Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I have had my doberman for 5 months now and he has been a wonderful dog so far. However many people that talk to me about dobermans tell me they are extremely vicious and can flip at any time. One guy told me his poodle played with his doberman regurarly and one day the doberman went mad and killed his poodle. A few people have told me they have been attacked by dobermans or know of people that have been attacked by dobermans.

On the news just yesterday there was a story of a doberman which had attacked a 3 yr old child and the child is now in intensive care. I am becomming worried my doberman may flip on me, a family member or someone else. I dont want this to happen and would only consider my doberman to attack if me or my family were under harm.

As this forum has many doberman owners, please can people tell me of their experiences and if i should be worried or not. He has been great and only growled and barked at me once when i told him off and i think that was because of dominance. He stopped as soon as i shouted at him. I have a younger sister that plays with him and i dont want her to be harmed. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

>>Hi,
>>
>>I have had my doberman for 5 months now and he has been a wonderful dog so far. However many people that talk to me about dobermans tell me they are extremely vicious and can flip at any time. One guy told me his poodle played with his doberman regurarly and one day the doberman went mad and killed his poodle. A few people have told me they have been attacked by dobermans or know of people that have been attacked by dobermans.
>>
>>On the news just yesterday there was a story of a doberman which had attacked a 3 yr old child and the child is now in intensive care. I am becomming worried my doberman may flip on me, a family member or someone else. I dont want this to happen and would only consider my doberman to attack if me or my family were under harm.
>>
>>As this forum has many doberman owners, please can people tell me of their experiences and if i should be worried or not. He has been great and only growled and barked at me once when i told him off and i think that was because of dominance. He stopped as soon as i shouted at him. I have a younger sister that plays with him and i dont want her to be harmed. Any advice would be appreciated.
>>
>>Thanks.

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

Shouting at a dog is one of the things that could cause people to think a dog has "flipped"--actually what has happened is they have pushed the dog into defending himself.

When dogs of the same sex are kept together and they start to mature, fighting often begins that was not there before. To a knowledgeable person it was totally predictable, but to owners who didn't know any better, the dog "flipped."

Read the article on Defensive Dog Behavior at the link below my name for why your dog reacted as he did. If you continue that method, your dog will "flip"--and it won't be unpredictable or a flaw in his temperament in the breed at all. It will be improper handling of a high-powered breed.

To have a Doberman, Rottweiler, German Shepherd, Labrador or many other breeds, you need to make a serious commitment to formal dog training and become a knowledgeable, skilled dog handler. These dogs were not bred to live successfully without the right training and management. It will not work. It's not fair to blame the dogs for the owners who don't do their homework.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Well said. Thank you.

It's really sad that all these pathetic myths are still floating around.

Dobermans do not just FLIP and/or TURN on their owners. It's not genetically programmed into their genes of any sort. It all comes down to how they brought up. How they're treated, trained and sociallized.

Any dog will do the same thing if treated like that.

>>It's really sad that all these pathetic myths are still floating around.
>>
>>Dobermans do not just FLIP and/or TURN on their owners. It's not genetically programmed into their genes of any sort. It all comes down to how they brought up. How they're treated, trained and sociallized.
>>
>>Any dog will do the same thing if treated like that.

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

Well, what causes some of these problems is that there are dogs who will take outrageous abuse and never fight back. A lot of trainers, sad to say, have had this kind of dog themselves, and they think it's okay to treat dogs that way. When a normal dog can't take it, they blame the dog!

My first dog of the breed I have now was one of the sweetest and easiest. My second was one of the most difficult and quick to go into a defense fight mode! In both cases, genetics played a huge role.

Dobes when they first came to the USA--long before any dogs still here now--were very aggressive because the breeder's founder wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree when it came to what makes a reliable protection dog.

But the American breeders who have worked with the Doberman got right to work, and have bred a very nice dog now, for the right owners. The Dobe is more responsibility than a Poodle or a Golden Retriever. But it's not prone to "flipping," if it ever was.

I don't think that was the temperament even 100 years ago. I think it was just more like my dog of a different breed--too trigger happy. Even then, she lived 13 years without ever hurting anyone or any other dog, because we managed her carefully and she had years of solid training. That's the job with any dog. But it's more responsibility with some than with others, even dogs within the same breed.

If you're paying attention to the dog, and deal with any warning signs appropriately--not by getting tough with the dog, but by positively teaching a better behavior--you'll do fine with most dogs, including Dobes. Every dog is different, and it's our job to get into formal training and formal testing situations with our dogs to learn how to handle THAT dog properly.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47