Could any one please give me a bit of advice, I have  friend with a 6 year old dobe he has been used at stud once, 2 years ago.
He was a little aggressive towards other males but things have become worse and she really needs a bit of help. She has had to stop showing him and would love to hear if anyone has any ideas!!

He is great with all females and everyone else

Please Help

I would have thought that it was unwise in the first place to use a male who was 'male aggressive' at stud as this would be the obvious outcome.As we've pointed out before once is enough.However what is doe is done.
I think that if his behaviour has got that bad that she cannot show him etc it will be very hard to alter...but I hope someone will come along with some ideas to help
Archer

Its sounds like a dominance issue that needs to be addressed, because he has been used at Stud, he now feel dominant over all females. He is protecting them against other males.

In order to use a dog at stud you need to think about the resulant changes in character.

To address the balance authority of him/pack, leadership needs to be reastablished, because there may be an element of the dog trying to protect the owner, the owner needs to prove to the dog that the owner can handle a situation with another male dog. Simple things like greeting a male dog before the dog in question does, to prove that the owner has the situation under control.
hope this helps!!!

Most dobermann o0wners I know accept that the vast majority of male dobes will be male agressive, and that training is the only way to go in avoiding conflict.  Owner establishes control and doesn't allow the dog to kick off, but on the other hand isn't allowed to get in a situation with other males where conflict will start.

I know very few mature adult dobes who interact positievly with other male dogs of their own breed, or nmay dominat acting male.  The best that can be hoped for is good owner contr4ol and avoiding close proximity of other male dogs.

At shows most males will ignore each other up to a point, with owners taking care to avoid eye contact or too close proximity, and the dogs accept the owners authority.

This is not unique to Dobes, it is actually more common than not in many breeds. 

In my own breed there is usally a frisson between males at shows, even if they live quite happily with other males at home.  I know that in many of the Gundog breeds there seems to be zero male to male agression, but I think it is the exception rather than the rule.  After all at shows the dogs are all restricted on leads and on benches so do not ahve the opportunity to avoid conflict as they do off lead in the park, so you get more dog to dog tension.

yep -agree with you there Brainless - BSD males can also be male aggressive once fully mature whether they are used at stud or not - the two males that I owned that were used at stud had the easiest going natures around all dogs , the two that I also owned but did not use were right b*****s around other male BSD's ( they always seem worse with their own breed ! . I think that many of the guarding breeds have this tendency - all that you can really do is avoid close contact ( hence the numbers of owners standing miles away from the ringside :D ) Owners of other 'easier going breeds' often do not understand this trait and a personal bug bear are those who let their dogs wander right up on a long leads at shows. :(. Having said this I firmly believe that dogs who show extreme aggression should never be bred from and it is something that we should be trying to address .

Yep I agree with you there.  Most of the male dobes I know have been perfectly good off lead, and problems only arise when other dogs get in their face (usually around here small terrier types or staffs with inept owners), even then they were never out to look for trouble, and didn't do more than warn the other dog off.  This is rather diferent to the eye balling and getting on their high horse that can happen at a cramped show, but owners are generally sensible and aware so very rarely does anything serious kick off.

Any dog that is out and out looking for trouble and generally agressive in an indisctiminate or unpredictalbe manner has a faulty temperament and should not be used for breeding.

Sadly dogs like this have often been used for breeding by ill informed people who want a Guarding breed to be agressive.  This is usually aparent when the breed has high profile public popularity.

Now that Rotties are no longer so popular among the wrong sort of people it is amazing hiw I very rarely meet anything but nice natured ones bred by experienced breeders.

But this male was shown and was only a little aggressive until 2 years ago(so he would have been 4 years old) when used at stud.So although he was not totally sociable he was 'manageable'.This is exactly what we go on about when we say that being used at stud can change a dogs temperament
Archer

Dobermann males are notoriously aggressive with other dogs, males particularly.  Many are ok to start with but if something eyeballs them they will fly.  if the owner shows then i am very surprised they are not aware of it.
Dawn.

I know the past cannot be changed but it was totally wrong and irresponsible to breed from a dog with a less than perfect temperament.  Now most likely there may be nine or so little dobes with a genetic tendency to inter male aggression.

People should be breeding for stable temperament and not looks.

Wendy

Would you say the same of a Staffie that showed a beligerant attitude towards other dogs?
Dawn.

She isnt irresponsible, He had a wonderful temprement until he was used at stud or she wouldnt have used him, the trouble is she is living in Spain and the trainers she has met with are telling her to use collars with metal prongs on them :( She loves her dogs and because the aggression came once used at stud she hasnt ever used him again.
She has a bitch also that she shows ( no not bred together , lines not compatible)

Thank you to those that had helpful advice :D I will pass on the messages.

I agree the behaviour has almost certainly beencaused by the use of the dog at stud, but it's just possible a medical problem has occurred at the same time and if he was my dog i would check this out. Dobes can get thyroid problems (seek out Alise Shatoff on the net) and this can cause aggression. It's just a thought in case, in my view worth checking out.

Hard if she is in Spain, but she may like to invest in some good books to help her understand dog aggression - she could try "Bringing Light to Shadow" by Pam Dennison, and "Fight" by Jean Donaldson.

Lindsay
X

Lyndsay has raised a good point, and this is why it's so important to get a full medical done before any behavioural training is attempted (and why I don't advise on dog agression cases on the 'net).  As agression can have its roots in so many different causes, it is all to easy to leap on the first thing that comes to mind, and ignore everything else, which can make the problem a LOT worse :(

Dobermann male to male agression is not unusual although the level of the "trigger" can vary considerably.  I doubt in this case that mating the dog would have been the cause.

Agree that if general aggression has increased then get his thyroid checked (full panel that is done in the US, not local vets).  Might also be worth getting his eyes checked for PHPV as sight problems can also cause increased agression in some instances.

Hi Kerioak
I'm not disbelieving what you say ...after all your the dobe person not me ....but out of interest could you tell me why you doubt the mating affected his temperament if he had a good temperament up until the age of 4 at which point he was used to cover a bitch and the deteriation has taken place since then
Thanks Archer

Hi Archer

Read the first message again ?

I got the idea though from the message that for the first 4 years of his life the aggression was 'manageable' since he was shown etc and that since the breeding it had increased to a point where she needed help...maybe I'm interpreting things differently! :d
Archer

It's all in the interpretation isn't it :D

With most entire Dobermanns (and many other breeds) you will notice around the rings that owners keep an eye on them and make sure their eye contact with others is minimal - it is very subtlely done, not because the owners are hiding anything but more because it has probably become second nature