Help please - my 10month old dobe always(well most times) comes back to me when I call him but the problem is he does everything at warp factor 10 and goes hurtling past me as if he cant stop. I dont want him to come crashing into me cos he's very big and strong and when he passes me, he then turns, comes to me and sits at my feet. He just never comes straight to me tho - he charges past, then comes to me! Any tips? I've tried different things but he's just totally mental.

I would turn my back on him and walk a few steps away turn and do a short recall from where he is sitting.  He will learn that he must come to the front for praise on call not after running past, but seriously I woudl do nothing that might discourage him returning. 

As a seperate excersise you could teach steady.  I do this when walking up steps, or slowing down when walking. 

You can then shout steady when they are running and if you have taught him it means slow down he should do so even if running full pelt. 

I ahve found with my independent breed this command most useful, as if they are already moving away from me at speed they are unlikley to just turn around and come back, but they will do 'steady' and slow right down, which means they reach their goal later and I am fast on their heels, and can then give the recall command with shorter distance and less excitement.

A variation on Brainless's suggestion:

I would begin with very short recalls, where he doesn't have the time to build up speed, so doesn't over-run.  Very gradually make them longer and longer.  If you reach a point where he starts to over-run, go back slightly and consolidate more at a slightly closer distance.

I cured one dog of this by holding a treat above (the dog's) head level well out in front of me as he approached.  The head comes up to look at it, the bottom goes down.  In the beginning, he did once sit down in the mud though and slide right past me on his bottom!  Slowing down for the sit quickly became a habit, though.  Maybe for safety you should only do this in conjunction with the other methods suggested.  You also should be ready to take one step to the side if he fails to slow down! :-D

I agree with Brainless that "steady" is a really useful thing to teach too.

its great how reading this site you suddenly remember that your dog used to do stuff that you had forgotton, mine used to come hurtling towards me and i slowed him down with food too, also he is so big and clumsy he would knock into me but he has learnt to dodge me a bit better now. i think as they get older they "trot" more rather than gallop.

Some good solid advice there, thanks.  I think I need to try out the 'steady' as he is running full pelt towards me, its knowing which way to dodge at this point some times because I do not want him crashing into me - I would be knocked over or badly bruised. The point about walking up steps etc is good, and I DO say things like 'steady' and 'wait' and he knows what this means. He's intelligent but totally manic and his over exuberance gets the better of him most times.
I don't know about the 'holding the treat out' sort of approach as i think he would try and jump for it as he was running past. At least he DOES come back to me which I suppose is a start! And he sits bolt upright infront of me for his treat. But this is after he's hurtled back then returned. I will persevere with the 'steady' command and see how I get on.

Practice recalls in a corridor or narrow lane where the dog doesn't have the opportunity to circle you or go past you.  I know what you mean as I met the floor quickly when my spaniel took the back of my knees out the other day!  He's 17kg and not very big!

My young bitch is like that - she's got a fantastic recall but always comes really fast, then jumps up and kicks me with her front feet as she arrives. I've tried holding the treat lower but she just kicks my ankles instead!! Ah well, it's so nice to have a dog that comes back at all after my 2 naughty boys! :-D

I have a 23 month old dobermann who would also do this.  But awful things can happen from this and not just bruising, when my dobe was about 8 months old he was playing in the park with another full grown dobermann, who would charge around.  I was standing and my dobe came running back to me, the other dobermann was following  him and charged straight into me.  I am now two knee operations later, alot better but not a fully functional knee.  At the hospital they said it was like being knocked down by a car.  Mine even now sometimes forgets himself and runs at me, but I generally hold something out a treat or his ball.  I wonder whether it is a dobermann thing?  If he plays he always wants to play near me.

thats a warning isnt it!!needing 2 knee ops!  they do seem to like to play around humans, hide behind us etc, theres no easy answer is there! theres a group of us whose dogs like to play and we all huddle by a big tree to keep out of the way!

LOL, love the bit about huddling behind a tree! I sympathise dgibbo - I do not want to end up in plaster!!! I think maybe it is a 'dobe thing' especially if you have one who is slightly wayward. I guess its just a matter of trying to teach them make a softer approach on recall but they do get abit excited when they're out dont they? I also know it can be worse when they meet up with another dog and you have two of the monsters hurtling about. Hope your feeling better now... ouch!

My 8 month old Dobe, Hattie, does this as well, although she does take off about 10 feet in front of me and throws herself at me - luckily she is quite a slim girl (at the moment) and I am quite solid so no major mishaps so far. Her mum in comparison is a complete angel. Just out of curiosity are the charging / leaping Dobes you have mentioned British lines or Continental? Lottie (Mum) is British lines and Hattie is half and half, her Dad is a Continental and also does it, so I am wondering if it is the more exuberant Continentals causing the problems.

Continental... well there's a suprise!!!
edited to say - tongue in cheek reply...

