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Reactivity at 4 months

Alexus

Jr Member
I’ve had my Doberman for almost a month now he’s about 4 months old and is a intact male he didn’t come from the best situation he came from a back yard breeder (I know not the best but I felt bad seeing him in his situation) I knew seeing him that we might have some issues he was terrified of walking on a leash it took almost 2 weeks to have a full walk he was confined to living in a backyard he was covered in some scars and was covered in fleas and ticks recently he’s shown some major signs of dog reactivity and sometimes people (children included) ice reached out to trainers but unfortunately it would be a range from 5 thousand to 8 thousand as much as I’d love to get him the best trainer out there I cannot afford that at the moment I’ve been looking into some tools to help me try to train him at home before I commit to a professional id have to say on our walk last night was one of the worst walks we’ve been through he saw a Boston terrier who made no eye contact with him or even barked at him and he went ballistic he was screaming pulling jumping checking growling just doing the works I hated people looking at him like if he was a vicious animal I’d really like some advice
 
So what do you do when your puppy behaves like that? You need to put a stop to that and try to get your puppy focused on you. Be fun, more exciting. Look for signs before your puppy is lunging and barking. He just wants to go play more than likely, so you need to be ready first and distract him by being fun and exciting.
 
You can begin for free here by reading this Training & Behavior section. You will find you're not the only one and there are many ways to work on this, but bottom line is what @Doberman Gang said: Stop the behavior you don't like and give him something else that is fun to do instead. The one thing I'll say is that Dobermans - especially as puppies - want and need a strong leader and very clear direction of what is not acceptable behavior, especially when they get to the explosive stage as you describe. You don't need $$$. He's 4 months old and full of puppy play, so figure out how to play with him interactively, a game that involves you like a ball or a tug. Training short sessions of sit and down and reward with a release to play so that he learns that you are what makes fun things happen and then he learns that HE can make fun things happen by doing what you ask. The more he looks to you for fun, the less other dogs will matter. Seriously, read through the hundreds of problems here in the training sections and when you find the reactive dog stories read them from start to finish. It'll start to sound like a broken record there are so many of them and the answers are very much the same. And you can indeed fix it yourself, which will increase the bond between you and your dog that sending off to training will not.
 
So what do you do when your puppy behaves like that? You need to put a stop to that and try to get your puppy focused on you. Be fun, more exciting. Look for signs before your puppy is lunging and barking. He just wants to go play more than likely, so you need to be ready first and distract him by being fun and exciting.
When I see another dog pass by I try to distract him immediately I guide him somewhere else I pet him and talk to him until the other dog passes by it’s worked a few time but now he just seems very focused as soon as we step foot outside for other dogs It’s very hard in the area that I live in due to so many people letting their dogs walk no leashes and no collars these dogs have no type of recall and have tried running up to my dog before (all small dogs) which gets my dog riled up I am going to start doing some treats out on walks and start going to an open space so I can try to train him all I really want is the best for him I’d like to add that he’s recently been peeing on me before we go out on walks I always have to wash my foot off almost every time we leave is this something anyone else has experienced
 
That is really unfortunate that you come across so many off leash dogs. This is going to leave a lasting impact on him that he can't trust other dogs and he's going to become harder and harder to manage if you don't put a stop to it now. I would stop taking him on walks to places you know are notorious for off leash dogs and focus on building your bond and teaching him that not ALL dogs are going to cause problems. You don't need to spend thousands on a trainer. Honestly, it is more beneficial if YOU are the trainer that way you learn how to handle him and you become his leader.

In order to do this, check out obedience clubs in your area and take a group class. That way he is able to learn in a controlled environment and can work around other dogs that won't invade his space. I did a search and there is a club that is offering CGC classes, this would be a great opportunity to take advantage of! Another obedience club below that has all sorts of classes including puppy classes until he is old enough for the CGC class (5 months)

 
You can begin for free here by reading this Training & Behavior section. You will find you're not the only one and there are many ways to work on this, but bottom line is what @Doberman Gang said: Stop the behavior you don't like and give him something else that is fun to do instead. The one thing I'll say is that Dobermans - especially as puppies - want and need a strong leader and very clear direction of what is not acceptable behavior, especially when they get to the explosive stage as you describe. You don't need $$$. He's 4 months old and full of puppy play, so figure out how to play with him interactively, a game that involves you like a ball or a tug. Training short sessions of sit and down and reward with a release to play so that he learns that you are what makes fun things happen and then he learns that HE can make fun things happen by doing what you ask. The more he looks to you for fun, the less other dogs will matter. Seriously, read through the hundreds of problems here in the training sections and when you find the reactive dog stories read them from start to finish. It'll start to sound like a broken record there are so many of them and the answers are very much the same. And you can indeed fix it yourself, which will increase the bond between you and your dog that sending off to training will not.

That is really unfortunate that you come across so many off leash dogs. This is going to leave a lasting impact on him that he can't trust other dogs and he's going to become harder and harder to manage if you don't put a stop to it now. I would stop taking him on walks to places you know are notorious for off leash dogs and focus on building your bond and teaching him that not ALL dogs are going to cause problems. You don't need to spend thousands on a trainer. Honestly, it is more beneficial if YOU are the trainer that way you learn how to handle him and you become his leader.

In order to do this, check out obedience clubs in your area and take a group class. That way he is able to learn in a controlled environment and can work around other dogs that won't invade his space. I did a search and there is a club that is offering CGC classes, this would be a great opportunity to take advantage of! Another obedience club below that has all sorts of classes including puppy classes until he is old enough for the CGC class (5 months)

Thank you so much I’m going to look into this
 

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