Doberman Training
Effective Doberman Training
Doberman training is a critical step in bringing in a puppy of this breed into your family. The Doberman is a very intelligent canine breed which needs to be taught early and taught well about ways to integrate into the family set-up. Leaving the training until a later stage will leave you with aggressive dog who will be a stressful companion.
The great news for those starting out with Doberman training is that the puppy takes well to training and by being firm, consistent and affectionate you will be able to communicate acceptable and unacceptable behaviors to your dog. While the firmness is critical, it may also be helpful for the owner to remember that a Doberman puppy is a playful creature and its play-biting and barking are natural instincts and not marks of a particularly aggressive dog.
Experts in Doberman training remark about the intelligence of this breed and talk of the dog’s ability to almost understand the owner’s feelings and desires. They are intelligent and intuitive in responding to a human being and by sending the right signals early on you can have a very well trained Doberman. Given that the Doberman grows to be a big dog that can be physically strong, this early mental training will go a long way in helping you enjoy your dog without worrying about it getting out of hand at home of in public.
One of the recommended steps for house-training a Doberman is crate training. This is a way of making sure your dog learn to associate its crate as its home and its den. By developing positive associations around the crate, using toys and playthings, the crate should be presented as an attractive place to be. Doberman puppies will take to this idea if it is established consistently as the coziness of the crate will appeal to the natural instincts of the puppy. You should take the puppy out when you are home and make it a point to take it out and potty train soon after getting your pet to come out. This training will help the Doberman understand that there are specific places for resting and peeing. This space demarcation is very useful for the Doberman and the owner.
Some of the Doberman training will have to focus on behavioral issues that come naturally to the dog. Jumping-up is a way your puppy will seek affection and while this is adorable and easy to handle in a puppy remember that if an adult Doberman does this, it will be hard to take. The best time to teach your dog alternate ways of interacting is at the puppy stage. So, while it may be hard, you need to turn away if your dog jumps-up and respond only when it sits with its feet on the ground. Be consistent in stepping away of turning away and be prompt in expressing praise and affection when your dog gets in the sitting position. This will help your Doberman process that one behavior is good and the other is not acceptable.
Given the size of the adult Doberman, early Doberman training should involve teaching your dog how to respond to voice commands. If this is established early on both of you can communicate without difficulty. Some recommended commands are No, Wait, Leave-It and OK. These are indicative of the kind of things you will have to deal with and even the words alone make obvious what context you will need to use them. Doberman trainers often tell the owners that the effectiveness of the word commands depends on consistency. If ‘No’ is meant to be a stern command, do not confuse your pet by occasionally doing a playful ‘No.’ This may reduce the effectiveness of the training. Also watch out against over-use of some commands because like a child who hears ‘No’ too often a pet that hears it too often will also start tuning it out.
Like ill-brought up children, an untrained adult Doberman can misbehave and be aggressive but the fault here lies on the human who did not take the right steps and not on the canine which has not learnt about unacceptable behavior. By working with your puppy when he is young and by being even-keeled in your approach you can have a successful Doberman training experience.