My 4 month old Dobe girl is of German breeding and she doesn't do it... (yet?) :):):)

hold on to your hat, girl!!! LOLas you say...YET!

I am definitely not expecting her to keep it up :)

You could also try the 'down' command as she is approaching :)
It doesn't work with Lola, my 3 yr old but I'm hoping it will with my 10 week old if I start as I mean to go on :) One marrauding Dobe I can cope with but two !!!

Hi if your dog knows all the basic commands you could perhaps try giving a very strong down command or a wait command to stop her halfway and make it into more of a training excercise . with a working breed like you have sometimes they enjoy  a bit of extra training incorporated into playtime , just thought it may help slow things down . good luck

Forgot to add I,ve also got a german bred dog who lives life at 100 miles an hour just wish I could keep up with her a bit better :rolleyes:

My 22 month old male Dobe does this too :p Inside he will do a perfect recall to sit and if we are outside and he is reasonably close by then no problems, but if he is some distance away he'll either charge straight past me at full throttle and then come back to my front, or he'll take a 42kg flying leap at me

Our female Dobe from some years back charged straight into my mums' legs in the garden once, although I think this was a genuine error of judgement as she would usually veer off ever so slightly so as to just brush past your legs. My mum was taken right off the ground and ended up laying completely flat on the grass on her back

Can I ask if you step back when he gets closer to you on the recall? Because as he gets closer he will eventually start expecting you to step back and so will not slow down til he thinks he has to, then when you don't move he doens't have any option than to keep running, therefore right past you!
Its the same principle as moving towards the dog on the recall, he will then start stopping short because he expects you go move closer to him. I'd never thought about this until a few days ago when I was talking about training dogs with a friend who runs classes, they had it demonstrated to them in training and it was obvious when I thought about it!
Now I make sure my feet are practically stuck to the ground, my youngster recalls at full pelt but slows down about 5ft from me and ends in a lovely sit, looking at me.
Just an idea, hope it helps :)

Yes I tend to stand still and he races past me, then he turns and when he sees I have a treat, sits at my feet infront of me. With him being quite dominant, he's not overkeen on the 'down' command. He will do it at home but he's just completely loopy when we're out and has to let off steam (constantly) he never sems to run out of energy. If he is right by me and I call him to me, its not so much of a problem - its when he is a distance away. At least he DOES come back. Its as if he's just going too fast to stop - I tried the 'steady' command today as he ran towards me but not sure it made a big lot of difference. Well, actually it made no difference.

Right, make sure you keep standing in one place like you are and try doing the recall on a shorter distance, say 6ft, that way he hasn't the space to come in at full speed.
And a command I've found useful is 'watch me', this is really good for recalls....especially if you want to make it a bit more formal, with him sitting in front then finishing by going round to heel. I found it much easier to train all the different parst seperately then start putting them together and having him respond to one command for everything. So just recalling and being in front is the very beginning, then you begin refining it by asking for a sit, then getting the dog closer to you, then looking up at you then finally going round to heel.
If you want to use the command 'steady' then you would have to make sure he understood it before at slower paces before trying it when he's in top gear!!

Another option would be to recall him in a place where he doesn't have the option of running behind you, this sometimes happens with people when training retrieves. Just remove that option and the dog learns over time not to try and run behind the handler and hey presto, a dog that will retrieve in open spaces. The same principles apply to recalls :)

Hope I haven't gone on for too long, its just a few ideas for you to think about!

Emily

another suggestion,- don't know if you've tried yet is when he is about 6/8ft away on the way back tell him VERY firmly to sit. Rott used to do the same and this had the effect that she ended up sliding to a stop in a sit in front to get her treat.
Chris

Thanks for all this advice - Emily, I do the 'watch me' exercise mainly at home when training - also when he is at home (inside/or garden etc) his recall is excellent. He will come to a good straight sit in front of me then will do a 'finish' at command, round me and sit at my side. The problem is transfering all that to the great outdoors on walks. I tend to walk him along a canal towpath so obviously I have to be careful! (dont want to end up wet!) He has actually jumped 'backwards' into the canal. I dont know who was more shocked, me or him!
Today I tried the recall from a shorter distance and it was ok - The problem lies in the sheer speed he comes racing back to me if he's at a distance. I have tried the 'steady' and so far it hasnt made much difference.
Now, the option of recalling him when he doesnt have the option of running past... Would that be with me up against a brick wall?? I think I know what you mean but I 'm not sure he would slow down before getting to me! Lots of advice here for me to digest (which I intend to) thanks.

If it is from a distance how about moving off at right angles, so that your call is a come this way rather than Novice recall (or more like and 'A' recall if you know the Obedience excersises), and then do a recall at a controlled difference, gradually increasing the difference.

Hi - Your dog doesn't speak English.  If you want him to understand a "Steady" command, you're going to have to teach it, not just start using it.

If you were running at me and I yelled "Obstrapalus" at you, you wouldn't understand what I wanted you to do either!