120 replies to this topic

[dobbiehearted]

I used with total success for years the prong collar.. I thought eeek, this on my baby-- I did not like anything else as it seemd she could squiggle out of it.. then the choke was to strong on her neck making he choke.. that is the idea--- the choking was too much for me.., but the prong gave a tiny pinch..

I put my wrist in it and pulled on it hard so it gave me an extreme version of what it may feel like.. I loved it for trainning her.. with Loki I used it at first until I was sure of him walking.. my Lokis previous owners must have walked him often as he walks very well... so I cant take the credit.. but I am keeping it up...

I now use a body harness and then switch part of the walk with the heel command.. the harness is for more free relaxing walking where I know it is just me and him alone .. no distractions... as soon as I use to put the prong collar on he knows it is time to heel completely... He now heels with me saying the command and tighting up the lead to be next to my left...I love walking this big male doberman ... as if I did all this training... I did not though...


I suggest the prong as it doesnt hurt at all... and to me is much better than the choke.. and gave me total control..

what beautiful pics of the lovely little girl.

[shromada]

Great pictures and I am sure she is loving her new home as well as her family!!!

[JennyPlum]

OK, I have to share this:
My five year old has a funny sort of speech impediment where certain things come out funny.
One of our nicknames for Cocoa is "Cocoa Krispy"
Tommy calls her "Cocoa Kripsy" It sounds so ridiculous and funny if you say it out loud!!

[debl]

What a beautiful Girl

[Fred]

Great pictures. I am not a pro like the rest of these ladies. A friend of mine had a halti that did not fit his St Bernard. So for the low price of "free" I figured I would give it a shot, Mickey likes to pull, I think he was a sled in previous life. When I first put the Halti on him he was not to happy, as a matter of fact he wouldn't move he was like a statue, he can be a pest at times and I considered leaving it on him for a break. Now some of you might not think this to be funny put you had to be there and see it. Anyway after 2 walks I have a loose leash and I prefer he stays close to my left side or Heel and when he gets a little distracted he runs into my leg, no damage, no jerking, and we keep going on our way. I have daughters who are pretty petite and I want them to be able to walk him without trouble. So Halti seems to be working so far.

[Jan]

I gave the Halti one try with Marten. He went absolutely wild, like a crazy caged animal. He was so upset I immediately took it off and returned it to the store. We continue with the pinch (or prong) collars because that works for us. I guess it's all what works for our particular furkid.
Jan

[JennyPlum]

Just wanted to give everyone an update...Cocoa is adjusting really well! She is a bit of a barker (managing that as it comes up, distraction and squirt bottles) and is a real pleasure. She loves to suck up tons of attention from all of us...and when we stop petting her, we get a long warm snout under our hands!! We love to give her attention, too....she is a real sweetheart. Her ability to love and be loved amazes me...she is always right there...waiting for us to pay attention to her. And it's true what has been said about Dobermans...she always HAS to be with her family. It's almost like punishment to her when she can't be in the same room as the family!!
She finished the antibiotics for her boo-boos and some mysterious eye infection. She also finished her eye drops, but she still has some discharge that I clean out with irrigating solution.
So here's an interesting story from yesterday...Nathan's brother walked in our house without knocking yesterday (not uncommon for him) and Cocoa nearly barked his ears off AND.....oh no....she bit him on the arm (quickly, and didn't hold on...just a quick bite and she let go right away) because he walked past her without acknowledging her.... and I think she did it because she didn't know who he was. In a way, I'm proud of her for defending her family against someone she didn't know. I'm scared, though, that she hurt someone. I have seen no other signs of aggression, so I'm not worried. Is this a correct assumption?

[JennyPlum]

Oh! and by the way, I came home with the prong collar / pinch collar this weekend and my husband saw it and sent me back to the pet store saying "Like heck you're putting that thing on her, no way...take it back!! " No amount of effort on my part could convince him otherwise, and I couldn't even get him to put it on his neck as proof of it being relatively harmless!! Sigh. She is just terrible on a leash. Oh well, luckily she has the whole yard to herself to run around in.

[CAB]

So here's an interesting story from yesterday...Nathan's brother walked in our house without knocking yesterday (not uncommon for him) and Cocoa nearly barked his ears off AND.....oh no....she bit him on the arm (quickly, and didn't hold on...just a quick bite and she let go right away) because he walked past her without acknowledging her.... and I think she did it because she didn't know who he was. In a way, I'm proud of her for defending her family against someone she didn't know. I'm scared, though, that she hurt someone. I have seen no other signs of aggression, so I'm not worried. Is this a correct assumption?

