Any dog behaviorists?

[Ailinea]

So the woman that owns the boarding kennel I work at also fosters dogs for Illinois Doberman Rescue+. We usually have on average 5 dobes at the kennel waiting for forever homes. Many of them have behavior problems and potential adoptees have to put in a deposit to "prove" that they'll be taking their new doberman to obedience training.

Anyway, she's had us start doing regular playtimes with the dobes since they've been there so long. She wants to make sure they're getting plenty of human attention. Most of the dobes are their normal hyper selves and love to play fetch, run around, or occasionally get a pet on the head.

We currently have a fawn dobe named Deuce who was surrendered to the rescue. He has obviously never received any type of training and so far has been the most difficult dobe I've had to play with. He is very hyper and likes to n** at your ankles or the back of your leg when he's outside. When you yell at him to tell him no, shake a shaker can at him, or spray him with water to get him to stop, he barks, growls, bows, and becomes even more agitated. He hasn't bit down hard or anything, but when he starts his growling or barking it's a little disconcerting. He's only distracted with treats and I'll usually open his run, throw a treat in the yard, he'll chase it, and I'll close the gate behind him. Playing ball with him usually results in him trying to chase you and n** at your behind.

I'll sometimes go into his inside run when he's a bit more calm to rub on his ears and he LOVES that. I'm hoping with more petting and attention he'll be better around people, but once he gets outside his energy gets the best of him and all he wants to do is play, bark, and n**. Deuce is starting to grow on me as we're best friends when I'm petting him, but his outside behavior is starting to concern me not only when the other kennel techs have to play with him, but how it will affect his adoptability.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do to improve his behavior? Any ideas on how to get him to stop nipping? He knows sit really well and will sit for a treat, but that's about the extent of his commands.  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

Sounds like the shep mix puppy we have at our clinic. She has a fractured skull and as a result, it's extreme cage rest for her, no toys, chews, running, nothing. She's bored out of her MIND and teething. The second you open her cage or attempt to take her for a walk she wants to chew EVERYTHING, my hand, my arm, my shirt, my shoes.

Best I can say is attempt to redirect the nipping. When sophie chews my arm I say ow, and I hold her mouth. This probably wouldn't work with a full grown dobe, but then I walk away from her cage. She is slowly getting it. Gentle=attention, chewing= me walking away. And I praise her when she redirects her chewing to the soft toy she's now allowed.

Trying to burn off as much of that energy as possible is always a good place to start. But as far as discipline goes. I think just taking a time out from play is better than other forms that will agitate him more. Just make sure to praise big time every moment he is good.  

[DeeSpark]

Gabrielle gave good advice.

I would just ignore the behavior. Punishing is just going to make it worse in this case. When she nips etc. try to just stay as still as possible and give her no attention until she stops (I would wear jeans or something for this). When she does stop, tell her she is a good girl and give her a small treat. She might start nipping again, just repeat what you did before, again and again. I would also work on training her to sit very well, as good as you can make her sit, so that you can skip the part where you have to stand there and let her n** you, and tell her to sit, and then reward her with a small treat for sitting.

She sounds like she has a lot of exercise, so try and take her on as many walks, or as long as possible walks as you can. Also play with her heaps, maybe cut a tennis ball and put some food in there to get her more motivated. Does she like tug? You could start off by walking in, and just shoving the tug in her mouth every time she goes to n**, and once she has drained a bit of energy, let her n** and work on that.

Sorry by the way, I just realized I have been calling him a she haha. I am to lazy to change it, so just pretend I said 'he', and don't tell him about it xd  

[Krissim Klaw]

First off I will state I am not a behaviorist or trained in any manner.

I think you have a few things working against you. Lack of training, being kenneled all day and then mix it up with a large helping of prey drive. This is a dog you are going to really have to watch your energy level with in the beginning. If you shriek, yell, start talking in a squeaky high pitched voice, run, flap your arms around at, or do other over stimulating behaviors you are only going to amp him up further.

My suggestion would be to start off low key with him. If he nips at you, I would give a quick verbal correction in a firm voice and then immediatly follow up by completely ignoring him until he has calmed down. Wear long pants, boots and long sleeves so you will have less worry about getting scratched in the process. You want to stand firm I would fold my arms so there is nothing tempting for him try and grab. No eye contact, no verbal sounds, nothing but a big old frown until he relaxes. Only then will you start the play back up.

In the mean time, I would work on redirecting his energy on a toy. Get something like a long rope or one of the balls with a rope on the end so there is plenty of room between your hand and the object to help prevent accidents during play. If at any time his teeth/mouth meets your flesh, the play immediately stops and I would revert to ignoring him until he has completely calmed down. You want him to associate his mouth on human skin resulting in all the fun stopping.

I would be very careful with using treats to reward after the behavior has stopped. A clever dog like a dobe can very quickly learn, I bite human, human tells me to stop, I stop, I get treat. Thus, they will n**, to get you to tell them to stop so they can stop and get their treat. It can start an association chain you don't want. xd

As a safety precaution I would leave a lead and drag line on him when you are in the play area with him so if in emergency you can quickly regain control.  

[Ailinea]

Thanks, guys! I will definitely give these ideas a try and let you know how they worked out!  

[Azusanga]

I was always a fan of long leads. Put him on the lead and run with him to burn some of his energy before you start to do things like throwing balls or anything of the sort. I wouldn't suggest tug toys, as she may start to see the tug toy as a dominance thing. I was always taught to NOT play tug with any dog that may have biting issues such as nipping and herding. When you throw a ball for her, stand against a wall, and when she comes back to you, kneel down to her level so that you can a.) defend against any possible nips with a strong "No" and end of play (short term) and b.) be down to her level where she's more likely to not see you as something to be herded.

Good luck!  

[DeeSpark]

Azusanga

I was always a fan of long leads. Put him on the lead and run with him to burn some of his energy before you start to do things like throwing balls or anything of the sort. I wouldn't suggest tug toys, as she may start to see the tug toy as a dominance thing. I was always taught to NOT play tug with any dog that may have biting issues such as nipping and herding. When you throw a ball for her, stand against a wall, and when she comes back to you, kneel down to her level so that you can a.) defend against any possible nips with a strong "No" and end of play (short term) and b.) be down to her level where she's more likely to not see you as something to be herded.

Good luck!

But playing tug can wear out a lot of their predatory energy and doesn't actually encourage biting or anything. But fetch is good to, just something to wear the dog out smile  

[Azusanga]

DeeSpark

Azusanga

I was always a fan of long leads. Put him on the lead and run with him to burn some of his energy before you start to do things like throwing balls or anything of the sort. I wouldn't suggest tug toys, as she may start to see the tug toy as a dominance thing. I was always taught to NOT play tug with any dog that may have biting issues such as nipping and herding. When you throw a ball for her, stand against a wall, and when she comes back to you, kneel down to her level so that you can a.) defend against any possible nips with a strong "No" and end of play (short term) and b.) be down to her level where she's more likely to not see you as something to be herded.

Good luck!

But playing tug can wear out a lot of their predatory energy and doesn't actually encourage biting or anything. But fetch is good to, just something to wear the dog out smile

really?? Didn't know that. I was told tha tugging can be signs of dominance, and it's just best avoided as the dog can get injured from it (taking things a little too far). When I had Kayda and she was younger, I set up a little agility course. She loved it since it stimulated her mind and body. And how un is it to get a little treat at the end of a good run