Reactive only to dogs near my house?

[Ravenbird]

Another interesting thing about my dog is that it's on or off leash. I had that story on here from last year where Asha went tearing off to bark at someone and I had no collar or leash on at all. And about the first 5 motel stays - every car door, every voice outside the room... I've got that almost taken care of now.

 

[Kaiser2016]

He could be starting to get a territorial edge.

I also suspect this. Dobermans also seem to expand their territory very easily. I always joke that Kaiser has lion king moments because it’s really as if he thinks that everything the light touches is his kingdom.

. I think some of it is the breed.

Very much so. Its a very different dog when it comes to how much noise they make when defending their home turf. Even in the car, the whole car will shake when Kaiser is in it and barking at a threat, lol, it used to embarrass me but now I’m so proud

Another thing I have done is let her bark once or twice if its a legit reason, I go look, tell her thank you and immediately ask her to follow me to get a treat. The next time I expect her to be quiet for a second longer after I say "thank you" which is essentially my shut up command lol

Your shut up command I also allow a reaction because it’s his job to alert me and then I tell him “enough”.

It’s the non-stop barking, running around in circles on the leash, hackles up, etc that I do not want, which is what he’s doing when he sees the dogs near our house.

On leash is a tough one! It may just be the age and we experienced that too. Kaiser hated everything about the leash from day one lol.

keep in mind that she is doing what she was bred to do; to be your companion and protector. Her natural, genetically induced responses to situations are now kicking in,

I agree with all this. The Dober teens is a really tough period because they are going to test the limits on everything and go a bit extra crazy from the hormones.

Stay calm. Say ”leave it” and walk away.

Neighbor dogs seem to bring out the worst. I used this method with a prong to get Kaiser to stop barking at the neighbor dog. Key is to stay calm because they will feel your nerves thru the leash.

 

[JanS]

Key is to stay calm because they will feel your nerves thru the leash.

That is so true no matter what you're doing with the dog.

 

[remy]

Another interesting thing about my dog is that it's on or off leash. I had that story on here from last year where Asha went tearing off to bark at someone and I had no collar or leash on at all. And about the first 5 motel stays - every car door, every voice outside the room... I've got that almost taken care of now.

My yard isn’t fenced in, so he’s always on leash. I suspect he would probably act the same way off leash though since it’s a pretty strong reactive while on leash.

 

[remy]

Maybe check out Michael Ellis on leerburg. He has a leash reactivity series its long and goes through a lot of theory and practical stuff also. I had a couple of ahah moments while going through it. Also there are a lot of the segments that were used in the series that are up on YouTube for free. You will have to separate a lot of chaff though.

Thank you, I will definitely look into this!

 

[remy]

Thank you to everyone who responded with your advice! For whatever reason I wasn’t getting notifications for the past few comments, so I’m just seeing them now.

Not sure why I haven’t thought of it before, but I am going to contact the trainer who taught his puppy classes. Her facility closes during the summer, but if I remember correctly she will meet up for private lessons . She is more of a balanced trainer and has experience with Dobermans (currently owns a 10/11 year old.) Since he is the first puppy I’ve owned (and my first time dealing with this type of issue) I think it would be really helpful to have some guidance from someone in person, especially since she already knows him.

 

[JanS]

She is more of a balanced trainer and has experience with Dobermans (currently owns a 10/11 year old.) Since he is the first puppy I’ve owned (and my first time dealing with this type of issue) I think it would be really helpful to have some guidance from someone in person, especially since she already knows him.

That's an excellent idea!

 

[cjpmpd]

Another thing I have done is let her bark once or twice if its a legit reason, I go look, tell her thank you and immediately ask her to follow me to get a treat. The next time I expect her to be quiet for a second longer after I say "thank you" which is essentially my shut up command lol. Wait a second longer, then treat. I want to let her be able to notify me that there is something out there but also be quiet on command. It went from her barking non-stop until she felt there was no longer a threat to her realizing there is no longer a threat through me. It has helped her tremendously and its fascinating to watch her look at my face as I look out the window and tell her "thank you." Now, if there is someone I want her to bark at, I just don't say anything and she'll continue to bark until the "threat" leaves.

This is what I want for Harley so much!

 

[Katyusharocket]

Katyusha is horrible at home with any pedestrians. In public, away from our home she is registered Therapy Dog and totally lives up to it. A little back story: I tried to train her out of her horrible behavior in my yard (she is always on a 50 foot cable at home). Two of the people I befriended who were in my alley I saw on our county lock up page later. After those two it was "you do you girl." Remy knows what his home is and it's that simple. He is defending/ warning against what is his. Your neighborhood might differ from mine but in our case, a slobbering, jumping on her front feet, barking Doberman is just fine. He might also be sensing things that you aren't. I would encourage you to take his word for it, at least a little.

 

[remy]

Katyusha is horrible at home with any pedestrians. In public, away from our home she is registered Therapy Dog and totally lives up to it. A little back story: I tried to train her out of her horrible behavior in my yard (she is always on a 50 foot cable at home). Two of the people I befriended who were in my alley I saw on our county lock up page later. After those two it was "you do you girl." Remy knows what his home is and it's that simple. He is defending/ warning against what is his. Your neighborhood might differ from mine but in our case, a slobbering, jumping on her front feet, barking Doberman is just fine. He might also be sensing things that you aren't. I would encourage you to take his word for it, at least a little.

He has gotten a bit better since I posted this! He is great out in public and at class, it’s still just in the general area of my house where it is a “problem”. Once I’m a few houses down there is little to no reaction towards other dogs. I definitely trust his judgment, especially when it comes to people, but my fear was the barking at dogs near home would translate into public. Luckily it has not!

I may have mentioned before but it is worse with one dog in particular. I think it’s possible that the dog’s owner could feed into Remy’s reaction. The man is scared of Remy (Dobes in general) and once he sees us walking he quickly goes the opposite direction and starts loudly telling his dog “come on”, “hurry up”, etc… His dog never seemed to care about Remy by the way. Remy would bark, pull, etc when he saw them but we are making improvements. The barking has mostly turned into whines or sometimes nothing at all. When/If he tries to pull I’ll bring him back into a heel.

He’s more aware of dogs in the neighborhood than anywhere else and I’ve learned his signs to tell when there will be one. He lifts his head up high and starts smelling the air, then a few houses down there will be a dog in someones yard lol. He never barks at them though, even if they are barking at him.

 

[Rits]

He has gotten a bit better since I posted this! He is great out in public and at class, it’s still just in the general area of my house where it is a “problem”. Once I’m a few houses down there is little to no reaction towards other dogs. I definitely trust his judgment, especially when it comes to people, but my fear was the barking at dogs near home would translate into public. Luckily it has not!

I may have mentioned before but it is worse with one dog in particular. I think it’s possible that the dog’s owner could feed into Remy’s reaction. The man is scared of Remy (Dobes in general) and once he sees us walking he quickly goes the opposite direction and starts loudly telling his dog “come on”, “hurry up”, etc… His dog never seemed to care about Remy by the way. Remy would bark, pull, etc when he saw them but we are making improvements. The barking has mostly turned into whines or sometimes nothing at all. When/If he tries to pull I’ll bring him back into a heel.

He’s more aware of dogs in the neighborhood than anywhere else and I’ve learned his signs to tell when there will be one. He lifts his head up high and starts smelling the air, then a few houses down there will be a dog in someones yard lol. He never barks at them though, even if they are barking at him.

Sounds like a good doberman!