Living with high drive

[Dasz88]

So, gilly is a super dog in some respects. He does amazing in SAR, he is probably going to be one of the best cadaver dogs our team has ever had and that is not hyperbole. Also, he loves formal obedience. We got his cgc but are just taking some extra advanced obedience classes and he is fantastic. He will hold sit, down, heel like a champion, stop and sit on a dime. This dog could search a sector for 12 hours straight and never lose focus. He does not want a break. He.does not want love. He wants to WORK.

Which is exactly what I needed for a sar candidate! A chill dog could not endure the punishing work that I put.gilly through! They'd be like, yah, I don't need the stupid toy THAT badly, human.

So, all that is.to say, while gilly is a great sar dog, great obedience dog, great hiking dog, great out and about.dog... he is not the best HOUSE dog. He has zero chill. He gets training and exercise and mental stimulation to the max... and he still needs MORE. If he can't get it from.me, he goes and finds his own-- which.involves causing some kind of chaos. So, during the day, while I work, he.mostly has.to be in his play pen so he doesnt eat a couch or something.

He is 14 months old. When do I get to the point when he becomes one of those 'dignified dobermans who just majestically lay at your feet and relax!??!?!

 

[Kaiser2016]

This is what happens when mine doesn’t have his “action pack” of activities. At least 2 hours a day

great hiking dog, great out and about.dog... he is not the best HOUSE dog. He has zero chill. He gets training and exercise and mental stimulation to the max... and he still needs MORE. If he can't get it from.me, he goes and finds his own

They make their own adventures lol

He is 14 months old. When do I get to the point when he becomes one of those 'dignified dobermans who just majestically lay at your feet and relax!??!?!

Good luck! Mine is 6 years old

 

[Ravenbird]

during the day, while I work, he.mostly has.to be in his play pen so he doesnt eat a couch or something.

He is 14 months old. When do I get to the point when he becomes one of those 'dignified dobermans who just majestically lay at your feet and relax!?

Better to keep him confined if he can't be a good couch potato while you're gone. Bad habits like eating the couch just reinforce their self-rewarding. LOL, you described Asha perfectly, but I've never left her for 8 hours since I don't work outside the home. Probably 3 hours at the most, she doesn't touch anything, but she's always been good about not tearing anything up. I think *maybe* males tend to do this more? but I'm not sure. When she was a puppy I made sure she never got to shred anything. If she started picking at a fuzzy toy, I took it away. Whatever they get to practice they will want to repeat.

That said, she really started to mature more by 18 months and I think it was about that age that I started leaving her alone for an hour or so loose in the house.

And congratulations on have such a spectacular working dog!!!

 

[Cranekc35]

The Sit on the Dog Exercise • Canine Life Skills

The Sit on the Dog exercise is the best dog training lesson you can do at home to improve your bond and create a calmer dog.

caninelifeskills.com

Another Dobie owner told me to start doing this exercise twice a day. This was the best thing I ever did! Hope this helps.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

I have found with male dogs, they are slower to mature emotionally than females. By 3 yrs old all my prior males showed the beginning of maturity.
The jury is still out on my pup Legend, but he is still in his terrible twos. He is off the charts with energy and prey drive. If my female is not around him he is obedient and calm but when they are together it can turn into chaos of wrestling and craziness.
Just look forward to when he is 3yrs and be patient when he gets to his terrible twos. Those times are challenging, so prepare for them.

 

[Kaiser2016]

I think *maybe* males tend to do this more? but I'm not sure.

It does seem like male dogs can be compared to human males in terms of maturity. They mature late!

By 3 yrs old all my prior males showed the beginning of maturity

Same here. A lot of maturity fell into place at 3 and he was pretty solid by 4. He can still bring on the crazy though - just get his ball or frisbee and watch out!

Whatever they get to practice they will want to repeat.

I do believe this is true. When Kaiser was a puppy, we used cardboard boxes to keep his chompers busy, so shredding is his favorite boredom activity.

 

[JanS]

It does seem like male dogs can be compared to human males in terms of maturity. They mature late!

There's always that one sentence from you that makes me hit funny.

