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I Really Need Your Advice, Please.

Dobermans Great With Kids

  • Not At All For Kids

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    5

mlinares1

Novitiate
I have three daughters ages 10, 5, and 3. They love animals, especially dogs. But out of all my girls, I would say my three year old is the one that will probably be a vet someday. She truly loves animals. We have a two bedroom apartment and will be moving on Halloween. We have no pets and haven't had any pets for about 7 years. About 7 years ago, we had a small puppy but my friend ended up taking it to her home since she had a huge yard. We live in a community where we can walk the dog everyday, it's pretty peaceful and there are some dog parks around. The advice that I am looking for, is about the doberman. The thing is, I have heard that they are not good with children. That they don't like being alone with kids. I know as a dog owner, I will have to be responsible and not leave the dog unattended with my kids. But what if I have to run in to get a juice for my girls or run in for 2 minutes? Why is it that people say dobermans are not good for children? I want to do my research before I make the commitment. Dobermans are my dream dogs, they are just so beautiful. My second choice is a rottweiler, which people also talk negative about. I am willing to listen to all advice as harsh as it may sound. What should I expect when getting a Doberman?
 

A well trained and socialized doberman will be an excellent companion for children. I speak from experience, I grew up with them my entire life, and though my parents should have been more vigilant and not allowedit, I used to climb all over our dobe as a toddler. She never so much as growled, let alone snapped or bit. I poked, pulled, pinched, climbed (again, I know that's not ok, and my parents absolutely should have been more on top of that... with any dog) I currently have 3 children, and though our dobe does get a little rough when they all rough house she would protect them in a heartbeat and would never intentionally hurt them. She is just still learning how big she actually is lol. On that note, since they are bigger dogs, they absolutely need to be trained well and the children (even the 3 year old) needs to be involved, so the dog knows they (the humans) are higher in the pack. The children also need to be taught as well how to handle and treat the dog correctly.Doberman make EXCELLENT family pets, if raised right.
 
Oh, and to answer your last question of what to expect: you can expect a loving, loyal to the end, full of laughs, incredible, intelligent, stuck to your side sidekick with a doberman. I'm sure everyone here will agree, this is truly an exceptional breed!
 
Agree with @MischasMomma training is first and foremost for the dog and the kids. You will have the one of a kind, incredible, most amazing journey of your life with a Doberman. They will capture your heart, be your best friend, your best protector, amuse you everyday with their silly antics and will never leave your side. You will realize what was missing in your life once you get one. All the ones I have had or been around have been great around kids but that came with proper treatment and training. Once you go Doberman you will never look or go back.
I would recommend a puppy so you know what it's history is.
Their potential is unending. :)
 
Welcome from Minnesota! :welcome:

I agree that if you train your dog to respect kids and kids to respect dogs they'll be best friends and the Doberman would never hurt them. We have many members with kids and Doberman's and I'm sure they'll be along shortly to testify about how great they are with kids.

It's not hard to keep them if you live in an apartment as long as you have a means to exercise them and of course mental stimulation also helps since they love to have a job to do.

Make yourself at home and don't hesitate to ask questions if you have them.
 
This video is way too adorable! OMG you are all making me feel better. Honestly, I am in love with Dobermans even though I have never owned one. When I see one, I get so excited. It's as if I am looking at a celebrity, I just want to take pictures of it Lol. I want out dog to feel like he is part of the family and he is the brother my kids never had. Speaking of which, is there a particular sex that is better suited for girls?
 
This video is way too adorable! OMG you are all making me feel better. Honestly, I am in love with Dobermans even though I have never owned one. When I see one, I get so excited. It's as if I am looking at a celebrity, I just want to take pictures of it Lol. I want out dog to feel like he is part of the family and he is the brother my kids never had. Speaking of which, is there a particular sex that is better suited for girls?
lol Welcome!!!! You'd love to have a Dobe and so would your girls :) talk about free baby sitting ;) nah I'm kidding lol but in all seriousness they are truly the best dogs and learn very quickly. I think all of us here can't stress enough how important training and socialization is with any dog. Exercise as well , and staying consistent.
I have a male lol a big goofy 90 lbs 18month old that I never have a dull moment with.
If I had kids, especially younger kids I probably would have gone with a female first because from what I hear and noticed is that they mature faster lol
 
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Speaking of which, is there a particular sex that is better suited for girls?

I've heard males attach to women/girls more and females attach to men/boys... but that's opposite in our case... my Mischa is my baby and Scooby is my fiances sidekick. Growing up, the dobe girls were always more attached to my dad. I'm sure it depends on the individual dog, as well who works with it most though.
 
Speaking of which, is there a particular sex that is better suited for girls?
I've heard males attach to women/girls more and females attach to men/boys.
I've heard the same but I agree it depends on the individual dog. My boy Drogon is more apt to approach a new female person that we meet than a male. Unless the male is a senior citizen, Drogon almost always seems apprehensive about approaching 'strange men'. Only takes a few seconds for him to warm up to them but there's a few seconds of assessment. At the house he is much more of a 'cuddle bug' to my girl friend than he is to me but he responds to my commands where she sometimes has to repeat herself before he does.
 
Welcome!

I could not choose either poll option. There is no guarantee. Every dog varies just like every person varies.

As a whole, is the Doberman breed bad with kids? I don't think so. I've had a couple unreliable ones, but my current one shows no signs of being dangerous to our (now) 5 year old daughter.

