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As some may remember, my 10 month old dobe developed a bad habit of jumping up and nipping arms, thighs etc when he turned 9 months, but ONLY when on lead.
He never does this in the home, or when free running at the park, seems to be purely a lead issue. Prior to this, he was fine on lead. It seemed to coincide with the onset of adolesence.
There is never any growling, any snarling or any 'aggressive' behaviours, it seems to be either an over stimulation/excitement thing, or sometimes a stress thing if he was unhappy and I wasn't picking up on it.
I had such issues with this out of the blue behaviour that I couldn't lead walk him because it became a complete struggle. I've tried lots to try and curb this behaviour, I've waited for calm then treated and rewarded and tried to walk on (didn't work, he'd either not be interested in the food or calming down, or if he was, he'd start up again as soon as we walked on, and it is vitrtually impossible to endure this kind of thing; it hurts!)
I tried stopping dead still when he started so he learned we weren't going anywhere while he did this. Didn't work, he'd just carry on, he wasn't phased by us not going anywhere, it didn't bother him.
The only way I could control him when he did this was to hold his collar tight and virtually lift him off his front feet and walk him on. There was no other way. And I couldn't just stand there and let it happen.
I tried tethering him to a nearby fence or similar and walking a few feet away, but this didn't work as he'd just go back to it each time I returned, and also relied on there being somewhere suitable to tether him as soon as it started, which wasn't often possible.
I even tried a firm 'no' and a lead jerk to just try to get his attention, but that never made any difference when he was in that zone.
In the end, the only way I could walk him on lead was with a dogmatic head collar and double ended lead. That seemed to prevent this behaviour, and was a bit of a godsend!
You could tell sometimes that he still wanted to do it, but so far, no issues with that behaviour on the dogmatic.
Im the one who primarily works with Dresden, particularly on lead.
My husband doesn't lead walk him at the moment as he can't deal with that, so he is the one who takes him to the park for his off-lead runs, where he is always fine.
But today, he took Dres out to the park, and when he got back, he didn't look happy.
I asked what was wrong, and he said 'he bit me' and showed me a red mark on his arm.
I asked what happened, and he said that he'd had a good run, and Jon was just walking him round, without the ball, to let him wind down before putting him on lead, as we always do.
When he went to put the lead on him, Dresden began jumping and biting him, so he took his collar and held it tight to try and control him, and he slipped out of it and ran off.
When he got it back on him, he leapt up and bit his upper arm. There is no blood, but Jon insists this is only because he had a thick hoodie and jacket on.
In the end, he says he had no choice but to be physical with him, and grab him and drag him to the car, much to the filthy looks of some passers by.
I know many don't approve of that, but seriously, when you have a large dog jumping up and biting you, who won't stop, what can you do?
Jon was actually in tears about it.
Ok, now, he is quite a sensitive person, things upset him easily. And I think he never really understood the times this has happened to me, and how upset I've been over it, because its never been him that was the target. He's not experienced this behaviour like I have, so I think it was a shock to him more than anything. But he's really upset by it, and is saying he will not take Dresden out if he is going to do this crap.
I've told him it isn't personal (I think this is what gets Jon most, he sees himself doing all these nice things for the dog and can't understand why Dres does this to him when all he's trying to do is take him for a nice walk).
I've told him its not personal, he's a dog, they don't have malice or grudges, and Dres probably forgot completely about it as soon as it had happened, so won't understand Jon being curt with him after the event.
He does have a bit of a tendency to humanise dog thoughts.
He even said 'if he's going to be like that, I just won't take him to the park, and he won't get his fun times'.
I told him this wouldn't register with a dog; he isn't going to make the connection between something bad he did one day, and not getting a run the next day, its out of his head by that time. Thats a punishment that might work on a child, who can understand and reason a bit, but not a dog.
Now Im upset because Jon is upset.
Dresden is my dog, first and foremost, and Jon has been so supportive and really helped and embraced dog ownership. But he gets so hurt when these things happen.
And while, to me, its something I've experienced from Dresden several times so it doesn't shock me, to Jon its still scary and new (though I do now think 'you see what I mean that time I came home in tears about it and you said it wasn't worth crying over? Different when the shoe is on the other foot!)
So I now don't know what to do.