I agree that it does take boys longer to mature; both physically and mentally but once they do it's so worth it. I say that while our 4.5 month old boy is chilling on the couch. Mornings are always his time to see what he can get into and give me that "what are you going to do about it?" look. Phoebe was the same but she got over it before she was a year old.

 

[Kswoodssue]

It does seem like male dogs can be compared to human males in terms of maturity. They mature late!


Same here. A lot of maturity fell into place at 3 and he was pretty solid by 4. He can still bring on the crazy though - just get his ball or frisbee and watch out!


I do believe this is true. When Kaiser was a puppy, we used cardboard boxes to keep his chompers busy, so shredding is his favorite boredom activity.

Sasha can shred an entire box of Kleenex in the time it takes me to walk across the family room. It is like demonic possession.

 

[Kaiser2016]

I say that while our 4.5 month old boy is chilling on the couch.

I’m still waiting for your sleep clinic

 

[Luca]

I feel lucky in having a relatively chilled 14 month old male who is quite happy to cuddle up to me on the sofa and nap. He gets at least 1 hour hiking off leash twice a day so that is bound to help. He loves other dogs and attends a group beach walk twice a week and has a blast. The trouble now is after the initial greetings and running he appears to get bored and de ides to pick on one dog and wants to hump them. If they snap and chase him away that is fine but the last two walks he then finds their particular owner by smelling the leash/ harnesses and tried to hump them instead. I don’t want him to be banned as he relishes the socialisation but I am reluctant to have him neutered before reaching adulthood for the related health reasons.
can anyone advise if this should pass or am I now stuck with a horny dog and neutering is the only option.

 

[Ravenbird]

The trouble now is after the initial greetings and running he appears to get bored and de ides to pick on one dog and wants to hump them. If they snap and chase him away that is fine but the last two walks he then finds their particular owner by smelling the leash/ harnesses and tried to hump them instead. I don’t want him to be banned as he relishes the socialisation but I am reluctant to have him neutered before reaching adulthood for the related health reasons.
can anyone advise if this should pass or am I now stuck with a horny dog and neutering is the only option.

Neutering will not help a humping problem. This is a trainable behavior problem that started because you allowed it and can be solved by prevention and correction. Consider it no different than meeting someone on the sidewalk and your dog lunging on a person, nearly knocking them over and non-stop jumping at their face. Would you let your dog do that to strangers? Would you expect strangers to tolerate it? I'd put an end to all off leash time until you can do an instant recall with no hesitation no matter what. Humping is rude and a dominant behavior and one day a victim of his will not just snap, but totally tear into your dog, potentials for vet bills or worse. Train you dog, he deserves to be banned from public places until you have him under control. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I don't know how to say it nicely.

 

[Cferg]

Stassi has Learned to chill out and just hang around the house in the last 6 months or so. But she will start to build up some energy if we can’t get outside be cause of weather or some other circumstance.

 

[Ravenbird]

Stassi has Learned to chill out and just hang around the house in the last 6 months or so. But she will start to build up some energy if we can’t get outside be cause of weather or some other circumstance.

One happy dog right there!

 

[Cferg]

One aspect of drives in dogs that fascinates me. And I’d appreciate your guys thoughts or opinions on. Is intensity and how it relates to depth of drive.

For example I’ve seen hunting labs that will play fetch until they dropped dead but they are just going through the motions their intensity is at a 3. Stassi will play fetch at a 9 but will lose interest way before the lab will stop. And I’m looking for more of answer than just labs are bred to be calmer. Because I’ve made similar observations between Stassi and other working breed dogs I’ve been around.

Whenever people that aren’t used to working dogs are around Stassi. The one observation they have is that “Everything she does is intense”. For instance she doesn’t just “mosey” around the house she is “moving” around the house.

 

[Ravenbird]

I’d appreciate your guys thoughts or opinions on. Is intensity and how it relates to depth of drive.

Stassi will play fetch at a 9 but will lose interest way before the lab will stop.

“Everything she does is intense”

This is an interesting topic, but I don't have an answer for you. I think it's totally breed related according to what the purpose of the breed originally was... a (working) lab was in the field for hours doing his job, where as a Doberman was suppose to be able to go into action with a lot of intensity to drive away the bad guy, but not chase him down for hours. Mentally and physically what you've described is very much according to the original design.

