We should handle our Dobermans, not the other way around. We should be ordering them to do our bidding, instead of us cowering in their very presence.
But of course, this is not a charitable deed. They are loyal and brainy, but we do not expect those features to come in handy once we bring them home from the store and for this reason, we should know how to train a Doberman puppy at home.
Doberman Training is fun as long as you have the right motivation and purpose in mind.
Let us not mistreat our Dobermans and be gentle with them. They can be menacing, but if the family knows how to train a Doberman pinscher properly, they can be the most loyal and dependable friends.
Training a Doberman can take a few days or weeks. Typically, they feel trapped and anxious when inside a four-walled cage and, for this reason, Doberman pinscher training includes gradual desensitization of puppies to their crates for them to feel comfortable and secure inside.
Table of Contents
Facts About Dobermans:
Doberman Obedience Training
Doberman Pinscher is good protector and pet if well trained. This breed is known for its loyalty.
When a Doberman puppy understands that the human being is the alpha member of the family, they are happy to know that they do not have the responsibility to run things in the home.
Doberman training helps in establishing the bureaucracy of the family.
If your Doberman stays, sits, or performs any task on command, they adjust to being in a subordinate position.
Obedience training is not an easy feat. You have to have time and dedication in the training.
It is also important to be motivated. It may take you a few weeks or months to training a Doberman puppy the necessary commands.
Without motivation or a will in mind, I doubt you will last the training.
Obedience training, as I have mentioned, is not easy. You have to spare a lot of time and have patience.
You do not expect that your puppy will learn it overnight. You need to inculcate the commands into them until they have learned it, and it became a habit.
As so long as you are motivated, and you possess tons of patience, you could train your dogs to obey certain commands on your own.
There is no need to take your Doberman to expensive training schools or hiring a pet personal trainer to get good results. Just be consistent in giving the commands, be open minded and well researched about training and you will do great.
Remember that your dog’s best teacher is you, its master.
If your Doberman puppy is not housetrained and has never lived indoors, training should commence once you bring your puppy home.
Toilet training is paramount if you do not want him to soil your couch.
During potty training, give him commands like “Do your outside thing” or “Do your business.”
Give your puppy some time to sniff around, and avoid repeating the commands too many times.
Repeating commands become redundant therefore your dog tunes it out.
When the puppy eliminates, reward or give them praise.
During Doberman Pinscher training process you should always reward your dog rather than punishing them.
Punishing your Doberman makes them fearful and as a result, they become very aggressive.
If you found your puppy chewing the couch, the first instinct might be screaming or hitting him, but you should avoid this. Instead, you can say “Off,” in a very clear commanding voice, and capture his attention with a toy or bone.
The desire to chew is redirected to the toy you give him so you should praise him if he chews the toy.
Doberman training techniques should include commands to keep them from causing discomfort or injury to visitors or the people you meet when walking him around or during outings.
If your puppy jumps onto someone, do pet him; rather turn away so that he learns that it is unacceptable behavior.
Say “Leave it” or “Off” in a no-nonsense voice and give praise if your puppy gets back to his feet.
When training a Doberman puppy, the use of positive commands is fun to teach and learn since they provide practical value.
If your dog comes towards you say, “Come here,” and reward or praise him if he obeys.
When your puppy learns to relate the commands with actions, your task will be very easy.
Training a Doberman can be fun for both of you. If you realize that, you are having difficulties with the training, see a professional trainer.
How to Avoid Aggression during Doberman Puppy
Training Aggression in dogs could be as a result of fear.
Your dog growls and barks when it sees something untoward or unusual.
Doberman Puppy training does not just include housebreaking your dogs. It has to include training to avoid aggression.
You should know the cause of aggressive outburst from your Doberman puppy and try to curb that out of your puppy.
Start with the things at home that cause its anxiety. Then, slowly expose them to the world outside. This process is called desensitization. You slowly expose your Doberman Puppy to a strange situation until they get used to it.
Strange things or situations will cause an untrained Doberman to act according to how it sees fit.