She's just doing her job. Now that you know she is protective of her home and family, you need to let people know that they cannot just enter your home or your yard. If you are ok with letting someone into your home and she still nips, then I would say her actions are not appropriate and you need to correct her.

[JennyPlum]

I concur, thank you Cheryl

[KellyB]

try a gentle leader with her when walking on leash

[Cheri]

So here's an interesting story from yesterday...Nathan's brother walked in our house without knocking yesterday (not uncommon for him) and Cocoa nearly barked his ears off AND.....oh no....she bit him on the arm (quickly, and didn't hold on...just a quick bite and she let go right away) because he walked past her without acknowledging her.... and I think she did it because she didn't know who he was. In a way, I'm proud of her for defending her family against someone she didn't know. I'm scared, though, that she hurt someone. I have seen no other signs of aggression, so I'm not worried. Is this a correct assumption?

We all have to remember that family protection was one of the primary things Dobermans were first bred for, and the trait is still strong in most of them. So, yes, I see it as Cocoa protecting her family from someone she thought was an intruder. A similar thing happened to us a long time ago with Maxwell. My husband's parents had come to visit from out of state. Max had never met them. They surprised us by walking right into the house. Max lunged at them and my husband made a lucky catch on his collar just in time. But now that you know she can and will be protective, just be careful. Like Cheryl said, let your family and friends know they shouldn't just walk in and surprise her. And when she meets someone new, if she barks or seems wary of them, I would suggest telling the person not to make any advances toward her or try to pet her, until Cocoa seems comfortable and willing to approach them. You may want to ask Cocoa to do a sit-stay or a down-stay on the other side of the room until she gets used to the person.

[JennyPlum]

Here's some updated pictures of our Cocoa! She's doing very well, and suprisingly, after our monsoon-esque weather this weekend, we learned that she goes potty outside with no questions asked!! Awww what a trooper.
Anyway this is her face that makes me want to just kiss her to pieces, tell me that muzzle isn't asking for some serious love!!

 I_am_loved.JPG   295.01KB   4 downloads

[JennyPlum]

 Ears_with_Personality.JPG   297.19KB   3 downloadsAnother picture of our girl Cocoa. If you look at her slightly tilted head in the picture, it's like she's trying hard to look coy ;-) She's a table and counter-surfer, don't let that innocent demeanor fool you.

Edited by JennyPlum, 16 September 2008 - 07:20 PM.

[bumpster]

Aww she is so cute! Thanks for posting her pictures.

[Jan]

What a cutie! I love the ears!!!!!
Jan

[debl]

An absolute Doll-Baby

[JennyPlum]

This morning Cocoa (Jamie) thought she would poo on the concrete next to the grass. What?!? Do you think it was because the grass was all dewy? What a princess.
Something cute I have to share with everyone...I just adore her more everyday....when I sit on the couch she has to lay on the floor, right on top of my feet!! Everytime! When winter gets here my feet won't be freezing! Goodbye, slippers!!!

Also...she just barks a lot. At the neighbors. And today my neighbor came over and said she snaps at him and he thinks she's going to bite him. You would think the constant presence of the neighbors would get her to shut up. Remember my brother in law, who walked right in the house and got nipped? Well, now she's oblivious to him, so I know it's possible to get "past" it.
My neighbors, who we're very close with, are getting really frustrated at her barking and jumping at them.
If Cocoa were your Dobergirl, what would you do?
(A privacy fence would make me feel isolated from my neighbors and it really wouldn't fix the problem, so I definitely don't want to do that.)

[doberpagegirl]

I don't really know, because where I live, I encourage Alley to bark at everyone, LOL. I like how protective she is of the yard. But, with the neighbors, have you tried introducing the neighbors to Cocoa in your yard? And correcting her for barking at them then? It is hard, because a dobe is bred to protect, and Cocoa sees the yard as part of her pack's territory. So if they are on the other side of the fence, she sees intruder. If she meets the neighbors and has them introduced as friends it might help with the barking at them. It might at least help put your neighbor at ease that Cocoa isn't going to bite them.

[JennyPlum]

I don't really know, because where I live, I encourage Alley to bark at everyone, LOL. I like how protective she is of the yard. But, with the neighbors, have you tried introducing the neighbors to Cocoa in your yard? And correcting her for barking at them then? It is hard, because a dobe is bred to protect, and Cocoa sees the yard as part of her pack's territory. So if they are on the other side of the fence, she sees intruder. If she meets the neighbors and has them introduced as friends it might help with the barking at them. It might at least help put your neighbor at ease that Cocoa isn't going to bite them.

Like tap her snout and say "no?" That's what I do when I correct her. I'm afraid of sounding naive, is that how I should do it?