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My 1 year old un-altered male dobie is a joy with adults but barks and has shown dominance against kids.
He barks at them at has on one occasion snapped in the air behind a local 10 year old girl playing near my car with her friends scaring the xxxx out of her - this is my no means acceptable and I need your advice to stop it.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

Is there any reason to believe that the kids may have been teasing the dog? How well is the Dobe being socialized to be around other people? Adults aren't prone to making a lot of noise and having as quick of movements as young children. Was the dog leashed in the yard? He may have been trying to protect what he thinks is his property. I'm going to guess that maybe having the dog nuetered and attending obedience classes may help with the situation.
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Is there any reason to believe that the kids may have been teasing the dog? How well is the Dobe being socialized to be around other people? Adults aren't prone to making a lot of noise and having as quick of movements as young children. Was the dog leashed in the yard? He may have been trying to protect what he thinks is his property. I'm going to guess that maybe having the dog nuetered and attending obedience classes may help with the situation.

No - the kids were playing, roughhousing, yelling, laughing and gennerally being kids at play, not teasing the dog.
Yes - It's very probable he was trying to protect his territory.
I attend obedience classes twice weekly.
Neutering is a bit of a hot topic with many biased opinions - has anyone used this with success in a similar situation?

First and foremost I am by no means an expert.

Your dog needs to learn that it sits on the bottom of the ladder and that all humans are above it in the pecking order of the pack.

I have been watching the dog whisperer on TV and reckon his methods would be ideal for fixing this sort of problem ( no I am not trying to promote any of his products)

What this guy can do with vicious dogs is incredible and if I.
was in your position i would be starting here for sure

Hope this gets you going in the right direction

Cheers

Sheepdog

This might be just a simplification of the problem with kids, but just my thoughts. Although snapping is unacceptable, do you think that the kids are just getting on the dogs nerves and this is the way the dog can stop them? Might you be able to have the dog on lead when the kids are noisy and correct the dog a few times when the kids are loud?

Neutering is a good idea for several reasons:
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/why_you_should_spay_or_neuter_your_pet.html

>>My 1 year old un-altered male dobie is a joy with adults but barks and has shown dominance against kids.
>>He barks at them at has on one occasion snapped in the air behind a local 10 year old girl playing near my car with her friends scaring the xxxx out of her - this is my no means acceptable and I need your advice to stop it.
>>Any advice greatly appreciated.

A few suggestions. First and formost, neutering can help greatly in reducing aggressive behavior. I work with pit bulls. Testosterone drives a large part of aggression. Looking at the pit bull bite statistics that people could get full info, the grand majority were from intact males. Also there are a great deal of health benefits, including cancer reduction.

A few other ideas. You mentioned that the kids were roughhousing. Dobes are a protective breed by nature. When your children are roughhousing with others, it might be wise to keep the dog away. While we can look and say Oh they are playing, the dobe may look at say, leave whats mine alone!

You mentioned you go to training 2 times a week. Is this just you alone, or do the kids and hubby come along? I have seen many cases where the dog only listens to one person. Incorporating all humans in the family, will teach the dog that not only are you alpha, but so is the spouse and the children. This can help curb this behavior as well.

Lastly I assume this is a normal dobe and not an albino one.

Hopefully these ideas work.
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Cindy & the bully boys
CGC Brutus the bullheaded bulldoggie
CGC Caesar the fabulous pittie