounds like you're looking after that!
He looks good and healthy.
 
 
Scott