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My family has a female doberman pinscher adopted from our local SPCA. We were told she used to live with 21 other dogs. We were told she had some food aggression, but we have only seen it towards the cat. We've only had her since Monday, but we have sat next to her while she has eaten and she hasn't displayed any aggression towards us. She didn't attack the cat over the food, but was watching him instead of eating and seemed to be worried he would take her food.
Someone I used to work with at Petsmart told me about a long haired german sheperd that a woman who volunteers with a rescue that comes to petsmart has. The other dog in the household is picking on her, so she needs to find the poor dog a new home where it will not be picked on. We left our phone number for her and when she comes back in it will be given to her.
Our doberman really seems to love other dogs, and we think she might be happier with a friend. Knowing that they will need to be seperated for feeding, is this something we should consider? We don't have a yard at our house, but have access to tennis courts at the highschool near us, and can get a key to the neighborhood tennis courts. We took our lab there at least once a week, and usually more often for running around time, and would continue to do the same. The dogs would be walked a few miles a day, and would very rarely be home alone for more than what time it would take to go to lunch or the supermarket it. My mom works as a crossing guard, and my sister is effectively home schooling (internet charter school, she is home unless someone takes her out to lunch or something like that).
Is it worth setting up a meeting for the dogs if the woman wants to do that, or should we just look for a male for her?

I did some more research on getting a second dog to go with mine, and I guess it seems like a bad idea to have two females, especially if one is a Doberman. Am I unforunately assuming correctly? I guess we would be much better off to get her a male freind. If we got another dog, it would most likely come from a shelter, and we wouldn't get a puppy. What breeds/mixes might be good ones to look at with the Doberman, and what breeds would it be best not to consider?

>>I did some more research on getting a second dog to go with mine, and I guess it seems like a bad idea to have two females, especially if one is a Doberman. Am I unforunately assuming correctly? I guess we would be much better off to get her a male freind. If we got another dog, it would most likely come from a shelter, and we wouldn't get a puppy. What breeds/mixes might be good ones to look at with the Doberman, and what breeds would it be best not to consider?

>>>>>

You are correct, it's not a good idea to get a second dog of the same sex to live side-by-side with a Doberman. I'd recommend before getting any other dog that you work with this for at least two years, including several months of training class. That gives her time to get well bonded with the family and to work through any behavior issues first. If you get a second dog too soon, the second one learns the bad habits of the first dog, and they both tend to bond more to each other than to you.

As far as what kind, similar size but opposite sex. After thoroughly training your Dobe in weekly training classes, you'll have met a lot of other breeds and have a better idea what you would enjoy. If you want another large dog, you might consider a male retriever. There are so many Labs and Goldens in rescue that many get put down for lack of homes. The two would probably get along well, too.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

Thanks. We'll have her in training as soon as we make the decision on the place to go. Actually, as soon as I make a decision on the place she's going. I think I have been handed responsibility over that decision. There is one trainer at the Petsmart I used to work at that I would sign her up with if he had a class someone in the family could take her to, but of course he doesn't. Our vet recommended a club I really liked, and may go with but they are rather far from the house. Another club was recommended by the breeder our neighbor got her samoyed from, but I can't find them online and haven't gotten a call back.
She seems to have some training, but I don't know what entirely she has learned. Nonetheless even a dog who is beautifully trained needs to go to training with new people.

>>My family has a female doberman pinscher adopted from our local SPCA. We were told she used to live with 21 other dogs. We were told she had some food aggression, but we have only seen it towards the cat. We've only had her since Monday, but we have sat next to her while she has eaten and she hasn't displayed any aggression towards us. She didn't attack the cat over the food, but was watching him instead of eating and seemed to be worried he would take her food.
>>Someone I used to work with at Petsmart told me about a long haired german sheperd that a woman who volunteers with a rescue that comes to petsmart has. The other dog in the household is picking on her, so she needs to find the poor dog a new home where it will not be picked on. We left our phone number for her and when she comes back in it will be given to her.
>>Our doberman really seems to love other dogs, and we think she might be happier with a friend. Knowing that they will need to be seperated for feeding, is this something we should consider? We don't have a yard at our house, but have access to tennis courts at the highschool near us, and can get a key to the neighborhood tennis courts. We took our lab there at least once a week, and usually more often for running around time, and would continue to do the same. The dogs would be walked a few miles a day, and would very rarely be home alone for more than what time it would take to go to lunch or the supermarket it. My mom works as a crossing guard, and my sister is effectively home schooling (internet charter school, she is home unless someone takes her out to lunch or something like that).
>>Is it worth setting up a meeting for the dogs if the woman wants to do that, or should we just look for a male for her?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I addressed your second-dog question on the other post, but here let me give you a link to my article on food guarding. As it mentions, you're going to need to give this dog privacy/protection from the cat while she's eating. Otherwise, the cat will be in danger and her food guarding behavior will be aggravated, too. Here's the article link:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1462&S=1&SourceID=47
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

I have been telling the rest of the family to remove the cat from the room when she eats, but I guess it would be better if the cat were put somewhere else before the food is set down.
We had a lab before her who ran into the street and was killed by a car, and we didn't want to get a lab again right away. Well, my younger sister and I didn't want a lab again right now. However, we did consider a lab mix puppy at the shelter, but reasoned against it after hearing someone else was ahead of us on the application. We could have gotten it if they decided not to, but that got us thinking as to the practicality of it. Although someone is usually home, house training a puppy is always going to be work. Even though puppies are cute, the things they do aren't as cute. I'm sure she found a home, either with the person who was ahead of us or another family, as she and my dog are gone from the shelter's petfinder listing.

do give you and your new dobie plenty of time. you haven't really had her long enough to know how she might react under a variety of situations involving other dogs or people, etc. or maybe you have?

a dog from a shelter sometimes doesn't really show its true colors until it goes through an adjustment period. with some dogs that have come from a not-so-good prev. home this can take more time. having said that, its true that some would turn out to be more affectionate/playful than expected, BUT it could go the other way.

