Needing to nip pulling in the bud... too early?

[MichiH]

That's how my other two Dobes were.


Early is always best. And yes, the longer you wait to teach, usually the longer it takes for them to get out of old habits.


I'm going to beg to differ here. My first two were like this. I thought when I got my puppy it would be like my other dogs. She was not. The blood, sweat and tears were real. Before I got Asha I read through these forums and just thought the people complaining about their out of control, pulling, whining, sofa-eating dogs didn't know how to train an intelligent dog. God delivered to me the biggest slice of humble pie in the name of Asha.
Nothing I ever did before worked with this one. I spent months with treats and luring and letting her gag on the flat collar and choke chain. The martingale was just like a flat collar to her. She was impervious to pain. She slapped cactus back when it poked her. I could pinch her toes like a vice grip for trimming and she didn't care. Her proverbial middle finger was thrown at me constantly.

This is why I'm always showing up for people who come here wondering why they can't train their puppy. It's not always lack of training or lack of trying or lack of doing thing early or lack of consistency. Sometimes it's just a hard puppy and it takes time to get the wins. More steps back than forward, but inching forward nonetheless. Not all Dobermans are easy and I never understood how a 3 or 4 month old puppy could possibly make anyone feel like a failure until I got mine.

All the advice given up above on training the puppy is true, but when the magic doesn't happen, don't think you failed, just keep on. The two things I wished I done more of at 3 months to a year is implementing more play and *stop doing what wasn't working*.

And again it’s like you’re in my head. I have all these thoughts! I’m like how is this pup at 4 months bringing to me knees?! One minute she loves me the next she hates me lol

 

[JanS]

It can definitely be a challenging age. Like @Ravenbird said, they can all vary a lot too.

 

[Kaiser2016]

I’m like how is this pup at 4 months bringing to me knees?!

Oh man, I so know the feeling. Our puppy period with Kaiser was pretty bad. We didn't do anything right other than the potty training which Kaiser mastered like a champ. For a few years I couldn't even think about his puppy days without my blood pressure going up LOL, and my hb still says that Kaiser took years off his life Have you ever heard of a dog causing marital troubles For at least 2 years we kept blaming each other for getting a dog. He wanted Kaiser so I said it was his fault, and apparently it was my fault because I never stopped him Imagine, a grown man! Btw, I definitely don't let him make any big decisions by himself anymore

Back to the topic HAHA, from what I've seen of all the puppies on this forum, I feel like a Doberman makes YOU earn the right to rule them. That's why we say, "It's not just a dog, it's a Doberman" Once you get through it though, they are the best!

 

[MichiH]

Oh man, I so know the feeling. Our puppy period with Kaiser was pretty bad. We didn't do anything right other than the potty training which Kaiser mastered like a champ. For a few years I couldn't even think about his puppy days without my blood pressure going up LOL, and my hb still says that Kaiser took years off his life Have you ever heard of a dog causing marital troubles For at least 2 years we kept blaming each other for getting a dog. He wanted Kaiser so I said it was his fault, and apparently it was my fault because I never stopped him Imagine, a grown man! Btw, I definitely don't let him make any big decisions by himself anymore

Back to the topic HAHA, from what I've seen of all the puppies on this forum, I feel like a Doberman makes YOU earn the right to rule them. That's why we say, "It's not just a dog, it's a Doberman" Once you get through it though, they are the best!

Oh yes martial problems yuppp already happened

 

[Ravenbird]

Oh man, I so know the feeling. Our puppy period with Kaiser was pretty bad. We didn't do anything right other than the potty training which Kaiser mastered like a champ. For a few years I couldn't even think about his puppy days without my blood pressure going up LOL, and my hb still says that Kaiser took years off his life Have you ever heard of a dog causing marital troubles For at least 2 years we kept blaming each other for getting a dog. He wanted Kaiser so I said it was his fault, and apparently it was my fault because I never stopped him Imagine, a grown man! Btw, I definitely don't let him make any big decisions by himself anymore

Back to the topic HAHA, from what I've seen of all the puppies on this forum, I feel like a Doberman makes YOU earn the right to rule them. That's why we say, "It's not just a dog, it's a Doberman" Once you get through it though, they are the best!

All true - wanted to say "agree" but you always make me smile and laugh with your VERY accurate descriptions!

 

[Ravenbird]

Oh yes martial problems yuppp already happened

eeeek. Thin ice there, I'm not even... but hey if @Kaiser2016 got through puppy hood and lived to tell about it with marriage intact it must be doable.