To prevent annoying barking or accidental biting, train your Doberman Pinschers on how to deal with different events that you think might cause the dog anxiety.
Some sources of anxiety are the number of activities that occurs at home. These could be phone rings, doorbells, the washing machine, and other appliances, which make strange sounds when they are used.
In Doberman puppy training, introduce your puppy little by little to those things. This might sound simple, yet it is very helpful.
Strange things that might cause anxiety to your puppy would create feelings such as unsafe and unsecured.
Foster a safe and trusting environment for your Doberman puppies.
Make these experience with noisy appliances a positive experience for him to avoid phobia.
Another source of anxiety is the guests at home.
Each person that comes into your home would treat your Doberman differently.
There are nice visitors and the not-so-nice ones.
You have to take control of your visitors as soon as they arrive. Every visitor is an unknown person to your dog. Make it less traumatic for your Doberman puppy by telling your guests not to grab the dog abruptly or hurt it in any way.
The dog will generalize any negative experience from a stranger to all guests who would come to visit.
The most common factor that causes Doberman’s aggressive behavior is anxiety. Anxiety is “fear of the unknown”.
If you want your Doberman to handle unusual circumstances healthily, you have to expose it to certain phenomenon to decrease its anxiety. It is as simple as that.
With desensitization, your Dog would become more controlled over different situations making him a cultured, well-mannered dog.
However, there are times when the training results to Crate related anxiety or aversion instead of making the puppy comfortable.
This happens when improper use of techniques and handling of situations during the training has led to fear and anxiety to the dog.
To prevent this, we should know how to train a Doberman puppy with their crate and right principle.
However, these are the mistakes to avoid during puppy crate training:
• Using the crate as a form of punishment.
• The crate is too small for your Doberman.
• Leaving the dog inside the crate for more than 24 hours.
• You force your dog inside the crate and leave him for longer periods.
• Making the crate a prison cell, where your dog feeds and poops in the same place like prisoners do.
These mistakes would cause your Doberman to feel depressed. They will pour out their depression in an aggressive behavior like whining, barking, and biting the bars of the crate.
They will try to escape their cage, and when you put them back in, they will protest even more.
In addition, since Doberman can be destructive and dangerous once they are aggressive, we should prevent this from happening.
Make Doberman Training Fun and Happy:
The main purpose of the training is for your dogs to feel secure and protected in their houses (crates) when the need arises. It could either be an overnight stay at the clinic, to a journey or during bad stormy weather and want a place to hide. So let us make Doberman puppy training fun and easy with these simple words of advice:
1- Start when they are cute little Dobermans:
Get a Cute little Doberman instead of full-grown ones. It is easier to handle and control a Doberman the size of a ball, than a Doberman, which stands half your height. It is also simpler to train a Doberman pinscher at this stage since they are still learning their way in the world. They do not have a character yet; that is why they have you to mold them based on how you want them to be.
2- Love your Doberman:
Love begets love and a lot more. If you show your Doberman love and care, they will reciprocate with affection. We are training a Doberman pinscher to be loyal. Nevertheless, we have to gain their trust and loyalty the way we woo our wives and not by forcing loyalty out of them or by commanding them to be loyal. Spending time with your dogs, playing with them and handling them gently are some means of showing your affection. In return, they will give you their loyalty and affection as well.
3- Create a Friend out of your Doberman and not a mere Bodyguard:
People usually buy dogs because of the misconception that they make good bodyguards. Take note: they are only protective and loyal to those individuals who take proper care and spend ample time with them.
Training a Doberman includes befriending him and not only expecting him to protect you if you just see him rarely.
4- Involve Your Kids and loved ones:
One of the frequently asked questions about Dobermans is if they safe around Children. Yes, it is safe to engage your kids in training Doberman Pinschers – as long as they are still puppies.
It has many benefits.
One, you are not only spending time with your Doberman but with your family as well.
Second, your kids learn to care and handle the dog.
Lastly, your Dobermans feels like part of the family and extends his loyalty to them as well.
