Lots of company/help

[Kane08]

Okay..So I think I have posted on here before about Kane and company but I have noticed something at my last get together. We have lots of family functions and Kane seems to kinda stress out. Sheeba of course gets very unruly, jumping, and licking, that sort of stuff. I always try and make sure they get good excercise before hand and usually have their kongs with frozen pb ready to go but any who..So Kane will seem to be ok with everyone but then all of a sudden will start barking at one of the guys. Different ones at diff times but always a man. His hackes do not raise at all and I do not see any aggresion, I just see nervousness/unsureness? I tell the guys to let him smell their hands again and he will and then hes fine but like 30 min later he does it again..I of course know he is not gonna hurt them but when you are a guest and this big..kinda scary looking dog is barking at you, I can understand the unsureness. You know? Any help in making everyone more comfortable would be great help. oh..and one man he always barks at...my dad..he just doesnt like him..I dont know..help!!!:eek:

[jelly8bean]

This is pretty unusual. It sounds like you have done all the right things for Kane, and I'm sure you are right it is either uneasiness or perhaps boredom? My dobies will look right at me and bark sometimes when they want to play. They are trying to treat me like another dog (which I don't allow). Perhaps this is too stressful for him.. maybe you should crate him when you have lots of company? Or perhaps leash him to you? This would provide him support because you are always with him, and make your guests more comfortable?

[Kane08]

Leashing him to me sounds like a really good idea..I will put them in the crates with the kong but after a bit he starts cryin..I wonder if he was treated poorly by a man? He is never that way towards the girls, just the guys. What if I let the guys he is barking at give him treats? Then could he maybe see them as a source of something good?

[MLR]

Kane08,

I would never allow anyone other than myself to give either of my dobermans a treat. I'm not sure they would know how to differentiate between your doing that at your own social gatherings and some stranger coming up to them when they are out alone in the yard and using treats to gain access to take them or entrance to your property. I also never give anyone else's dog a treat if we meet up with someone I know with a dog when we are out waking. Instead I hand them the treat, if I'm treating mine at the time we are together for being good, and I let them give this treat to their own dogs. I do this for the same reason. It's hard to teach 'stranger danger' to dogs like you can with human children.

There's one little thing you might be overlooking here. First of all I am not making any assumptions about your friends or you. But when my male, Hercules, was about four months old some druggie guy blew marijuana smoke in his direction and laughed about it when we were just passing by on the sidewalk where he was standing while we were on one of our nightly walks. Ever since that time Hercules 'tells' me when someone is 'holding' drugs. As we approach another person on a walk, if Hercules greets them by going pocket to pocket and repeating that several times, I know that person is either carrying drugs or has recently used drugs. And he has walked past anywhere from five to ten cars along the street then suddenly dragged me over to one particular one where he is smelling the trunk or one of the doors. (I, of course pretend that he thinks there's a cat there and say loud enough for anyone nearby to hear for him to leave the cat alone because this could get serious with some of these people.) Believe me, this dogs talants are wasted on having a 60 year old woman for an owner. He would have made an exceptional police dog.

Also, it may not be drugs Kane is reacting to, it could just be something in particular about the person(s) he acts that way around that tells him to be alert and protective. One thing I've learned from Hercules is that dobermans never forget something out of the ordinary. It may just be a smell that Kane is not used to. Dogs are way more sensitive to things like that than we are. Maybe these guys work at a factory which produces some funny kind of oder which clings to their hair, for instance, that only Kane can smell. Or maybe it's their aftershave. Watch him and notice anything different about the person he reacts to the next time it happens. I'm sure you'll figure it out.

Mary Lou

[jelly8bean]

Wholly moley MLR.. I can't even think about where you must be living. I have lived in 12 states, and 13 cities and never had those sort of situation. I am no spring chicken either. My dogs are not there protection, but for my pleasure and love. I am there to protect them, I would never ask them to try to protect anything. Their presence may be intimidating, but if one of my babies ever did anything to menace a person, regardless of what was happening.. well, it would be horrible.

However, for the OP, I would first state that training your dog not to accept treats from strangers would be very very very difficult. Dogs are opportunistic feeders and will take food about any way they find it.