This behaviour is by far his biggest issue, and I thought I'd cracked it with the dogmatic, because lead walks (the only time he'd do this) were possible once more, and without this behaviour, and I thought over time, he'd get out of that habit.
But while I can deal with this, I understand dogs a little more, Im more used to how Dres can be as I spend more time with him, it is something that really apparently gets to Jon. And I don't want him in tears over our dog; having a dog is meant to be fun.
So Im now wondering if I might have to get a behaviourist.
I hate this behaviour, and I don't know how to stop it. I know how to stop it on walks: dogmatic yay!
But the fact that he now did it at the park, where he NEVER has, tells me that this behaviour is still there, and still going to appear at any opportunity when the dogmatic isn't on.
And I don't want this behaviour subdued or 'managed', I want it gone!
In my view, a puppy shouldn't be doing this in a situation where he is having a nice run, having fun, and all someone is doing is trying to put his lead back on.
Struggling, being resistant, even having to be carried to the car because he doesn't want to leave; thats all fine with me (though he has never done this) but the nipping to get his way? (which is all I can imagine it is; he didn't want to leave, so turned into a brat) isn't acceptable, to me.
So do I need to bring in a behaviourist? Would that do any good at all? And where do I find one who is actually GOOD and has experience with dobes?
I have to confess, I wouldn't be considering this option if it weren't for how upset Jon is.
I can weather it, I have more of a 'he's a dog, he doesn't intend to be horrible, he just acts on instinct and split second decisions, and he's still a puppy, and an adolescent one at that! He'll learn in time' mindset. And the fact that there is no growling, no aggressive body language assures me that it is just over excitement or him just being a brat to get his way rather than aggression, which is good.
But Jon takes it all very personally, and it really bothers him, and I don't want it to damage his relationship with Dresden.
So Im considering a behaviourist, if only just to evaluate him and see the behaviour themselves. I might only need one session just for them to see it and say 'yep, thats what this is, heres what to do'.
I don't know if its necessary, but at least I can say I've tried.
But I need one who is experienced with dobes. He's a very different animal to a pug or a cavalier king charles! Or at least, one experienced with large working dogs.
Where would I begin to look for such a person? Its something I've never had to think about before. Im in lowestoft, and I think my insurance covers a behaviourist.
He never does this in the home, or when free running at the park, seems to be purely a lead issue. Prior to this, he was fine on lead. It seemed to coincide with the onset of adolesence.
There is never any growling, any snarling or any 'aggressive' behaviours, it seems to be either an over stimulation/excitement thing, or sometimes a stress thing if he was unhappy and I wasn't picking up on it.
I had such issues with this out of the blue behaviour that I couldn't lead walk him because it became a complete struggle. I've tried lots to try and curb this behaviour, I've waited for calm then treated and rewarded and tried to walk on (didn't work, he'd either not be interested in the food or calming down, or if he was, he'd start up again as soon as we walked on, and it is vitrtually impossible to endure this kind of thing; it hurts!)
I tried stopping dead still when he started so he learned we weren't going anywhere while he did this. Didn't work, he'd just carry on, he wasn't phased by us not going anywhere, it didn't bother him.
The only way I could control him when he did this was to hold his collar tight and virtually lift him off his front feet and walk him on. There was no other way. And I couldn't just stand there and let it happen.
I tried tethering him to a nearby fence or similar and walking a few feet away, but this didn't work as he'd just go back to it each time I returned, and also relied on there being somewhere suitable to tether him as soon as it started, which wasn't often possible.
I even tried a firm 'no' and a lead jerk to just try to get his attention, but that never made any difference when he was in that zone.
In the end, the only way I could walk him on lead was with a dogmatic head collar and double ended lead. That seemed to prevent this behaviour, and was a bit of a godsend!
You could tell sometimes that he still wanted to do it, but so far, no issues with that behaviour on the dogmatic.
Im the one who primarily works with Dresden, particularly on lead.
My husband doesn't lead walk him at the moment as he can't deal with that, so he is the one who takes him to the park for his off-lead runs, where he is always fine.
But today, he took Dres out to the park, and when he got back, he didn't look happy.
I asked what was wrong, and he said 'he bit me' and showed me a red mark on his arm.
I asked what happened, and he said that he'd had a good run, and Jon was just walking him round, without the ball, to let him wind down before putting him on lead, as we always do.
