Doberman Pinscher Puppy Training Basics
When training a Doberman puppy, it’s important to understand what your training efforts are essentially working toward. What training does is teaches a dog how to get what it needs and wants in an acceptable way.
Behaviors such as jumping up, play-biting, and barking are all natural behaviors a young Doberman puppy will use to get what it instinctively needs. Through training, the puppy will learn better ways of getting these instinctive needs in the family setting, and will be a much happier Doberman puppy as a result.
It’s also important to understand that a Doberman puppy is very different from an adolescent or adult Doberman. A Doberman puppy less than six-months of age is in a development stage. Many of the behaviors it displays such as growling, biting, and rough play are not signs of aggression, but simple behaviors that help develop the necessary mental and physical abilities it would need for survival in nature. These behaviors are healthy, but should be molded by the puppy’s family to be display in an acceptable way, just as the mother would mold them in the wild.
Dobermans, and all dogs, are a result of what their owners make of them. Dobermans do not simply become aggressive nor do behavioral problems simply appear. Such problems are a result of the dog’s experiences and it is the Doberman owner’s responsibility to control these experiences and provide training in order to raise a healthy and happy Doberman.
Crate(Kennel)Training
Providing a Safe Doberman Puppy Den
The use of a crate (kennel) is an effective way to train a new Doberman Puppy. The kennel imitates a den. In nature, puppies stay in a small den, just big enough for everyone to fit. While the adult pack members are off on the hunt, the puppies stay behind, safe in the den usually with an adult puppy-sitter. Only when the pack returns will the puppies emerge to happily feed on regurgitated food.
Doberman Puppy Behaviors
It’s important to teach any large breed puppy to never jump-up or put its paws on people. Often new Doberman puppy owners and others around the Doberman puppy find this jumping-up adorable, and not only fail to correct the behavior but inadvertently award it by returning the affection. A small eight-week-old Doberman is adorable when jumping up, however, as the puppy grows this friendly behavior become dangerous.
Play-Biting
Doberman Puppy Behaviors
Doberman puppies are very mouthy and love rough play, which includes gentle biting and grabbing. To develop their little bodies and minds, Doberman puppies wrestle with their litter mates, barking, growling, and dragging each other around. Puppies will transfer this behavior to their new families. The problem here is that Doberman puppies grow strong faster than they realize, have brand new sharp teeth, and tend to get carried away. House Training, House Breaking, Potty Training
What Does the Puppy Recognize as His Den?
There are a few things the Doberman Puppy owner must understand before attempting to house training a Doberman puppy. The first thing to understand is that when a puppy owner finds a mess the only thing he can do is punish him self. Bringing the puppy back to the mess and scolding him will only do harm and can actually cause more messes by inducing stress. Remember, the puppy is only a few weeks old. He doesn’t have any idea how that mess got there! Give him a break for crying out loud – how smart were you at 12 weeks of age? ;-) Continue....
Basic Obedience Commands
What All Dobermans should Learn
Every dog, especially large and intimidating dogs like the Doberman Pinscher, should learn basic obedience. Basic obedience comprises certain commands including the commands: “ No, Leave-It, Wait, Release "OK", Come, Sit, Down, Stay, and No-Bark.” A Doberman responsive to all these commands will be much more controllable by his owner. This control will result in a much happier Doberman who will have a much richer life interacting with the family and positively representing the Doberman breed outside the home.
Training a Doberman to Walk on Lead
Maintaining the Heal Position
The common way people walk their dogs has the dog out in front, sometimes pulling the person along. This may seem fun for the dog and is better than no walk at all, but in reality such a practice is unfair to the dog.
Other Doberman Puppy Problems
Behavioral Problems Common to the Doberman Puppy
All puppies develop bad habits. It’s the puppy owner’s responsibility to stop or redirect these behaviors. However, most of the worst puppy habits are the fault of an uneducated puppy owner. Remember, puppy behavior is a reaction to experiences.
There are a few common behavioral problems in Doberman puppies. A common problem is chewing on and destroying things. Other problems include swallowing odd items, digging, messy drinking, rough play in the house, demanding play, and aggressive barking.
Some of these problems have an easy solution or are easily preventable. Others are just part of puppy-hood. And some, like messy drinking, are things that some Dobermans just do and their owners need to just deal with.
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