Hello everyone, my girlfriend has just got a 5yr old Doberman called Satan from her local dog shelter. He seems to really like her, even when he first met her he couldnt stop licking her! He is well trained (he used to be a guard dog), does what he is told, follows my girlfriend round the house everywhere (I know they do that). Thing is my girlfriend has a very large house, more like a castle really, and out of the whole place he always wants to sleep on her bed with her. This isn't a problem as she has a large bed and she doesnt mind sharing it with him. On the first night he was fine. After the second night, in the morning my girlfriend said that when she went to get up out of bed he growled at her, so she lay back down and he was ok, this happened a few times. She said as soon as she lay down with him again he was his usual self, licking her hand. Does anyone know what all this is about? I know an easy soloution is to not let him in the bedroom but I think there is prob an underlying issue here and we would like to get to the bottom of it. If anyone can offer any advice please do as tonight will be the third night.......

Thanks in advance, Matt

Maybe he wasnt allowed to sleep on the bed in his previous home ?
He may think that when she rises from bed she will then tell him to get off the bed ?
Just a thought
Lel

Thanks for you reply, I prob should have mentioned in my first post that he will get off the bed as soon as he is told. I know a way round the prob would be to tell him to get off the bed before she gets up, but i'm more worried about why he feels the need to growl at her at all. Do you think it could be that he is just very dominant, and he wants to decide when they get up? Seems strange tho because he is so obedient at all other times.

Sounds like a dominance thing. Dogs should be kept at a lower level than the owner to try to sort sort this out - ie not allowed on beds, chairs, etc. Also, owner should go through doors first, eat first etc.

Daisy

I don't think he is dominant, I think he may be trying to be! If he gets off without a quarrel, he knows his place but he's trying it on - don't let him think he's 'bigger' than he is!

If he was mine, I wouldn't let him upstairs.

Edit: PS - licking is often a sign of submission - just as pups do to the mother. He's seeing how high he can go. He'll most likely be happiest at the bottom of the pack.

Hi
if he is new it could be just the start seeing how far he can go if he gets away and she lays back down he could try somethink else,
Or maybe his larst owners went to get him of the bed one day and he done this and they walked away backing down from him so he thinks this is the way to go
I think as soon as he dose this he should be sent out of the room and not let back that day.
Myself not knowing his full history i wouldent have him on bed at my level
I would lay bedding on floor/dog bed for him and make him sleep on that if she realy wants him in room.
sandy.

Thanks for all the ideas, last night she just closed the door keep him out of the room. She said he was scratching to get in and ended up sleeping outside the door. When she went out of the room in the morning he was fine, just licking her. I told her to tell him to sit and stay at feeding time and put his bowl a good 6ft away and tell him to sit and stay for a few mins, then tell him to eat. Hopefully this will let him know where his place is.

Hi VioletStorm, I am haveing anassesment with pro trainer next week-end, he is also a Dobe specialist and deals with the working side of the breed, ( I don't have a Dobe and know little about them) Darren who posted here somewhere had a Dobe and took a course with him, its really the only succesfull outcome I have seen here with a dog that was completly out of control, my own observations of what you say make me ask the question, why would someone want to sell or give away a full trained guard dog at that age? and does your freind have any experience of trained guard dogs, to be honest it sounds a little forboding to me. If you email me I will send Darrens email and you can deal with him as his Dobe, although a pet, is up to competion standard now.

Im not really sure why they put him in the shelter, they said there are alot of reasons, people dont have the time, cant afford to feed them etc. He sat infront of his bowl without eating until he was told he was allowed to tonight. He had to be told to stay a few times but he seems really well trained, that was the reason I was worried about his growling at my girlfriend the other morning. After he was shut out of the room the following night he was fine so I think thats the way to go. My girlfriends parents used to breed and train German shepards when she was growing up so she is pretty used to having large dogs around. Im going to wait a few days and if there is a repeat of the growling I will take you up on the offer:)

Thanks,
Matt.

Hi
good luck to you and your girlfreind and hope all works out ok
They are a great breed to have and real clowns at times.
sandy.

Dobe's are by thier very nature strong characters. They are like a piece of velcro, but will test you at on regular occations throughout thier life. His growling is a likely attempt at being dominant before he gets told to get off the bed. I have a Dobe, who on occasions sleeps on my bed - but it is not always. This is the key with a Dobe, try him slepping next to the bed on his own bed for a while. This minor attempt of dominance will grow so stop it now. Like any dog they need to know who is boss, and will be much happier for it!