When he went to put the lead on him, Dresden began jumping and biting him, so he took his collar and held it tight to try and control him, and he slipped out of it and ran off.
When he got it back on him, he leapt up and bit his upper arm. There is no blood, but Jon insists this is only because he had a thick hoodie and jacket on.
In the end, he says he had no choice but to be physical with him, and grab him and drag him to the car, much to the filthy looks of some passers by.
I know many don't approve of that, but seriously, when you have a large dog jumping up and biting you, who won't stop, what can you do?
Jon was actually in tears about it.
Ok, now, he is quite a sensitive person, things upset him easily. And I think he never really understood the times this has happened to me, and how upset I've been over it, because its never been him that was the target. He's not experienced this behaviour like I have, so I think it was a shock to him more than anything. But he's really upset by it, and is saying he will not take Dresden out if he is going to do this crap.
I've told him it isn't personal (I think this is what gets Jon most, he sees himself doing all these nice things for the dog and can't understand why Dres does this to him when all he's trying to do is take him for a nice walk).
I've told him its not personal, he's a dog, they don't have malice or grudges, and Dres probably forgot completely about it as soon as it had happened, so won't understand Jon being curt with him after the event.
He does have a bit of a tendency to humanise dog thoughts.
He even said 'if he's going to be like that, I just won't take him to the park, and he won't get his fun times'.
I told him this wouldn't register with a dog; he isn't going to make the connection between something bad he did one day, and not getting a run the next day, its out of his head by that time. Thats a punishment that might work on a child, who can understand and reason a bit, but not a dog.
Now Im upset because Jon is upset.
Dresden is my dog, first and foremost, and Jon has been so supportive and really helped and embraced dog ownership. But he gets so hurt when these things happen.
And while, to me, its something I've experienced from Dresden several times so it doesn't shock me, to Jon its still scary and new (though I do now think 'you see what I mean that time I came home in tears about it and you said it wasn't worth crying over? Different when the shoe is on the other foot!)
So I now don't know what to do.
This behaviour is by far his biggest issue, and I thought I'd cracked it with the dogmatic, because lead walks (the only time he'd do this) were possible once more, and without this behaviour, and I thought over time, he'd get out of that habit.
But while I can deal with this, I understand dogs a little more, Im more used to how Dres can be as I spend more time with him, it is something that really apparently gets to Jon. And I don't want him in tears over our dog; having a dog is meant to be fun.
So Im now wondering if I might have to get a behaviourist.
I hate this behaviour, and I don't know how to stop it. I know how to stop it on walks: dogmatic yay!
But the fact that he now did it at the park, where he NEVER has, tells me that this behaviour is still there, and still going to appear at any opportunity when the dogmatic isn't on.
And I don't want this behaviour subdued or 'managed', I want it gone!
In my view, a puppy shouldn't be doing this in a situation where he is having a nice run, having fun, and all someone is doing is trying to put his lead back on.
Struggling, being resistant, even having to be carried to the car because he doesn't want to leave; thats all fine with me (though he has never done this) but the nipping to get his way? (which is all I can imagine it is; he didn't want to leave, so turned into a brat) isn't acceptable, to me.
So do I need to bring in a behaviourist? Would that do any good at all? And where do I find one who is actually GOOD and has experience with dobes?
I have to confess, I wouldn't be considering this option if it weren't for how upset Jon is.
I can weather it, I have more of a 'he's a dog, he doesn't intend to be horrible, he just acts on instinct and split second decisions, and he's still a puppy, and an adolescent one at that! He'll learn in time' mindset. And the fact that there is no growling, no aggressive body language assures me that it is just over excitement or him just being a brat to get his way rather than aggression, which is good.
But Jon takes it all very personally, and it really bothers him, and I don't want it to damage his relationship with Dresden.
So Im considering a behaviourist, if only just to evaluate him and see the behaviour themselves. I might only need one session just for them to see it and say 'yep, thats what this is, heres what to do'.
I don't know if its necessary, but at least I can say I've tried.
But I need one who is experienced with dobes. He's a very different animal to a pug or a cavalier king charles! Or at least, one experienced with large working dogs.
Where would I begin to look for such a person? Its something I've never had to think about before. Im in lowestoft, and I think my insurance covers a behaviourist.