Also consider the other dog, if in this case, this shep has been being attacked, she needs to be in a home where there is 100% certainty that that won't happen again. It wouldn't be fair to the shep to have to go through an adjustment while feeling threatened by any person/dog, etc. Also, & I'm not certain that this is a 'fact', but it seems to me, that some dogs that have been attacked, send a type of message to other dogs that could even initiate them being attacked.

I agree, your best bet is to get in classes, you might want to go observe & don't rule out the club, but ask lots of questions & be honest about your dog's history & your own experience. You might, in time, find just the right dog, through word of mouth from those able to help you make the best choise. Keep us updated.

I ended up signing her up in petsmart because they had classes at a time I could get to, and other family members will be able to come. I know they use positve methods there, and although I don't know the particular trainer, i'll go in and see a class before it starts.
She met a german sheperd tonight in the store, and I am glad the owner weas very understanding. We were so used to having to pull our other dog away from others, that has become a tendency to want to pull the dog away from others. He told us let the leash loose, something I know but was just not used to doing. I think his dog was female as it had a red leash and what looked like a very faded pink collar. It also appeared to be on the small side. They sniffed each other and then barked at each other, but nothing really aggressive.
She must have been trained some, and I think the class would be a nice oppurtunity to see what she knows. I'll probably continue her to Advanced, something we did not do with our other dog, perhaps because she was so difficult to handle around 99% of other dogs. My sister is really interested in the group our vet mentioned and takes her Doberman to, and I wouldn't rule it out if we decided to do further training.
The trainer that calls herself the *county I live in* all breeds group, isn't really that. She does private training in my county, but teaches her group classes in Philadelphia, about an hour from my house. She couldn't get her permit renewed to teach in the township she was in before, and the reason isn't listed stated on her website. I have no idea why she lost her permit, but it's not something I like. Also, she was recommended by the breeder our neighbors got their samoyed from, and i've really come to doubt the legitimacy of the breeder. If I am going to choose a club, it would be the one recommended by my vet, as I really like their philosophies. I like the other woman's as well, but they appear to come strictly out of clicker training books and psychology texts, without her own thought on them. I could come up with the same philosophy, and I am not a professional (although, I do have a better amount of experience using operant conditioning than I suspect most people do. I do it with kids. For my fieldwork class in school I go to a preschool class for autistic children, and I do one on one work. The theories are almost the same, and i've begun to wonder if I am the first person who has thought using a clicker with these kids might be a good idea.)
My other thought is maybe getting a good book for teaching advanced skills, but that's for another discussion.

is exactly what its all about. I too studied this in school & worked with adolescents in a facility.

I also went to a petsmart class, which I'd rate as a 5 out of 10, but because I knew what I was doing from prior experience, we were able to make the best of the distractions/socialization, etc.

There is always room to learn more about applying the methods specifically for dogs, but motivation/immediacy of reward etc are key.

Thanks for sharing & keep us updated.

I think it's true of petsmart and any place you train at, it depends on the individual teacher you have. I'd say the same of classes in school. If you have a good teacher you have a better learning experience.
I don't dislike the woman who we took our first dog to for training, I just feel as though I like other trainers better. There is a man who is a trainer at petsmart and if he had a class I could take her to, I would have signed up right away. If there wasn't a location issue with the group my vet recommended, I would be there. Those things didn't work out in my favor, so I took the option that was the best for the situation. If I don't have good feelings about the trainer then I will get a refund and sign up somewhere else.
I could train her on my own, and might do that for more advanced things, but for basic I feel like it would be better to do it in a class. It will allow me to have someone there who can help me and make suggestions. We couldn't find a treat or a toy the first dog would really like, but the trainer was able to suggest something to us. She was able to work with us on bringing our dog from the outside of the training area and in next to the smaller dogs. Many places wouldn't have accepted a dog who was other dog aggressive, and I understand the reasons, but I really have to pride the trainer who made this situation work. The other night I saw another dog in training doing the same thing. They had him outside the ring and were working toward bringing him closer. They aren't the best place because it can be highly distracting, anybody can go there, whether or not they know how to control their dog on a leash or not, and although the dogs in the classes have to have vacine records, the same is not true of the dogs who come in the store. Nonetheless, I think if you know the downsides of training there, and are willing to deal with them, it isn't a bad place, and I could even say that for some it is really a good place. Some training is certainly better than none,and it might help keep dogs out of shelters (and I think of some specific cases too).

>>> a dog from a shelter sometimes doesn't really show its true colors until it goes through an adjustment period. with some dogs that have come from a not-so-good prev. home this can take more time. having said that, its true that some would turn out to be more affectionate/playful than expected, BUT it could go the other way.

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This could not be more true. Be very careful to evaluate thoroughly. My dog came from a somewhat neglectful home and it took him two months to show his true aggression by attacking my sister and leaving her with two gashes on her face. She nearly lost an eye and now he will probably be euthanized.

Use extreme caution with dogs from a shelter, whether you know something about their history or not. Believe me, you don't want to wait until something really horrible happens to know how bad the situation really is.