I think having a bowl of treats at the door for your visitors to make your dobies do some exercise and earn a treat from them is a great idea.. Say have them sit for the new person and earn the treats. Treats from visitors also helps the dogs understand that visitors are good things and should be looked upon fondly. It also may help your guests be more at ease once they see how quick the pups are to sit for the treats. :)

[MLR]

Geesh Jelly8bean, we don't all have the good fortune to live out in the country with our companion animals. I live in Battle Creek, MI in apartment complex, formerly built by the government during WWII, now owned by about 38 different mom & pop landlords. There are a total of 225 units in 98 buildings on three culdesac like streets and no one person runs this, each of the buildings is run by it's own owner. I do own my own house in this neighborhood, as well as two of the four unit buildings. Since no one person is in charge of who gets rented to it's not always serene here. And I didn't buy my dogs for protection; one was thrust on me by my son, the other was bought as a companion for him. I'm glad that you have never had to go through some of the things I have with my dogs. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. But I assure you I am not making any of these experiences with my two dobermans up. (Check out BattleCreekEnquirer.com if you don't believe me.)

All that being said, it is my opinion based on my experiences that it definently depends on the situation and the people a dog comes in contact with as to why it's reacting. What I was talking about was valid. Dogs, expecially dobermans, have a very keen sense of smell. If a dog is only reacting after all these people are gathered in the house and only reacting to certain males, it could be something as simple as their aftershave or even that those particular men are afraid of his dog and are projecting that and the dog is picking up on that. I'm not saying your way is wrong either if the problem is happening primarily at the entrance door.

While I have never had anyone come close enough to my dogs to tempt them with treats when I am not with them, I have heard from two other doberman owners who live within a 25 mile radius from me that their previous doberman's were stolen; one when the guy was a kid living in his parents home and somebody broke into the house and stole his dog, and the other a woman who had four dobe's stolen from her fenced in back yard while she was in the house doing laundry (these were all full grown dobermans). So maybe I am a little cautious because I, too, love my dogs very much and wouldn't want that to happen to them.

Mary Lou

[jelly8bean]

Don't get me wrong MLR.. I am not thinking you make this stuff up. Nor am I saying that your idea of something unique about the person may not have a valid basis. Clearly you have issues. But I have never lived in the "country" either.. though my 1/4 acre home sure sounds country compaired to apt living. Two adult high engery dogs like dobies in an apartment would be pretty daunting.

But let's face it .. your situation is not the norm and in most cases visitors offering treats is a very accepted training method, especially if the dog is not confident.

[MLR]

I'm sorry, I need to clarify something from my earlier post. I live in a house, not an apartment, which is located inside of an apartment complex type neighborhood.

While I have seen Victoria Stillwell on Animal Planet use the teqnique of having guests treat dogs at the door, this may not be the problem. My female will act out like this occaisionally with one or two friends who come to my house on a fairly regular basis but not every time. This seems to be when she feels threatened. Like if I've had to run out for a minute and she is surprised when I come back with someone or if she has been awakened from a sound sleep by their arrival. Usually all I have to do is touch the other persons hand and let her come over an smell them and she is fine after that. She has never bitten any person, only my other doberman when she gets excited like that.

Here's another thought; maybe the problem is that there are too many people in the house for this dobe. Mine seem to have a people quota when their inside, although they never act this way when we're out in crowds, they don't settle down at first when are too many people over. I'm curious to know if this happens all the time with the same men, even when there isn't a lot of other company around.

Mary Lou

[Kane08]

Hey guys..Well, we went to a dog park this weekend and you know, the same thing happened..there were really like 100 people there and tons of dogs..Kane did not have any issues with any dogs but he did bark at 2 men. One was really cool and let me bring Kane over and assure him and smell the guys hand but I did not get to do the same with the other. Its a little wierd..I also had an uncle come to visit us this weekend and Kane would be fine with him then for no reason start barking at him...thank goodness my uncle is pretty cool and just went about his business and would try and reassure kane whenever he would bark at him...I need a treat fanny pack or something I can have readily available for these moments I think...:p

[jelly8bean]

Interesting.. a crowded dog park would be too much for my babies. They can get overwhelmed and I don't feel confident that everyone is actually supervising. But to only pick two men? I guess he does have an issue with men.. and I would guess there is something about these folks. Size? My first rottie was concerned about tall men..short were no problem, but tall.. she ran. If they squatted down then she was fine with them. See if there are any similarities in possible odors (per MLR) or in appearance. I carry a treat fanny pack on walks now because I'm working on the loose leash walking and on overcoming distracting other dogs. So whenever I go out of the house with my Indigo I have treats and a clicker. I figure it is worth the couple of month investment to make this happen for the rest of her life.