My brown Dobe bitch Daisy(81/2month) is killing me quickly. She never stops from dawn to dusk, always looking for things to do or do in. We walk 2 times a day, well I and the JRT walk, she runs for the 2 hrs. She is getting a lot more polite but she is such a handfull and she'll only calm down when I get angry and shout or storm off in desperation for some peace. I am totally worn out and I'm suprised my husband doesn't want a divorce as I am living and breathing Daisy. I try not to but she is so demanding. All I need is a light or a spark of hope. Please tell me she will grow out of it and when?

At the moment you need to be giving her less physical exercise but much more mental exercise. At her age her walks shouldn't be more than 45 minutes maximum, a lot of that on-lead, to avoid damaging her growing joints. Apart from that, the more exercise you give her, the fitter she'll become and the more she'll demand!

So, cut down the length of the walks and do lots of training sessions - brain exercise isvery tiring! (Think how tired people are after a long day at the office.)
:)

Thanks for the advice and I used to do a lot of training in the garden and that did seem to tire her, so I will do more as you advise. The trouble is that she can get a bit stir crazy and the long walks calm her down no end, but I understand what you are saying and I should do less free running and more lead work. She has a lot of Dutch sport dog in her breeding line and is far to intelligent and prey motivated for her own good, so her brain is going all the time. I have posted before about the problems she's had with fustration aggression etc and the walks are giving her a lot more confidence out in the world, but no, I will do more obedience and lead walking and see if that makes a difference to her. All in all she's doing very well, it just that delinquint age I guess. Thanks again to all the posters for the advice and support.

Also, start doing her obedience training in places other than the garden - sits, downs and stays taught in the wood or the park are never wasted, and require a lot of concentration from the dog, which is very tiring ...
:)

i don't know id this is any consolation, but my lab has only just calmed down in the past couple of months!! Shes now 21mths.

i agree with JG-you need to make her activities mentally demanding as oppose to physically. When my girl was younger she was like a tornado.

what about a kong or bustercube thing? I have a molecule ball, and have had for both my pups-keeps them occupied for ages! And it will give you a bit of peace.

i suppose the thing is to remember is that she's still very much a baby, and has hard as it is, you just have to be patient. It'll pay you back dividends.

nicola x

Whats a molecule ball? She has a kong and gets bored with that!

its a ball in the shape of a molecule with a hole in the top to put treats in. I got mine from Pets At Home-the smaller ones are four quid i think. My two love it.

nic x

Great, I'll get one ASAP

Actually I bought one of these balls, I put some treats in it, my dobe played with it for a while, he got impatient with it because the treats didn't come out as quick as he wanted and within two hours he had broken it open and eaten the treats so I had to throw it away.  My sister had one for her beagle and he loved it, and has still got it one year on.

I know exactly how you feel, we were at our wits end with our Kayla(Hungarian Vizsla) from around the time we brought her home @ 7weeks til last summer when she turned two :)

She was a tough nut to 'crack'...we were sure she's been dropped on her head at birth :D But she was simply young, high spirited, independent, stubborn and a little bit loopy but we persisited with her training, I discovered clicker and target training and I focused on teaching her lots of little 'tircks' to keep her mind occupied...its amazing how much even a little but of training takes it out of pup....and gives you a break while the re-charge their batteries!!

Stick in there with her, it takes time and persistance but it will pay off in the end and, like us, you will watch her with pride when she behaves like an angel for you :D Saying that, Kayla is NO angel...perfect recall out on walks, for example, but in the garden...well she just thinks thats a bit of a joke but we love her to bits, she just needed LOTS of time and patience...easy to say but hard to do, I know :)

Good luck with Daisy

Emily

I have a clicker kit, still in the packet, I will use it tomorrow.

I find big raw frozen bones are good, they last a while, and training of course!  My dobe calmed down (well, started to...) at around 18 months old - he was a loon till then!  He still has his moments (he turned 2 in April), but he's much calmer.  So you will have a while yet - also, from what I've read from the people over at that dobe forum, the girls tend to be more loony than the boys generally, so she may always be energetic - but that's normal for a dobe, they are one of the higher energy breeds.  but she should mature around 12-18 months, I would think - girls tend to mature faster than boys, as in so many species :D

Definitely recommend the clicker training - it's been a godsend with both my pups, and they seem to learn so much faster with it.  If you go to the dobe forum, there is a link (after you've signed in) for "Links to Training Articles" or something similar, there are absolutely loads of articles there on everything from attention to tricks.  Very handy!

Why not take up tracking?

This is a good way of tiring a dog out both mentally and physically with the concentration required to track.

hi nikita

where is the dobe forum, could you post the link?? i wouldn't mind having a look around..

thanks.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/11341

there you go!

I've been on there asking for advice and support as I think you kindly suggested on my first post. Daisy as you know has been and still is to some degree a very difficult rescue, almost dragging us kicking and screaming through all kinds of emotional termoil and heartache.  They don't seem to care about that or even believe me when I say what has happened so far. They appear terrified that Daisy will kill and bring THEIR Dobe breed into disrepute? They are convinced I should get in another behaivourist or worse and scream at me that I cannot do anything right. Although I have followed a lot of their advice in the begining, it's not enough it seems and I can't do anything right for doing wrong(very confusing) There are 6 or 7 posters who have really got it in for Daisy and I in a most peculiar way. Be carefull what you say and for goodness sake don't debate or you'll be for it! I cannot believe how rude they can be. They are mostly Americans of course and they are a lot different to us Brits I soppose? Read my posts and their replies, it's embarressing for me and very frustrating, but you'll see what I mean. i won't be going on their again, unless I feel a need to self destruct of course.

