Him

I brought him to me. Into my life to live with me for as long as we both shall live & maybe beyond. He was so little, just 11 lbs. Just a baby. Everything he needs to know, it's my responsibility to teach him. Though he's now 70 lbs & growing, he's still a baby.

I take caring for him as a responsibility very seriously.

Even the not so fun parts are my responsibility & only mine. Cleaning up poop, pee, hair, the sleepless nights. He's a handful. Actually, he's more like 10 or more handfuls. I tell people that he's a lot of dog.

If he were a song he would be "Great Balls of Fire".

PJ, my puppy, is very intelligent also very sensitive. I have to have self-control when he does something I don't like & that he KNOWS he isn't supposed to do. Soft black licorice has always been a favorite of mine.

I don't share it with anyone.

Black licorice is most likely unhealthy for a dog. Not only that, but, if I gave PJ some, he would probably expect it again.

Nope.

As much as I love this puppy, I won't share my black licorice with him.

Dobermans are known for having excellent memory recall. PJ might not remember exactly what he did when he was being overly curious or naughty. 

He was very quick when he grabbed my package of black licorice, he ran with it to his crate, thinking he was safe in there.

It was a moment that I HAD to exercise strong self-control. Before he could bite the package opened, I tried to coax him out.

He wasn't having it. The puppy brat even turned his back to me!

I went to my arsenal of puppy treats, turned my back to him, pretended to help myself to his treats. At first, he turned around to see what I was doing, he whimpered a little. Then, he carried the package to me, dropped it at my feet. I won that round!

He might not remember this incident. He will, however, remember if he was yelled at or struck or threatened as well as who did it & how it made him feel. Dobermans are very trainable, they are known for it, they remember a lot of what they have been taught training wise.

The only issue right now is that he nibbles on me too hard. I know that it's a way dogs often show affection. They also do it if they need something from their human. Sometimes it's an invitation to play or a way to shake things up if they are bored. The nibbling is also often referred to as "cobbing" as it's the way many people eat corn on the cob with top & bottom front teeth.

PJs cobbing hurts, really hurts. Sometimes he even breaks my skin or puts holes in my clothing with his teeth.

No biscuit for that.

Having never been one to hurt or abuse an animal, I tried a few things to get him to nibble a bit softer or not at all, nothing worked. I was told by a reputable Doberman trainer to just smack the side of his face when he does it.

Just can't do it.

I love him so much, hoping I won't have to resort to that. 

Either he gets it & is ignoring my methods to get him to stop or he isn't understanding what I expect of him. Whatever it is, it still hurts. It leaves tracks of red marks on my arms & legs that make it look like I have a drug problem, shooting up in different areas of my arms & legs. The breeders I bought PJ from have been breeding, raising, training & showing Dobies since 1970.

They know the Dobie temperament very well. They know what works, what fails, what to expect at different stages of life. They encourage people who buy their puppies to keep in touch, to give them occasional updates.

Not required just something they welcome.

Needing a bit of advice, I contacted the breeder, Doug Matson to see what he might suggest to remedy the pain filled cobbing. He gave me a few ideas that might work. All dogs' personalities are different. Something that might work with one dog, might or might not work with another. Hopefully, PJ will respond then stop cobbing or do it much softer.

Because PJ is still a puppy, he can be very exuberant, easily excitable when it comes to physical things. It's a joy to see though it's less of a joy when walking up or down stairs. There are three steps up to the entrance of my house. He began to take the steps in one bound, forgetting that I'm on the other end of his leash. He was just 25 lbs when he started doing this. Still small enough to comfortably snooze in my lap.

He's growing very quickly. Seeing how his stair bounding could become a bigger problem when he became bigger, I came up with a way to teach him to slow down on the stairs.

One-word commands are the best way to communicate with dogs. Most dogs love to please their pack leaders.

Using the word "slow" then walking up or down the stairs extra slow, myself, so that he understands to take the stairs slowly. He understood then responded immediately.

Yupp, ha ha. So proud of my smart boy.

Today I started telling him "slow" when he began cobbing on me. Love is good, less so when it hurts & leaves marks on the skin. He's still learning.

I tell myself that although he is now 75 lbs, 8.5 months of age, he is still a puppy. Still learning. Repeating over & over in my mind.

He's still a puppy.

He's still a puppy.

(dang that hurts!)

He's still a puppy.

He's still a puppy.

The unwanted behavior is truncated. Hallelujah!

Update!

Although I had been told to smack the side of PJs face when he does the "cobbing", I couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead, I used a spray bottle. A slight spray of cold water stopped him for a week. Then, he went right back to it. One trainer suggested a very slight amount of lemon juice or rubbing alcohol in the sprayer bottle. 

A ratio of 1/4 teaspoon of a deterrent to 1/2 gallon of water. Not enough to inflict serious pain. Just enough to cause momentary discomfort for the dog to associate the cobbing with discomfort.

Happy to say - Mission Accomplished!

PJ learned to stop cobbing; I don't look like a drug addict, now.

A very important aspect of interacting with a dog is training. When someone tells me of a behavior they don't like or if I see a dog doing something that is unacceptable to humans, sometimes other dogs. It goes through my mind.

Training

Training

Training

Training

An untrained dog is as bad or worse than a spoiled, undisciplined child. The child can inflict some serious woes on the world. It would take a lot for them to be executed. A dog, on the other hand can as well as will be euthanized for behaviors that could have been nipped in the bud with loving, consistent, repetitive training.

Please!

Never believe that an older dog can't be trained. 

It's the lazy or uninformed human that is the real culprit. 

Dogs are mostly food motivated to learn. A few are praise motivated. Some dogs may be motivated by a combination of both. Very few dogs will turn away a tasty treat.

It takes time & patience; however, even most older dogs can be taught. It's mostly dependent on the older owner. Whether they are willing to invest time, have patience, love the dog enough to enrich the dog's life with learning. It will pay off in BIG ways for both.

Often, a person who owns a dog, believes it knows a few commands will give a command such as "sit" for example. 

The dog doesn't respond. 

Fido may be distracted, is ignoring the command or doesn't understand.

The human will keep saying "sit". No response. Fido wins.

The correct way to do this is to say, "sit".

When the dog doesn't respond, gentle pressure on the hips will teach or reinforce or assert dominance, Fido will learn, will learn to obey.

This can be applied to any command.

Sit, down, stay, wait, back, STFU. (😁😁😁😁)

The most important trait a person can exhibit is dominance. You're the Alpha, the leader, the boss. At least toward your K9 friend.

In the K9 mindset, confidence is crucial. It's a mindset that can allow a Chihuahua to dominate a Great Dane. Most people have seen a Chihuahua who could easily be a snack for a much bigger dog, dominate the bigger dog with snarls, growls, showing of their teeth.

Less so in the human world. Only fools rush into that one! KO time. 

An even better example is when a water buffalo retaliates against a lion. Water Buffaloes have been seen to do serious damage to a lion, even killing the predator trying to kill them or their calf. 

I made the decision to bring this $4K dog into my life. It's my solemn responsibility to make sure he is taught, loved, trained, given a happy healthy life.

Most days, we go to the dog park for an hour in the mornings when the weather is dry & cool. PJ has a few toys he can only have at the dog park. He tosses them around, chews them, carries them proudly from the front gate to the back fence, walking with me.

Recently, in efforts to slim down from the fauxvid pork, I started walking from the front gate to back fence then back to the front gate. That is "1".

Walking this distance 10 times per dog park visit is making changes in my body. 

Also making positive changes in my mindset.

Life is good.