Showing dominance towards my child

[Angrylilman15]

Hello and good day. I am just reaching out to see how some of you all dealt with your doberman showing dominance to a family member.

We have a 7 month old female doberman named Chloe who is half Euro and half American. She is great for the most part and loves and respects my 2 month old son and 1 year old daughter. However, when it comes to my 6 year old son she acts completely different. She bites at his heels a lot and always tries to stop him from what he is doing. For example- today he was riding on his bike and she ran up and bit him on his arm. Didnt seem aggressive in nature but more so like a dominance/corrective manner bite. He is the only person she does this too. I don't want this to one day be a serious bite and me have to get rid of her and my son be injured.

Any advice?

Thank you!

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Welcome to DCF.

Your 7mo old pup is in the doberteen stage and this is normal behavior they present when corrective training is not being done.

Your 6yr old is running playing and active and the pup looks at him as an equal playmate. Dobermans play rough and most have a prey drive which kicks in when kids run, play, squeals.

Basic training needs to start immediately and your son needs to be involved in the training process.
Start by letting your son feed your puppy and teaching the puppy to sit and wait for a release command before eating.

Crate training is essential to young pups to teach appreciation for their free time out of the crate.

Have you pup on a lead when your son rides his bike and put them in a down position and let the pup learn that he cannot chase, bite or come in contact with anyone on a bike, skateboard or roller blades. He needs that environmental training to learn about distractions and how to calmly handle them.

Keep a leash on him when in the house so you can give a correction if he starts to bite or nip at anyone in the house.
They need mental stimulation to tire them out and physical activity to burn some of their physical energy.

Structure and training will correct this behavior.
Teach NILIF (nothing in life is free) and make your pup work for everything he gets. That includes toys, food and interaction.

Training, training, training will correct bad behaviors and instill good behaviors. They need guidance, boundaries, firm but fair corrections and where they stand in the pack hierarchy.

Do not allow free reign in the home, no roughhousing inside allowed and no free choice of toys laying around. Only one toy at a time and make them earn the toy by asking for a sit or down, then praise and treat when they comply. Do not allow them on any furniture either.

 

[Doberman Gang]

What Tropicalbri said above

 

[Ravenbird]

What Tropicalbri said above

Yup. It's all right there in her post.

 

[Angrylilman15]

Thank you for the great advice. I will act on it. Would it be worthwhile to enlist the help of a professional trainer as well?

Welcome to DCF.

Your 7mo old pup is in the doberteen stage and this is normal behavior they present when corrective training is not being done.

Your 6yr old is running playing and active and the pup looks at him as an equal playmate. Dobermans play rough and most have a prey drive which kicks in when kids run, play, squeals.

Basic training needs to start immediately and your son needs to be involved in the training process.
Start by letting your son feed your puppy and teaching the puppy to sit and wait for a release command before eating.

Crate training is essential to young pups to teach appreciation for their free time out of the crate.

Have you pup on a lead when your son rides his bike and put them in a down position and let the pup learn that he cannot chase, bite or come in contact with anyone on a bike, skateboard or roller blades. He needs that environmental training to learn about distractions and how to calmly handle them.

Keep a leash on him when in the house so you can give a correction if he starts to bite or nip at anyone in the house.
They need mental stimulation to tire them out and physical activity to burn some of their physical energy.

Structure and training will correct this behavior.
Teach NILIF (nothing in life is free) and make your pup work for everything he gets. That includes toys, food and interaction.

Training, training, training will correct bad behaviors and instill good behaviors. They need guidance, boundaries, firm but fair corrections and where they stand in the pack hierarchy.

Do not allow free reign in the home, no roughhousing inside allowed and no free choice of toys laying around. Only one toy at a time and make them earn the toy by asking for a sit or down, then praise and treat when they comply. Do not allow them on any furniture either.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Thank you for the great advice. I will act on it. Would it be worthwhile to enlist the help of a professional trainer as well?

Absolutely. They will train you how to train your puppy.
Try to find a trainer that is familiar and experienced with the Doberman breed.

 

[Ravenbird]

Try to find a trainer that is familiar and experienced with the Doberman breed.

This is most important, or at least working breeds.

 

[Kaiser2016]

How are things coming along now?

 

[Angrylilman15]

How are things coming along now?

She has made a complete turn around. We worked on training her (ourselves and professionally) and keep her very active which has helped a a lot. Only fault is we do let her on the couch. However, this is upon command only.

 

[Kaiser2016]

Great news!