I have been following your posts on there (I'm Delia on there, btw), and all the various replies you've had.  I must say I'm kind of in the middle in my opinion on the whole thing, where their replies are concerned - I too think you should seek another behaviourist, and certainly shouldn't be put off by that one really crappy one you saw (and my, she was crappy!!); at the same time, you have been putting an awful lot of work in from what I've read, and I can only commend you for that!

I agree though, they can be a hard bunch to go along with, especialyl with such a subject as this - as I wrote in the reply I left for you, I went to that forum with serious temper issues (mine), and they did give me some very harsh replies - the first thing most said was to rehome my dobe, as I wasn't a good enough owner.  but in amongst those replies was the odd comment along the lines of me working on my relationship with Remy and going from there - you really have to pick up on the important stuff.  I told them I wouldn't rehome him, and I didn't - and once they realised I was serious about really trying, they were very supportive and me and Remy are much better for it.  I can definitely say if I hadn't gone on there, chances are by now he'd have bitten me and been rehomed - all because of me.

Their comments about the good of the breed are well founded - if they do seem selfish.  Dobermanns have had a hell of a rep, still do, and any bad press sadly goes a long way - same as with Staffs and Rotties, that sort of thing.  The attitude toward dobes in the US is a HELL of a lot worse than here - there are constantly anecdotes of strangers screaming when they see a dobe (even walking to heel, behaving perfectly) and dragging their kids away from the "killer dog" - so they are very protective of the good dogs, and wary of the bad.  But I do think they've laboured that point far too much, really.  The focus now should be on improving Daisy!

I'll admit I was wary when I read that you were letting Daisy off, after all that's happened - but, having read your post about the quarry, fair enough, you're being very sensible about it - and lucky! I'd kill for a totally safe place to let my dogs off :)

So good luck, try not to take too much of the bad stuff to heart - focus on the little helpful bits they tell you and you'll do well, that's something I've learnt from the forum.  They are all very blunt, certainly don't mince their words and are very opinionated, but they know what they're talking about - and they have Daisy's best interests in mind, although it might not come across that way.  To that effect, I'd be very, very careful about rehoming her - if, as you said, the potential owner is recommend by dobe rescue then it's a possibility, especially given the raucous between Daisy and your JRT.  Trying to patch up a relationship between two fighting dogs is an awful lot of work, on top of the work Daisy already needs.  But be careful, make sure any new owner (if you rehome her) is well aware of the troubles.  You've done fantastically well to bring her this far, your next move should only improve things more :D

Okay, that went on WAY longer than I meant it to! Sorry :) Just enjoying typing without making mistakes for once!!!

spiritulist

I have sent you a personal message if you want to get back to me.

Picked up your message and replied. Thanks.
Thanks also for the advice and all that you say is true. Yes I have used the forums advice and read the articles. A lot of it has been helpfull, but my gollies, they are harsh on the board. I realised quite early on that they are more frightened of the DDA and the possible anialation of the breed than us, so it's understandable. Anyway, Daisy is improveing day by day and I now have HER citronella collar on the JRT(Ollie) as she is the trouble maker here at home. That seems to be working well and they both get a blast when their heads are together and things look like they are going to get to heated. I am however keeping a very close eye on both of them and can now manage the situation beforehand, so this only happens maybe twice a day which is better. I am going to get Ollie spayed as I should of done it a year ago. I know they say that it can sometimes make things worse, but it's worth a try. The annoying thing is, the rest of the family have no issues with the bitches being together, it only happens when I'm around. That's jelousy of course, so I'm treating them together during the day and that has definatley helped. Daisy is a lot calmer and Ollie was allowed to eat from her dish and pinch a chew today without Daisy batting an eyelid. Ollie felt victorious of course and Daisy did not care, which gives me hope. I am thinking about another behaivourist, but I am concerned that I won't get the right one. My vet has suggested someone, but I have looked on the recomended list and she's not there?I need one that deals in aggression as this is Daisys only fault. There maybe good ones out there that won't charge fifty quid after 1 1/2 hrs and go home?
We have visitors in and now ask they treat Daisy through the baby gate while talking to me. Big difference in Daisys attitude, although she will not trust them untill she knows them well. These are the things that I have researched and decided to do, but I know I will have to make mistakes.
Whatever, Daisy stays, we manage and improve.
Long post I know....so sorry
Thanks again
Viv

Fantastic, I'm so pleased you're sticking with her and it sounds like things are going swimmingly :D well done!  I fyou do spay Ollie make sure you do it when she's at her least troublesome - the general recommendation is halfway between the seasons, no earlier than 2-and-a-bit months after the last one (to account for any hint of a false pregnancy), so that she won't be stuck in "horrid" gear permanently :) you don't always get the desired effect - my rott X was spayed in january, 3 and a bit months after her last season and well after her routine post-season troublesome bit, and now she's stuck in "complete and total bouncy loony" gear all the time! doh!

I have had 2 Dobes, ther first 10yrs are the worst! :D
Dawn.

I noticed the forum from your post, thanks for that, my dobe is 17 months old, so I am going to have a look.

Hello, my dobe is 17 months old, he is constantly on the go.  The only real sleep he has is when I go to work at 5.30am.  He is funny, he hears my alarm go off and up he comes, I get out of the bed and he passes me and gets on the bed beside my husband, he then usually gets up as I get home at 9.45am.  Though this morning he waited for me to come downstairs as he needed a wee before he went up to bed.  During the day he brings toys in from the garden for we call it "play play".  I would say that he has definitely calmed down to how he was, but someone told me at about 2 they calm down.  When I walk with my friends and their dogs, a staff, a westie and a rottweiller, they have a real good run and my friends all say their dogs will get home and have a sleep, mine gets in and he goes straight out into the garden.  The only time he comes in and wants to sleep is when its hot.