Avalouise
Jr Member
Hi guys! I hope everyone has been well! I'm looking for some training advice! I had been in contact with what seemed like a great trainer in the last few weeks but with some school bills due I've been trying to work on the issues myself (and with my fiancé) because Mowgli sure does love learning and for the most part has been so well behaved.
I'm actually incredibly proud of how far along he has come and how easy in general he was to train... Loose leash walking for example, potty training, fun little tricks, not bothering my cats or chasing squirrels/bunnies, and the fact that I can leave him unsupervised in my living room for a few hours and he touches nothing except his own toys.
However we have struggled so much with recall! We will take him to bigger fields usually at least once a day to throw a ball so that he gets a chance to really stretch his legs. He doesn't have any interest in running away from us, and he won't run up to other people or dogs at all which is good but getting him to come back to us has turned into a game for him. Thinks it's funny to dodge you and prance around you in circles with the ball in his mouth. He's not very treat motivated when we're out playing, only inside does he care a ton for treats. SOMETIMES having a soccer ball as a lure (he likes them way more than tennis balls?) will work but only because he's so determined to get the soccer ball from you that he'll run back, not because he actually is listening.
I've given him praise and treats for coming back and dropping the ball and sitting but he only does that maybe once out of four or five times. Running and dodging us seems to be more fun to him than praise and treats. When he was much younger this wasn't an issue, he's about 10.5 months old now so I realize his teenage personality is coming out.
I'm going to spend the afternoon doing some reading and watching more training videos but I wanted some Doberman-specific opinions! Here's a picture from a couple of weeks ago!
I'm actually incredibly proud of how far along he has come and how easy in general he was to train... Loose leash walking for example, potty training, fun little tricks, not bothering my cats or chasing squirrels/bunnies, and the fact that I can leave him unsupervised in my living room for a few hours and he touches nothing except his own toys.
However we have struggled so much with recall! We will take him to bigger fields usually at least once a day to throw a ball so that he gets a chance to really stretch his legs. He doesn't have any interest in running away from us, and he won't run up to other people or dogs at all which is good but getting him to come back to us has turned into a game for him. Thinks it's funny to dodge you and prance around you in circles with the ball in his mouth. He's not very treat motivated when we're out playing, only inside does he care a ton for treats. SOMETIMES having a soccer ball as a lure (he likes them way more than tennis balls?) will work but only because he's so determined to get the soccer ball from you that he'll run back, not because he actually is listening.
I've given him praise and treats for coming back and dropping the ball and sitting but he only does that maybe once out of four or five times. Running and dodging us seems to be more fun to him than praise and treats. When he was much younger this wasn't an issue, he's about 10.5 months old now so I realize his teenage personality is coming out.
I'm going to spend the afternoon doing some reading and watching more training videos but I wanted some Doberman-specific opinions! Here's a picture from a couple of weeks ago!
He is always running with two in his mouth, the silly, greedy boy.