Our current male Dobe is almost 2 years old now. He has high prey drive (most Dobes have at least fairly high prey drives) and this can cause a dog to chase and maybe bite a fast-moving child. You will want to be strict with your Dobe puppy's training. Take complete control and be alpha. I feel if I hadn't been running a tight ship our working-line Dobe would have hurt our child by now – probably not out of aggression per say – but out of prey drive and even more likely out of running and jumping on her or plowing her over! I have worked very hard on teaching him commands like "be gentle with.." and "Leave her alone" and "Move away from her."

Frankly (and I know I will draw some wrath here) I have a lack of trust for Bully-type breeds and a breed like a Rottweiler around kids. I have never heard of a mauling by a Doberman.
 
In the "Random Daily Videos" thread I posted a funny pair of vids. The first one shows my young male, Oji, being let out our back door and going after a squirrel. The second vid shows him standing completely calmly in our kitchen as our daughter runs right by him, perhaps even grazing him with her dress. He was not on a stay at all. Then again I was standing right there and he definitely looks to me to see if I have a problem with him when he's interacting with our daughter.

My caption: "Good boy, Oji."
 
Both of my children were raised from birth with dobermans and they are 19 and 14. We have never had a doberman that did not love our kids unconditionally, and we are on our sixth. On that note you need to consider the time you will need to take the dog out for exercise. A puppy will need a lot to wear it out so it does not get into trouble at home...Will your new place have a fenced in yard? If not you need to consider the time it will need outside; walks, playtime...multiple trips, even in the winter. I say this because our boy Spike was re-homed by a lady with small children and no fenced yard and it was just too much for her to pack the kids up multiple times a day to walk him, and he was grown, not a high energy puppy. I have a 6 yr old and 5 month old doberman pair and they spend 90 percent of the day wrestling and running in our yard. I had not had a puppy in the house in 10 yrs and it was quite an eye opener the energy they have! If it wasn't for her "babysitter" wearing her out I don't know what I would do. They are like VERY SMART energizer bunnies! A tired dobie is a good dobie. lol
 
Do you have instagram? Cutie and the beast is just my absolute favorite pictures. Here's a screen shot of just a few.
Screenshot_20160707-082905.png
 
image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg
image.jpg Dobes and children - my favourite mix :)


With the correct training and supervision you can't go wrong.

Be a strong pack leader and get the children involved in as much training as possible. They'll love it!
 
I recommend finding a breeder who has children and has properly socialized the dogs. (That means NO AMISH!!!)

You should be able to see the dog in a home environment, or if that's not possible, if you can meet the breeder and one of her children when you meet the dog, you can see how they interact. A good breeder also takes back their dogs (return dogs) that have to be given up by the owner for various reasons, and you may get a trained adult very cheap.

Ask about AKC titles because that's an indication the breeder is trying to conform to breed standards. Although many argue the AKC has softened the Dobies personality, in your case, that's a good thing. A breeder who is serious about their dogs will do health tests and DNA tests to breed out issues. The purchase price will probably be higher than a backyard breeder, but you'll more than save the money in medical bills and heartache down the road.

I recently saw a newly acquired, poorly socialized 7 week old (non-Doberman) puppy that came from bad breeding and no socialization. It had sores on his legs from the cage the breeder kept him in. It also snapped at the children and growled when picked up. This can happen in any breed if it's not socialized properly.

Good luck with your search!
 
We have had very positive experiences with our Dobie and kids. She absolutely loves children and is very attached to my son.

But with all breeds, a lot of it comes down to training and temperament. If your buying a puppy than you need to find a reputable breeder. If you rescue, it's imperative you rescue a dog that has a known positive history with kids. We rescued our girl at 1 and she had been trained and spent 6 months with her rescuer, they knew she was good with kids.

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Welcome!

I could not choose either poll option. There is no guarantee. Every dog varies just like every person varies.

As a whole, is the Doberman breed bad with kids? I don't think so. I've had a couple unreliable ones, but my current one shows no signs of being dangerous to our (now) 5 year old daughter.

Our current male Dobe is almost 2 years old now. He has high prey drive (most Dobes have at least fairly high prey drives) and this can cause a dog to chase and maybe bite a fast-moving child. You will want to be strict with your Dobe puppy's training. Take complete control and be alpha. I feel if I hadn't been running a tight ship our working-line Dobe would have hurt our child by now – probably not out of aggression per say – but out of prey drive and even more likely out of running and jumping on her or plowing her over! I have worked very hard on teaching him commands like "be gentle with.." and "Leave her alone" and "Move away from her."

Frankly (and I know I will draw some wrath here) I have a lack of trust for Bully-type breeds and a breed like a Rottweiler around kids. I have never heard of a mauling by a Doberman.
You are crazy right on your thinking! But bully's and pit terriers are the same as dobermans....its all in how they are raised and socialized....ive grown up around those breeds of dog....never had one turn or even show signs of turning....because they had smart, knowledgeable, strict, firm but gentle handed owners. [emoji4]

Sent from my 6045O using the Doberman Chat mobile app
 
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I have a 2,3,9,10 year old and we got mikasa when she was 8 months. She is awesome with them. But keep in mind ANY dog can get snappy....when we first got her...she snapped at my 2yr..not aggressively..nothing bad ...was not really trying to hurt him...but i quickly inserted my self between them and kept eye contact repeatedly saying no....no bite....when she looked away i took her muzzle and got that eye contact again and held it again saying no...no bite repeatedly....until i felt she got the message....she has never done so again and i dont believe she will again. She will be 2 yrs this September. These are big beautiful dogs...and make great amazing family pets and protectors.....but only with good owners who make sure to make the effort in being the pack leader and socializing them from the moment they bring them into their family...no matter what age they are...( there are always exceptions tho with every breed and some individual dogs just cant be around children by them selves or even with supervision)

Sent from my 6045O using the Doberman Chat mobile app
 

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