Train a Doberman not to Bite
Many people bring home their new Doberman puppy expecting to have a cute, cuddly, and playful puppy but they quickly discover that their puppy is a nipping, biting machine.
At first, this may seem adorable. However, as your puppy grows older and continues to nip and bite, his behavior may pose a real threat.
As a concerned owner, you may try to stop your puppy from nipping, biting and chewing completely.
This is a wrong approach since your puppy needs to bite and chew. This is partly due to teething and partly due to how puppies relate to their littermates.
Chewing and biting relieves some of the discomfort he feels when teething.
Your initial goal should not be to get your puppy to stop biting and chewing but to teach him what he is allowed to bite and chew on.
The best way to do this is to redirect your puppy’s attention from biting you, other members of the family or other pets.
When your puppy bites you, give him a clear commanding “NO” and stop playing with him immediately while substituting a toy for him to chew.
This will let him know what he can and cannot bite, and it will teach him if he wants to play with you and other members of the household that he must not bite.
Ensure that all the members of your household use this technique consistently, or your puppy will become confused and will not learn what not to bite.
If your puppy bites out of a desire to play or due to teething, redirect his attention to objects he can bite.
This will solve the problem within a few weeks if training is consistent.
While redirecting your puppy from biting make sure you avoid all games that encourage your Doberman to bite.
This includes games, like tug of war, chase, and wrestling with your puppy.
Make sure your puppy has been well exercised before spending time petting him.
The physical activity will tire him and make him less likely to get excited and bite.
In some cases, Doberman puppy biting may be caused by your dog’s need to exert himself as the leader of his pack.
If it is the case, this should be viewed as aggressive behavior. You should get professional help and begin alpha dog training to stop this behavior while your puppy is still young and easy to control.
Alpha dog training is special training where you teach your dog you are the pack leader, and his place is at the bottom of the pack.
Once your Doberman puppy understands his role in your home, he will be more secure. He will no longer feel the need to exert himself by biting.
It is never too late to train your Doberman. Nevertheless, the younger he is the faster, he will learn.
By training early you, your dog and your family will feel safe and happy.
How to Make the Doberman Safe for Children:
Doberman is not aggressive in nature. Take note of these Doberman Training tips to make your Doberman children safe and friendly:
1- Get a puppy instead of an adult dog:
If you are planning to get a Doberman for a family guard dog, ensure that you have brought it home as a puppy. Training a puppy to get accustomed to your home and family is easier than training a full-grown dog. This will also have time to build loyalty between your dog and the family members.
2- Avoid rough plays with your puppy:
You are advised to avoid rough games with your Doberman puppies. This is to avoid getting the Doberman accustomed to rough games that it would carry into adulthood. It might be safe playing with a young puppy but threatening with a grown Doberman.
3- Keep Doberman under supervision all the time:
If your children are at home, control the whereabouts of your Doberman. In occasions when you leave your dog and child at home, ensure that you have securely placed your Doberman inside its crate. Doberman crate training is essential for your dog since it helps him to be accustomed to his crate.
4- Train your children:
All you have to do is to tell your children not to harm the dog in any way. However, if you have a toddler at home, ensure that you teach them to be gentle with the dog. Toddlers could be impulsive at times and might hurt the dog. It is still best to keep them both under supervision when they are playing together.
5- Do not use physical harm as punishment
Never, in any sense, do any physical harm to your dog. Hurting the dog during accidents is, normal, but in cases of punishment, it is not recommended to hit a dog. You are just creating an aggressive dog out of your Doberman puppy. Physical punishments are the usual root of Doberman aggression.
In conclusion, Doberman is a robust and powerful dog, but this does not mean that they are harmful to children. Train the threatening habits of your Doberman and accustom it to be gentle and prevent its hostility with these online puppy training tips. It is possible to mold a little Doberman puppy to be well-mannered dogs.
Doberman pinscher training can be easy and fun for both of you. If there are behavior difficulties and you are having hard time training, see a professional trainer or your veterinarian. Always have in mind that you are in charge, and you must ensure that your pet learns good behavior.
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