Is there any doubt that my 18 month old daughter is the boss?
Posted on 12/04/2013 7:00:11 PM PST by Usagi_yo
He's a male Blue point Doberman, rescued from the animal shelter at a very young adult age. He's actually grown a bit over the 2 years we've had him.
Well he's starting to have some biting problems now after 2 years. He's bitten my sister (the owner) 3 times breaking skin each time, bruising bone and requiring antibiotics. These have happened to her at night when he's sleeping with her and her husband. Seemed it was some type of sleep problem from being woke up from dead of sleep.
Now he's bitten me. I've had direct contact with the dog almost everyday and pet him, give him biscuits, he loves to get facial rubs from me.
After coming in, he had one of those giant burrs from a sweetgum tree in his front paw. I've picked them out of his paws many times, and I know how to pick up a dogs paw. Well this time he latched on to my arm, pretty vicious, drew blood in multiple locations. Deep enough I'll have to go to the Doctor and get x-ray and antibiotics.
If you own a doberman you know they don't growl or warn before biting.
Suggestions? We have 5 dogs between the two of us. We live on about 10 acres in separate dwellings with both houses fenced in for a common dog area. Non of the other dogs are problems, German Shepard, Red Heeler, Basset hound and a hybrid 1/4 wolf 1/4 Malamute the rest Husky. None of them have been a problem or challenge the doberman.
What to do? Is this fixable? My sister doesn't want to put him down. Her husband is pissed. I say have his canines pulled.
I just can't tolerate a dog like this. Not knowing it's going to go off on any slight, perceived or otherwise.
Ready... bite him back!
My German Shepard bit me (and others) when he was around 2 yrs. old. Broke my skin, 8 year old daughter in the house... I was furious! Next time he got me, I got him back... completely out of control.. grabbed some of his neck skin and bit it hard (did not break skin) and yelled in his face, you do it to me, I do it to you!! Never had an issue again, lived many many happy years! It's probably irresponsible to even share such a story, but we always thought it changed everything!
Put the dog down. I put down a Jack Russel because he was a biter. He was a little dog, I kept him around too long, a big dog should be put down sooner because he could do some serious damage. Sad I know.
Non-recoverable fault. Dispose of him humanely.
Great story!! I love it! You’re a grizzly, all right — !! {^)
So out of selfish need of a human, this volatile dog isn’t going to be put down, but pulling his teeth out is fine? You’ve got a family making some weird decisions.
And I don't mean giving him to someone else.
I had dobbies, they bit but they never bit me. They bit people who thought they would break into my house and one who raised his hand to me. The last was just a warning nip because he had not actually hit me, just literally raised his hand to do so.
I had a female that I could reach into her box while she was whelping and take out each pup as it was born to check it over. She never even offered to bite.
I love dogs but there is something wrong with this one.
Is there any doubt that my 18 month old daughter is the boss?
They are very protective and will bite when they see an aggressor going after an alpha member of the pack.
They need to be trained as to who are higher in the pack.
Dobermans are wonderful dogs if you train them to respect boundaries.
Ditto.
If I had kids....the dog would be GONE. Period. No question.
Your father and I have much in common. I have one firm rule with all my dogs. You bite me or another human for no reason and you die. It may sound mean but you just can't have animals like that around children.
You give a clue to the problem with the comment that the biting occurs when the dog is sleeping with your sister and her husband.
This exhibits a basic misunderstanding of dog behavior. A dog will bite you when ever it feels it is your equal and will bite you more and more as time goes on if uncorrected immediately.
I believe you have already let it go on too long.
When a dog shares the sleeping space (I don’t mean the same room, I mean the covers and the bed) it is elevated to equal status. This is a nice liberal ‘we’re all equal, hearts and flowers’ kind of BS.
The problem is a dog is a pack animal in it’s DNA and it cannot be anything else. A pack animal needs to know it’s level in the pack to be happy. If a dog is allowed to be ‘equal’ with it’s owner then in the dogs mind it is Alpha. The Alpha corrects behavior it finds offensive by biting as hard or thoroughly as it’s current mood demands.
I will say this as nicely as I can; your sister and her husband have condemned this dog to death. Their misunderstanding of the doberman psyche has caused them to become subservient to this animal and it will not relinquish it’s Alpha position without a serious and vicious fight.
A Doberman is a fighting animal (a war and protection animal) from hundreds of years of breeding. The dog can behave no other way if allowed to be Alpha.
Do I say all Dobermans are bad dogs? Of course not, they can be loving and great protective family members but they must never be Alpha in the family.
It is possible this can be corrected if you can contact a ‘tough dog’ trainer and by that I do not mean some sit-stay local. It will be expensive and your sister will not like how it is handled and furthermore she will not like how she (and her husband) have to be with the dog from that second on with no letup.
The dog will watch every second it is awake for a chance to elevate itself in the pack. Bad things will happen if you slip and allow that.
Probably the kindest thing you can do for that dog is to give it to the tough dog trainer or kill it before you and your loved ones are seriously hurt (although I think you already have been by the bites you describe).
BTW, I have had and trained Akitas so I am sharing hard won information, not something I read in a book.
I did that with a pit bull. Gagged him by shoving in rather than pulling back when he bit me. dog would not come near me after that!!
Duct tape will keep them from biting!!!!
Sorry but you cant un-train that....put him down before he bites someone that will sue the crap out of her.
Exactly.
Gak! Gak! Gak!
Not sure if I would try it with a Pit Bull though. :)
I followed up by reinforcing good behavior.
That was a great dog.
Also helps to have their feet off the ground...
I don’t believe in hitting dogs. Have trained many big dogs and never had a problem except when a dog is ill and in pain.
Most states have a one bite law. A dog is allowed one bite and after that the owner is liable big time.
She took "Duke" to the vet to find out what the problem was. Duke attacked the vet and that was the end of Duke.
Mind you, Duke was fun dog who lived with the family for around 6-7 years. He just went bad for some reason.
Excellent point about the bed.
Crates training sounds cruel but it is fine if you do not neglect them..
Most will find that if a dog is crate trained, they will sleep in that crate even if it is in the bedroom and the crate is open.
Mine may sleep at the foot of the bed occasionally.
a trick I use to get dogs to stop biting is I jam my finger in the corner of their mouth and force their gums between their own teeth so when they bite down they are biting themselves and realize it creates pain, works really well.
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