I think even the Dobermans who are mostly bred for lower drive and kind attitudes still move with intensity and purpose. I rarely see one mosey anywhere!

 

[Ddski5]

So, gilly is a super dog in some respects. He does amazing in SAR, he is probably going to be one of the best cadaver dogs our team has ever had and that is not hyperbole. Also, he loves formal obedience. We got his cgc but are just taking some extra advanced obedience classes and he is fantastic. He will hold sit, down, heel like a champion, stop and sit on a dime. This dog could search a sector for 12 hours straight and never lose focus. He does not want a break. He.does not want love. He wants to WORK.

Which is exactly what I needed for a sar candidate! A chill dog could not endure the punishing work that I put.gilly through! They'd be like, yah, I don't need the stupid toy THAT badly, human.

So, all that is.to say, while gilly is a great sar dog, great obedience dog, great hiking dog, great out and about.dog... he is not the best HOUSE dog. He has zero chill. He gets training and exercise and mental stimulation to the max... and he still needs MORE. If he can't get it from.me, he goes and finds his own-- which.involves causing some kind of chaos. So, during the day, while I work, he.mostly has.to be in his play pen so he doesnt eat a couch or something.

He is 14 months old. When do I get to the point when he becomes one of those 'dignified dobermans who just majestically lay at your feet and relax!??!?!

So you have to kinda be careful on what you ask for….you wanted a hard core SAR Doberman, y’all trained hard and now that’s what you have, hahaha….You trained and trained to turn on and go go go but did you teach/train how to turn off?
High drive? Euro vs NA? Genetics? Sure, it’s makes some difference but you still have to train and them understand how to turn off.

@Kaiser2016 warned me years ago about building too much physical activity endurance with my male….he was a monster in his younger years so my solution was to run him or play tug until he tired out. WRONG- Worked a couple of times but it backfired because I built his activity endurance- when instead I should have been teaching him how to turn off.

@Cranekc35 makes an excellent suggestion with the dog sitting and learning to turn off. I did this late with Ragnar at/around 16-18months and it really helped. I did this in Freyja’s earlier years and she definitely knows how to turn off better than Ragnar. Yes, they are two different Dobermans, male/female, etc… but still Freyja turns off better.

Good luck stopping the freight train.
Have to be careful with them thinking you are disciplining them for something they have been taught to do- being alert and ready to bounce at a moments notice. Just make sure you communicate and they understand what you want and working on.

 

[Kswoodssue]

So you have to kinda be careful on what you ask for….you wanted a hard core SAR Doberman, y’all trained hard and now that’s what you have, hahaha….You trained and trained to turn on and go go go but did you teach/train how to turn off?
High drive? Euro vs NA? Genetics? Sure, it’s makes some difference but you still have to train and them understand how to turn off.

@Kaiser2016 warned me years ago about building too much physical activity endurance with my male….he was a monster in his younger years so my solution was to run him or play tug until he tired out. WRONG- Worked a couple of times but it backfired because I built his activity endurance- when instead I should have been teaching him how to turn off.

@Cranekc35 makes an excellent suggestion with the dog sitting and learning to turn off. I did this late with Ragnar at/around 16-18months and it really helped. I did this in Freyja’s earlier years and she definitely knows how to turn off better than Ragnar. Yes, they are two different Dobermans, male/female, etc… but still Freyja turns off better.

Good luck stopping the freight train.
Have to be careful with them thinking you are disciplining them for something they have been taught to do- being alert and ready to bounce at a moments notice. Just make sure you communicate and they understand what you want and working on.

Thanks for pointing out @Cranekc35 post! That is exactly what I need!

 

[Glovmom]

I do put her in the crate at night about 1/2 hour before bed because she just won' settle down. I'll have to try it at other times when she gets too wound up. My concern is that she is going to be spayed in a month and I'm concerned on how to keep her calm so she doesn't pull out the stitches. I know in a year she will be a wonderful dog - it's just getting through this rough patch - thanks for all your help